Today in the House of Assembly, NDP MHA Sheilagh O’Leary (St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi) used Question Period to highlight Earth Day and called on government to get serious about climate action.
O’Leary began by referencing a comment made by Premier Wakeham during the election campaign, in which the Premier suggested that the oil and gas industry has no connection to climate change. O’Leary challenged that assertion and offered the Premier an opportunity to clarify or retract the statement which is not consistent with scientific evidence.
“Speaker, during the election, when discussing climate change and the oil industry, the Premier told the media, ‘I don’t believe the two are related,’ and said further exploration would not ‘have an impact on that particular situation.’”
“Does the Premier still stand by the view that climate change and the oil industry are not related?” O’Leary asked.
Following up, O’Leary highlighted the realities of climate change that are already impacting people, workers and jobs, and communities in our province. She called on government to tell the public when they should expect to see a climate action plan.
“Speaker, even with snow still on the ground in some areas, we are already seeing fire bans due to brush fires. Last summer, workers and farmers felt the impacts of climate change, and we saw communities lost,” O’Leary said.
“So while this government continues to focus only on oil, I ask the Minister responsible: when will they take climate change seriously and release a comprehensive Climate Action Plan?”