Oil sands company Noralta’s 3,000 room camp near Fort McMurray, Alberta. Photo by Jason Woodhead/Flickr

The following article is a response to “The federal NDP’s ‘basket of deplorables’ moment,” by Leigh Phillips, published in Canadian Dimension on March 10, 2026.

In the final stretch of the NDP’s federal leadership race, there is no doubt that one of the big questions facing the party is its approach to resource extraction across Canada. Which resources should be developed, where, under what conditions, with whose funding, and to whose benefit. Equally important are the impacts on nearby communities—and who will ultimately pay for the clean-up.

Decades of Liberal and Conservative governments have refused to take steps to meaningfully reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions or move our national economy away from an over-reliance on fossil fuel exports. The question now feels existential from all sides.

On one hand, we are experiencing unprecedented, climate change-driven wildfires, landslides, storms, floods, deep freezes, droughts and heat waves—all of which have already devastated communities and ecosystems, and led to the loss of human and animal life. There is no doubt that if life as we know it is to continue on planet Earth, we need to dramatically reduce our extraction and use of fossil fuels.

On the other hand, we are in an economic crisis. The costs of food, housing, and fuel keep rising. We are seeing major job losses across sectors, as companies and governments alike cut positions and funding. More and more families are struggling to make ends meet. Resource extraction jobs, for those who earn their livelihoods from them, offer good pay and a sense of economic security.

For years, climate justice movements have pushed for........

© Canadian Dimension