With Prime Minister Mark Carney having secured his coveted majority, and a federal election likely three years away, now may seem an odd time to issue this appeal. But I beg to differ.

We desperately need more climate justice champions of strong will in office, and the time to start preparing is now. In the wake of a string of shattered temperature records and the many manifestations of the polycrisis of our times, we need leaders ready to treat emergencies as emergencies, and those with imagination to meet the economic and political crisis brought on by the Trump presidency with bold and creative solutions.

If that’s you, then throw caution to the wind and toss your name into the political ring.

As the great climate warrior Bill McKibben recently wrote, “What I’ve learned by long observation of the politics around energy and climate: to make real change, it helps immensely to have champions.” 

Climate justice champions have chosen in the past to run for a few political parties at the federal level. Some have run for the Greens, of course (although the federal prospects there are grim). A couple have cast their lot with the Bloc Québécois. There are a few who currently hold seats with the Liberals. They mostly appear outwardly happy to be on the government benches. But privately, there are surely many feeling disoriented about what they signed on with, given Carney’s abrupt........

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