Vancouver Unitarians Hear Ministry of Just Transition Report from 2025

Fifty communities from across Canada participated in the March 12, 2022 Canada-wide Day of Action. The Ministry of Just Transition’s Press Conference was Vancouver’s event, held on the Vancouver Public Library plaza on West Georgia Street. Vancouver Unitarians were there.

The 2025 update from the ‘Ministry of Just Transition’  provided a ‘three-year update’ on the accomplishments that their ‘Climate Emergency Coalition’ government had delivered since taking power in 2022.

Tsleil-Waututh First Nation representative Rueben George welcomed the Climate Emergency Coalition’ government to their traditional territory.

Filmmaker Avi Lewis was the Minister of Just Transition.

Doreen Manuel, Indigenous film director and professor at Capilano University, spoke as the Land Back Secretariat’.

Christine Boyle, Vancouver city councillor, spoke as head of the Department of Universal Housing.

Alison Gu, Burnaby city councillor, spoke as the commissioner of the Clean Transit Without Delay Commission.

Khalid Boudreau, Climate Youth activist, spoke on the work of the Police Retasking Task Force.

Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, Secretary-treasurer for the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, spoke as chair of the Trans Mountain Reparations and Healing Secretariat.

Anjali Appadurai, Climate justice advocate, spoke as the CEO of the Public Goods Corporation of Canada.

Seth Klein, climate analyst and author of A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency,  explained how the Just Transition was paid for – in part by the Bank of Canada enacting quantitative easing policies similar to what was seen in the first year of the pandemic, and also by creating Climate Bonds – which proved to be ‘wildly popular’ – similar to Victory Bonds that were sold to fund the Second World War effort.

Ultimately, the press conference was an exercise in getting people to imagine what the future can look like. ‘Minister’ Lewis implored the crowd to turn the ideas into a reality.

“Do you want to live in this future? Are we ready to fight for this future? Because this future we described here today is the work of all of us — the fruits of our imagination and struggle — and that’s what we came here today to commune around: the future we can build together.”

Vancouver Unitarians at this press conference: John Boyle, Rosemary Cornell, Rob Dainow, Elizabeth Dunn, Hans Elfert, Margo Elfert, Leslie Kemp.

 

LINKS: Canada-wide Day of Action

 


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