Open letter from prominent New Democrats and community leaders calls for renewed provincial climate leadership
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Prominent New Democrats and community leaders raise the alarm over Premier Eby + caucus support for LNG and call for renewed provincial climate leadership, amid worsening climate disasters
Signatories in open letter say British Columbia no longer has a climate plan
xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations (Vancouver, BC) | July 15, 2026 — An open letter, submitted today to Premier Eby and the BC NDP caucus, expresses serious concerns about the extent of their enabling of climate change, as multiple wildfires burn out of control across the province, and numerous jurisdictions across the country are experiencing record-breaking heat.
Following the Province’s new economic agreement with Ottawa—which commits financing and construction support to advance multiple liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities that will release some 13 mega tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year—more than a dozen former BC-based NDP MLAs, MPs, Indigenous leaders, labour and community leaders submitted the letter that was organized by the BC Climate Emergency Campaign.
British Columbia’s climate leadership had once been a source of pride. But despite once leading North America in its climate ambition, the letter states that B.C. no longer has a climate plan. For example, B.C. was the first jurisdiction in the world to legislate a target for 100 percent electric vehicle sales, but the Province recently lowered that threshold to 75 percent, and has backtracked on nearly every established metric on climate action—from removing its net-zero requirements for LNG facilities to scrapping the consumer carbon tax and the associated rebates.
The letter describes the B.C. government’s support for large-scale fossil fuel projects, as the provincial government is championing multiple LNG export projects, largely foreign-owned and some backed by Wall Street billionaires with close ties to President Trump.
The Province is investing in a risky global LNG market, headed towards saturation, while many jurisdictions in Asia, the target buyers, are speeding up their transition to renewables as the Iran war continues.
The LNG industry in B.C. is supported by billions in public subsidies, exposing British Columbians to a volatile energy future. Already, B.C. households are experiencing the impacts of becoming an LNG-exporting jurisdiction as residential gas bills rose by 17.5 per cent in 2025 and 11.1 per cent in 2026.
Increasing natural gas production will not only produce millions of tons of pollution, it will also harm human health and deepen conflict with Indigenous groups who are opposed.
Signatories to the letter call on Premier Eby to recommit to provincial leadership by investing in a renewable energy future that strengthens B.C.’s economy, builds clean jobs, protects consumers from unpredictable global prices for fossil fuels, protects public safety in increasingly extreme weather, and to once again make climate action a government priority.
Signatories include:
Taylor Bachrach, former BC NDP MP, former mayor of Smithers, former member of the Clean BC Advisory Council
Richard Cannings, former BC NDP MP, South Okanagan-West Kootenay
Katrina Chen, former BC NDP MLA, former Minister of State for Child Care
Laurel Collins, former BC NDP MP, Victoria and Victoria City Council
Randall Garrison, former BC NDP MP, Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke
Carole Gordon, president, BCTF
Chief Councillor Linda Innes, Vice-President, Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Maurine Karagianis, former BC NDP MLA
Irene Lanzinger, former president, BCTF and BC Federation of Labour
Alistair MacGregor, former BC NDP MP, Cowichan-Malahat-Langford
Jim Manly, former BC NDP MP, Cowichan-Malahat-the Islands
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President, Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Peter Robinson, former Executive Director of the David Suzuki Foundation
Chief Marilyn Slett, Secretary-Treasurer, Union of BC Indian Chiefs; President, Coastal First Nations
Harold Steves, former BC NDP MLA and Richmond City Council
Bonita Zarrillo, former BC NDP MP, Port Moody-Coquitlam
For further information, please contact:
Emiko Newman, BC Climate Emergency Campaign
coordinator@bcclimateemergency.ca | 778-893-1077
The full public letter can be found here.