OTTAWA \u2013 As Parliament resumes, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May has outlined a set of priorities that she says are urgent for Canada\u2019s future \u2014 from climate accountability to digital rights, privacy, fair taxation, and justice in Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCanadians expect their government to defend our rights, our democracy, and our planet,\u201d said May. \u201cInstead, we see a government retreating from climate commitments, caving to U.S. pressure, and eroding our privacy. The Green Party will not stay silent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On climate change, May warned that Prime Minister Carney\u2019s refusal to confirm Canada\u2019s legally binding Paris Agreement targets is \u201cdangerous and irresponsible,\u201d adding that weakening the country\u2019s commitments would put Canada in violation of international law. \u201cCanada\u2019s climate commitments are not a bargaining chip,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are legally binding, and they are a lifeline. The atmosphere doesn\u2019t negotiate. We must meet, and strengthen, our targets, not walk away from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also pledged to fight Bill C-2, the government\u2019s so-called \u201cStrong Borders Act,\u201d which grants sweeping new surveillance powers and restricts refugee rights. \u201cCanadians don\u2019t need a surveillance state to have safe borders,\u201d May said. \u201cBill C-2 trades away our privacy and our sovereignty. It must be scrapped and replaced with targeted, Charter-proof legislation that actually keeps people safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Bill C-4, May condemned the provisions buried in the bill that exempt political parties from federal and provincial privacy laws, retroactive to 2000. \u201cCanadians deserve privacy rights that apply to everyone, including political parties,\u201d she said. \u201cSneaking in a retroactive exemption is an assault on trust in our democracy, and these provisions must be removed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turning to taxation, May criticized the Carney government\u2019s decision to repeal the Digital Services Tax under U.S. pressure. The tax would have raised more than $7 billion over five years by requiring global tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon, and Apple to pay on their Canadian revenues. \u201cBig Tech shouldn\u2019t get a free ride in Canada,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Digital Services Tax makes them pay their fair share, and repealing it under U.S. pressure is a betrayal of Canadian sovereignty.\u201d She noted that Canada is not alone in this effort; countries such as France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom have already put digital services taxes in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, May will urge Canadian Parliamentarians to follow the example of the Scottish Parliament, which recently voted to halt public funding for companies that supply weapons to Israel, end trade privileges linked to the occupation, and direct resources toward humanitarian support for the people of Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Media inquiries:<\/strong> media@greenparty.ca<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" OTTAWA \u2013 As Parliament resumes, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May has outlined a set of priorities that she says are urgent for Canada\u2019s future \u2014 from climate accountability to digital […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"location":[33],"section":[6],"class_list":["post-19924","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","location-ottawa","section-media-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenparty.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/19924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenparty.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenparty.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenparty.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenparty.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=19924"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenparty.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=19924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}