We oppose any pipeline whose sole purpose is to export bitumen from Canada to make profits in other countries.
— Elizabeth May
Individual actions are important because in any democracy, citizens need to feel agency. If you feel powerless, totally powerless, it's psychologically dangerous.
People who are good at maintaining a deep oil well will also be very helpful in converting it to a geothermal green energy source. People who have been laying pipe, it's the same skill as putting up a wind turbine.
The greatest level of hostility and venom, really, is between parties closest to each other on the political spectrum.
I would rather not to have to fly across the country at all, but obviously, as a federal party leader, I do.
Politics is awful.
It's not a big deal for me to be leader of the Green Party. It is a big deal for me to represent the voters of Saanich-Gulf Islands.
It is personal - deep in my bones and my flesh - the knowledge that we squandered our chance to avoid the climate emergency; to act when it would have been so much easier, as we did to stop acid rain, to save the ozone layer.
For all my life I have had a deep connection to the natural world.
I've never made any statements about the abortion issue at any time in my life - never retreating one inch - from a woman's rights to legal abortion. Ever.
I think the majority of politicians keep their positions for too long.
My funny speech wasn't funny. That's not the first time a politician has done that.
If you're serious about climate targets, you don't build and expand the oil sands and move from coal-fired electricity to inefficient fracked gas.
I think it's quite unlikely that I'll be the leader of the Green party going into a future election if it's on anything like a four-year timing.
I wanted to repeat we cannot vote confidence at any point on a confidence motion in a government that fails to have a climate target that's ground in science and consistent with what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says we must do.
One of the things I hate about politicians, I shouldn't say I hate things, but one of the things I hate about politics is people who repeat the same talking point over and over and over again.
When we talk about product by pipeline or product by rail we need to be highly specific about what product we are shipping and under what terms and for what purpose. Solid bitumen by rail is safe as houses, but as again crude by rail poses different risk.
Democracy is too important to be left to politicians.
Once you got a solar panel on a roof, energy is free. Once we convert our entire electricity grid to green and renewable energy, cost of living goes down.
I ran for parliament in 1980 as an independent against Allan J. MacEachen.
The only party that has better bragging rights than the Greens is the Bloc Quebecois.
It's clear that the Green party loves Quebecers deeply. At the same time, we are Canadians!
I don't love being Leader of the Green Party. It is not really something I'd recommend to a good friend. It's not fun.
I think the words 'vote strategically' translates in the human brain to: 'Oh I can't vote for what I want.' And that's discouraging.
I was part of Environment Canada's work to stop acid rain, create national parks, clean up the Great Lakes, develop new environmental legislation and negotiate the treaty that saved the ozone layer.
The real dynamic is that when Greens are in the debates, Conservatives don't do as well.
I'm not interested in a balance of power in order to have power for the Green party. What I'm interested in is the balance of responsibility.
Sovereigntism and separatism they are… it may seem like it's splitting hairs, but a lot of Quebecers are sovereignists - they respect the sovereignty of Quebec. They're not interested in separating.
I wouldn't want anyone to think I was less than respectful for the people with whom I work.
The reality is that Rachel Notley's adherence to pipelines and exporting raw bitumen doesn't make sense for Alberta's economy and it doesn't make sense for Canada.
It's not as if being leader of the Green party is something that I do because I love being leader of the Green party. I love the Green party and this is a service.
I believed Justin Trudeau in 2015. I thought he would be a climate leader. I was wrong.
I'm a sort of in the moment, good on my feet kind of person.
We import a lot of oil, particularly to eastern Canada, from Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, a lot from the U.S. So if we're looking at how do we phase out fossil fuels in the period in which we're phasing them out, let's only use Canadian.
I know that when I was on my hunger strike, I reacted very negatively to people telling me what I should and shouldn't do.
God, we don't have nearly enough skilled carpenters, electricians, plumbers for the work that needs to be done in taking every single building in Canada and making it carbon-zero, a net-neutral building, by improving insulation, modernizing furnaces, improving the geothermal possibilities, heat pumps.
I actually find that Canadians are incredibly interested in democracy, and alarmed when they realize that the Prime Minister's Office is controlling virtually everything that goes on within the federal government.
I would love to focus on writing books that were not just about issues.
I am always interested in looking for the strongest possible leadership.
I love being a parliamentarian. I love it but I don't like politics. And I hate elections.
We appeal to Conservatives who just can't see themselves voting for the corruption and the scandals and the contempt of parliamentary institutions. And of course, we also appeal to people in other parties who are disappointed in their own leadership.
I was known as an activist, described by CBC's 'The Fifth Estate' as 'the 23-year-old waitress who stopped the pulp company dead in its tracks.' Without knowing it was even possible, my activism helped me gain admission to Dalhousie University law school.
There's a lot I'd like to be able to talk about with relation to Stephen Harper, particularly why is he afraid to debate in English?
We were the first party to call for equal marriage.
I apologize that I made an attempt to be funny and edgy… and it didn't work.
If we're serious about our kids having a livable world, building fossil fuel infrastructure in 2018 is a sign of deep negligence, which is the kindest thing I can say about it.
I would urge Rachel Notley to be more like Peter Lougheed. Lougheed had a sensible plan for the oil sands, which involved ancillary infrastructure like upgraders and refineries.
To improve humanity's chances of survival, it is critical that Canada assume a leadership role, first ramping up our own ambition and then pushing for more ambition overall in global negotiations.
I'm fair-minded, maybe. Maybe I bend over backward to give people too much benefit of the doubt. And I'll give credit where credit is due.
First and foremost we are Earthlings.
