As the Liberals and Conservatives pledge to get more energy projects off the ground faster, and polling shows climate change worries are slipping down the list of Canadians’ priorities, one Green Party incumbent MP rejects the idea that his team is in trouble.
Mike Morrice is fighting to retain his seat in Kitchener Centre with a pitch that occasionally veers from the Green Party platform.
He says he’s focused on championing his community — and believes that’s what voters want from Green candidates.
“I’m a Green because the Greens allow me to stay true to my community, avoid all the political partisanship and hackery and actually focus on getting things done and working with others to get those things done,” Morrice told CBC’s The House.
According to Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, the percentage of Canadians who call the environment and climate change their most important issue has declined for six years — and is down to 15 per cent today.
A separate Abacus Data poll found only three per cent of respondents ranked climate change as the biggest issue influencing their vote.
“Just like everything else that’s gone topsy-turvy with national policy in this country, pipelines and climate change are no exception,” Kurl told host Catherine Cullen.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said he’s open to pipelines, while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to create an “energy corridor” to move oil and gas to Saint John and build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Saguenay, Que.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has made a campaign promise to establish what he refers to as a “Canada First” national energy corridor, which would involve pre-approving pipelines. Researchers at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy have been examining this option for the past decade.
When asked if he faces an uphill battle this election due to Canada’s growing interest in energy development, Morrice said his “primary pitch is about being a champion for my community.”
“Often, sure, it might be around addressing the climate crisis. But as an MP for Kitchener, it’s about so much more too,” Morrice said, highlighting topics like addressing the housing crisis and fighting for people with disabilities.
Morrice added the Greens are interested in an east-west energy electricity grid. According to the Greens’ platform, they would stop all new fossil fuel projects, build a modern power grid across Canada and “make the switch to 100 per cent clean energy.”
Once Green candidates get elected — like Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner at the provincial level — voters realize they want someone who’s working for them “rather than being told how to vote,” Morrice said.
On Wednesday, Green Party co-leader Elizabeth May echoed Morrice’s comments, saying her party doesn’t have a “fetishism” around centralizing power to one leader and instead promises representatives who work for their ridings.
“In a House of Commons, we do not want to move in the direction of the United States and a two-party binary choice [which is] not working well in the U.S.,” May told Power & Politics host David Cochrane.
“We need to keep a multi-party, respectful parliament.”
At about the halfway point of the whirlwind federal election campaign, a new poll conducted by Abacus Data shows the Liberals six points ahead of the Conservatives, while the Greens trail far behind. Green Party Co-Leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault speak to Power & Politics about their prediction for who will become the next prime minister and what they’re asking of their party members.
Morrice said one issue he’s heard in his community is the need to strengthen Canada’s defence, including getting defence spending to the NATO benchmark of two per cent of GDP.
The Green Party’s platform contains several ideas to boost defence, including ramping up domestic artillery and ammunition production capacity, training Canadian Armed Forces to defend Canada from occupation and suspending the contract for U.S.-built F-35 fighter jets.
However, it does not commit to meeting the NATO defence spending target.
The Greens and Trump
The Greens are also proposing a slate of other policies aimed at fighting Donald Trump, including barring the U.S. president from visiting Canada and expanding refugee provisions to American journalists, scientists and activists.
Morrice was asked whether it’s wise to provoke Trump with these proposals — and G7 allies by extension — by blocking him from visiting Canada.
The Green incumbent said the fact the ideas are being discussed is the point.
“I think it’s about staying united and strong as a country, and ensuring that when there is this threat from the U.S., rather than taking partisan shots at one another, we work together,” Morrice said.
“And so Greens are putting forward some ideas to consider.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff chaos is increasingly dominating Canada’s election campaign, as Liberal Leader Mark Carney repeatedly leaves the campaign trail to act as prime minister and other federal leaders and premiers have little choice but to respond to developments.
Morrice was also asked about his party’s proposal to establish a national civil defence corps to help with Canada’s emergency preparedness.
Again, Morrice said it’s an idea his party is putting forward to spark a national conversation. But he also said it’s not the top priority he hears at the doorstep and therefore “not kind of the number one zinger that I’m focusing my time on.”
“If you want to hear more about it, you can speak with Jonathan Pedneault, one of the co-leaders of the party, and I’m gonna stay focused on working for my community,” Morrice said.
“That’s what I’ve been focused on since 2021,” he added. “If you look at everything from Peter Bevan-Baker on the east coast to Elizabeth May on the west coast, Canadians see champions for their communities.”
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