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Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister of Natural Resources Wilkinson and Minister of Labour O’Regan,

The Sustainable Jobs Plan has laid out a roadmap toward a just transition. I’m writing today to join thousands of other Canadians who want you to make this your top priority.

While this is urgent, it also needs to be done right. That’s why your just transition legislation must follow these key principles:

1) Put people first, not corporate profits
A just transition can’t be another excuse to hand billions of dollars over to Big Oil and other corporations. Companies that have contributed to the climate crisis should be held accountable and pay their own clean-up costs. The resources we put into the transition should go directly to the people and communities who need them.

2) Support the most affected communities
We know that both climate change and the energy transition will disproportionately affect Indigenous, rural and northern communities. Those most impacted are going to need the most support, and it’s up to our government to make sure that happens.

3) Guarantee good, green, unionized jobs
There’s no shortage of work to be done as we tackle the climate crisis and our government should guarantee that anyone can get a good, unionized job as part of this national project. The energy transition should benefit everyone, not just private investors.

4) Align with climate science
We need this transition to move at the pace and scale the climate emergency demands. That means that the timeline for phasing out fossil fuels needs to line up with the latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. At a minimum, that means a moratorium on all fossil fuel expansion in this country.

Canada stands at a crossroads: embrace a just transition or continue down the dangerous path we’re on now. Getting the just transition right will make all the difference. You have the power to make sure we meet this moment and leave no one behind.

That’s why we’re calling on you to table legislation to make good on the Sustainable Jobs Plan without any further delay and to work across party lines to make sure it’s as bold and ambitious as we need.