Search the Community

Since the LEAP Manifesto made headlines from the recent NDP convention in Edmonton, I thought it was time I actually read this document. Not to worry, it is not some 1000 page study that you will need to devote a lifetime to read, but a simple short document (5 pages total, only 4 pages with text). It does raise some good ideals, but there are some obviously contentious parts as well. While it acknowledges that we will still be carbon dependent for at least 20 years, it does call for an end to new infrastructure projects in fossil fuel extraction. Here is the paragraph I think was responsible for derailing the NDP Convention: There is no longer an excuse for building new infrastructure projects that lock us into increased extraction decades into the future. The new iron law of energy development must be: if you wouldn’t want it in your backyard, then it doesn’t belong in anyone’s backyard. That applies equally to oil and gas pipelines; fracking in New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia; increased tanker traffic off our coasts; and to Canadian-owned mining projects the world over. I wouldn't sing the document because of that paragraph, but most of the rest is about positive goals and where we should be focusing our efforts. The LEAP manifesto can be found at: https://leapmanifesto.org