Panel: Unpacking Private Members Bills

PANEL

Unpacking Private Members' Bills

From 2015 to 2019, only 10 of the more than 200 Private Members Bills introduced by Members of Parliament received Royal Assent and became law (Open Parliament).

Despite this, private members' bills remain an avenue for change for elected leaders and environmental advocates hoping to strengthen environmental protection. In November of 2021, GreenPACs Parliamentary Interns conducted interviews with Members of Parliament about the efficacy of private members bills as an avenue of change. The results were published in the report Environmental Leadership in Canada's Parliament: Realities, Opportunities & Constraints.

Our panel on Unpacking Private Members’ Bills will explore the use of private members bills as a tool for change. Our panelists will share their diverse perspectives, provide insight into the benefits and challenges of using this tool and offer advice based on their extensive experiences. This panel is a part of a series of resources we are creating for working with your MPs for environmental goals!

Can't wait to see you there!

Meet Our Panelists

Lenore Zann , Former MP, Social & Environmental Activist

A tireless champion of the Arts, Women, and Social and Environmental Justice, Lenore has over a decade of experience as a popular and hard-working elected official - having served on provincial and federal levels of government for 12 years. Her Private Member’s Bill, A National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice is the first bill of its kind in North America.

Lenore is the recipient of the 2014 Duke of Edinburgh Gold Lifetime Award for Service to Community & Country and the 2023 Cobequid Arts Council Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Arts and Culture.

Lynn Jones , Community, Labour & Environmental Activist

Lynn Jones is a a community and labour activist from an African Nova Scotian community in Truro,NS affectionately known as " The Marsh". She moved to Halifax to pursue higher academic goals. From inception to present day she has been in the vanguard of the struggle against anti Black racism and the obtaining of basic Human Rights for marginalized communities. Jones became the first Black person to be elected General Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress., the largest union body in Canada.

She presently chairs the first board of directors of the Down the Marsh Community Land Trust in Truro, Nova Scotia whose purpose is to facilitate the obtaining of land to be owned in perpetuity by the Black community to erect affordable housing for members of the Black Community.

Hon. Richard Cannings, Member of Parliament for South Okanagan—West Kootenay (BC)

A renowned natural historian, Richard was elected in 2015 as Member of Parliament for South Okanagan—West Kootenay. He is a member of the New Democratic Party caucus and serves as critic for Science and Industry; Emergency Preparedness (Climate Change Resilience); Small Business and Tourism; and Deputy Critic – Innovation, and Natural Resources.

Richard has worked tirelessly to protect B.C.’s great outdoors. He served for over a decade on the B.C. Environmental Appeal Board and for eight years as co-chair on the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Author of a dozen award-winning books on the natural history of British Columbia, Richard was named B.C.’s Biologist of the Year by the Association of Professional Biologists in 1996. In 2008, he was named an Honorary Fellow at Okanagan College.