Activities

In March 2024, ORCIE organized a three-day “Learning & Lobbying” series, which

culminated in in-person meetings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa with MPs and top civil

servants to discuss the transition away from fossil fuels, with a particular focus on

capping emissions. Eight participants from various congregations attended the event, with most traveling from outside Ottawa.

The L& L process prepared two small teams to meet with MPs and top civil servants on Parliament Hill. Our preparation began with an online panel discussion on Canada’s transition away from fossil fuels with guest speaker Alex Cool-Fergus, National Policy Manager with CAN-Rac and led by Genevieve Gallant, Executive Director of ORCIE and Sue Wilson, CSJ, PhD – Office for Systemic Justice, Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada. This session addressed two key questions to consider in preparation for meetings with MPs and senior civil servants:

1. What are the legislative actions and moments to leverage right now in our transition to clean energy?
2. Where and how can we act to be a part of a ‘new reset’, understanding there is no room for new oil and gas production in Canada?

The second step involved an in-person presentation titled “Brass tacks: Multilateralism from below,” led by Genevieve Gallant, Executive Director of ORCIE at St. Paul University, Ottawa, followed by lunch. This session covered a review of the ORCIE’s lobby guide, report-back documents, policy briefs, and elevator speech. We also trained participants for MP meetings and ended with small group discussions to set specific meeting goals. The final step involved participants from the different congregations holding in-person meetings on the Hill with MP’s and top civil servants ending with a concrete ‘ask’. This final step concluded with a debrief and dinner to share experiences and feedback.

In May of 2023 ORCIE and Joint Ecological Ministry (JEM) organized a successful, multi-day “Learning & Lobbying” series, culminating in meetings in Ottawa on Parliament Hill with MPs and Senators on issues of ecological justice.  Our preparation began with our online education session SEE: The Problem of Climate Change in the Context of Canadian Public Policy, a panel conversation with staff from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Climate Action Network-Reseau action climat.   The second step in the process involved 30 religious meeting online for DISCERN: Levers for Faith Communities, led by Sr. Sue Wilson, CSJ, PhD – Office for Systemic Justice, Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada.  In this session we looked at how our creation-based worldview calls us as people of faith to heal the distorted relationship we have with nature, and to act with the level of urgency this emergency requires.  The final step was an in-person advocacy training ACT: What is the focused government action we want to achieve?  by ORCIE’s Genevieve Gallant, ahead of visiting 8 MPs, Ministers, and/or Senators on Parliament Hill the following day.   These sessions as well as the excellent debrief can be watched at: http://tinyurl.com/learnandlobby

Productive advocacy meetings took place with Senator Rosa Galvez (Quebec), MP Elizabeth May (Green), MP Julie Dabrusin (Liberal), MP Joanne Thompson (Liberal), Sheri Meyerhoff (CORE), MP Peter Fragiskatos (Liberal), MP Damien Kurek (Conservative) and MP Filomena Tassi (Liberal), Minister of Public Services and Procurement. The day was also a great opportunity to attend the House of Commons where we heard London, ON MPs talk about the opioid crisis, and to visit the Senate of Canada for International Women’s Day, where ORCIE and women religious were recognized as special guests.