In response to the Liberal’s comments that moving too quickly on climate change would negatively impact the economy, local Green Party Candidate Iain Currie is singing a different tune.

Currie says science tells us that we need to take these steps by 2030 and doing so will actually have a positive impact on the Canadian economy. “In order to maintain our lifestyle, economy, health and security for our next generation. So, 2030 isn’t our date, it’s not something the Green Party wants because we’re against fossil fuels, it is what the science says needs to be done….It’s not that the Green Party wants to do this, it’s that the science, the best climate scientists in the world, tell us that we need to take these steps by 2030. There’s nothing magical about 2030, except it’s the date that arises in the most recent intergovernmental panel on climate change report as to when we need to make drastic reductions to our emissions.”

Currie says those who have studied the impact of climate change investment have shown that it will create jobs and have a positive economic impact. “People who have looked at this see a huge opportunity as well as a huge risk in the climate crisis. So, if we start transitioning to renewable energies, if we start working on retrofitting houses and buildings, there’s a group of construction trade unions called Let’s Build Canada who has done a study, that’s non-partisan and not connected at all to the Green Party, they say that by by 2050 we can create 3.3 million direct jobs just in the construction industry through the transition to a green economy and 17 million direct and indirect jobs.”