Josha MacNab

Regardless of who wins the U.S. presidency, leadership on climate change south of the border will continue in states and cities already leading the charge. The election outcome will, however, determine if they’ll be joined by their federal government. As the Democratic leadership process revealed, action on climate change would be a centrepiece of a Democratic administration and a key component of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid the thrust and parry of election season, British Columbians might have been confused by the seeming agreement of the three major political parties on a critical issue. On the campaign trail, the B.C. NDP, Liberals, and Greens all promised to make the province a leader (again) in fighting climate change. Of course, the devil was in the details — differing platform commitments (or lack thereof) on liquefied natural gas development, pricing carbon pollution, and climate targets, for instance.

As frontline and essential workers put their lives at risk to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, and as financial relief measures are being enacted to help Canadian workers deal with the economic fallout, others are starting to do the necessary thinking about how we will rebuild Canada’s economy when we finally manage to flatten the curve. There’s no playbook to draw from, no textbook to refer to. No one knows with any degree of certainty when, and in what state, we will emerge.