Jagmeet Singh's NDP has been, for quite some time now, struggling to get traction in the polls.  The national narrative is about a two-way race between the Liberals and the Conservatives.  The NDP has been marginalized and is too often ignored, which is a dangerous yet well-known situation for the party.  Jagmeet Singh's arrival in the House of Commons, following a victory in a by-election, has not changed that dynamic.

Compounding the NDP's problem has been the rise of the Green Party, with some success provincially in PEI and a federal by-election win, at the expense of the orange team.  Elizabeth May has been regularly outpolling Singh as preferred Prime Minister and the Green Party is breathing on the NDP's neck in voting intentions.

To face this challenge, Singh released the NDP's environment plan, entitled Power to Change.  The NDP is trying to achieve a balanced, yet bold approach, bringing forward a new deal for climate action and good paying jobs along with it.  Basically, the NDP's version of the Green New Deal.  With a $15 billion price tag!

The highlight of the NDP's plan includes increased greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for 2030, with an accountability mechanism, echoing Jack Layton's Climate Change Accountability Act, adopted by the House of Commons in May 2010 but killed by the unaccountable, unelected Senate a few months later.

The NDP is also proposing a series of pocketbook measures to garner support from the middle class, including savings of up to $900 on home energy costs thanks to upgrades, a waiver of the federal sales tax for new zero-emission vehicles and up to $600 to install their own plug-in chargers at home, and work towards free transit.

The NDP's frame is to present bold action for the climate crisis while building a sustainable, lasting, living economy.  Not surprisingly, New Democrats are targeting the big polluters.  Big polluters, who, very often, offer the good paying jobs the NDP says it wants to protect.  What's the deal?

The jobs would come from big green infrastructure projects, including making Canada's electrical grid emissions-free by 2030, making all new buildings net-zero ready by 2030 while completing energy efficiency retrofits on all existing housing stock in Canada by 2050.  Ambitious!

Another interesting economic measure is the creation of a $3-billion "Canadian Climate Bank", with the aim of supporting low-carbon developments.  This, in addition with boosting clean tech research and a Buy Canadian procurement strategy, is meant to create the jobs of tomorrow, with training programs for workers impacted by the shift.

The dilemma, as always, is do you need to sacrifice economic growth and security to fight climate change and protect the environment?  Jack Layton always used to talk about how it had to be both.  Other politicians have done so as well.

Justin Trudeau, for one, has talked a good game on that front, but it is hard to maintain your environmental credentials when you go ahead and nationalize a pipeline.  Trudeau's actions have simply not matched his rhetoric: Canada's target to reduce gas emissions, set by Stephen Harper and adopted by the Liberals, won't be met.  Meanwhile, large industrial polluters are receiving a 90% exemption on Trudeau's carbon tax.

Unlike the Green Party, the NDP's proposal aims to leave no one out.  The Greens' plan is falling short on economic realpolitik: when people cannot see how they would fit into a clean energy future, they simply feel it cannot be done.

Jagmeet Singh and his research team have come up with a comprehensive set of solutions for climate change, solutions that will take on big polluters and reduce Canada's emissions.  The pitch includes a plan to ensure working people have more opportunities for good jobs and an affordable life in a healthy environment.

Canadians keep saying that they want to tackle climate change.  The NDP's plan is a way forward to do just that, while supporting workers, families, and communities.  The question is, will that be enough to convince Canadians that Jagmeet Singh can deliver for them?

Photo Credit: CBC News