The world needs to be seized of the emergency at hand. With thousands of hectares of our own country burning, we need to reignite global interest in finding an energy solution. 

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on June 16, 2025.

OTTAWA—While the world fiddles, Canada is burning.

Air quality report IQAir reported that, as of June 10, smoke was descending to lower European altitudes and impacting air quality across the continent.

The impact ranged from “unhealthy to sensitive groups” in some cities to “very unhealthy” in parts of France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.

Lyon was listed as the third most polluted city in the world while Munich was ninth. It was reported that a plume of smoke crossed the Mediterranean reaching Greece on May 18 and 19, while another plume arrived in northwestern Europe on June 1. All thanks to our country’s summer fires.

Canadians were feeling the effects directly, with air advisory warnings in most eastern communities. It was reported at one point that Montreal was suffering the worst air quality in the world.

In the midst of massive evacuations of Indigenous communities and other northerly settlements, it almost seems as though fire season is the new harbinger for summer.

Everyone is expecting more and earlier fire eruptions. But our political focus has moved from climate change to the financial havoc being wreaked by United States President Donald Trump on the world economy.

The lack of focus on climate action has environmentalists frustrated. They are trying to figure out how to get the issue of global warming back on the global agenda.

Some of them have gone elsewhere.

The other big news last week was that renowned Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested by the Israeli military for entering a no-go zone in an attempt to bring food and medical supplies to Gaza.

Thunberg and 11 others were sailing on the Madleen in an effort to get supplies to Palestinians. The Israeli government reported that the group had few supplies on board, and this was instead a “selfie yacht of celebrities” carrying out “Instagram activism.”

Gazans who have been reporting massive food and medicine shortages would have appreciated the efforts of the sailors who were part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

As it stands, Thunberg was deported and, as a result, will be prevented from returning to Israel or Gaza.

But the strange twist to this story is that Thunberg used to be the voice for global warming.

As a teenager back in 2019, Thunberg got the attention of world leaders, calling them out at climate gatherings for the “Blah, blah, blah” approach of talking while doing nothing.

Now she seems to have moved on to other issues, with her ongoing focus on the politics of the Middle East.

COVID forced the world into small personal bubbles, but it also meant a slowdown of global warming because house confinement prompted a world drop in fossil fuel consumption.

The pandemic resulted in an immediate decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution literally within a few weeks of the shutdown.

It also changed some habits forever, permitting employees to work at home more frequently, thereby reducing their environmental footprint permanently.

But the gains made by the pandemic and the former public interest in environmental changes appear to be lagging badly.

Thunberg doesn’t seem engaged.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first political action was to cancel the cost of carbon pricing to consumers. It had been effectively labelled by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as a carbon tax, and was seen to be politically toxic on the eve of an election.

Carney definitely took the wind out of Poilievre’s sails, and he is now speaking about Canada’s capacity to be an energy and environmental powerhouse globally.

The prime minister has experience marrying the two. In his previous life at Brookfield, his company focused on sustainable practices with a view to creating current and future value for investors.

He was part of an international group promoting solutions for global warming, which he hopes to apply to Canadian government environmental policies.

The call for a major national energy corridor has certainly impressed Canadians, especially Albertans, who seem to have taken a new shine to the prime minister.

His promise to achieve it with full Indigenous and provincial consensus is more than ambitious.

Meanwhile the environmental interest that we experienced before the pandemic has disappeared. Even the sale of electric cars has stalled, in part as a backlash to Trump adviser Elon Musk. But time is running out.

The world needs to be seized of the emergency at hand. With thousands of hectares of our own country burning, we need to reignite global interest in finding an energy solution.

Otherwise, Canada will keep on burning.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By SHEILA COPPS
First published in The Hill Times on May 21, 2018.

OTTAWA—Thank you Donald Trump. A Middle East powder keg erupted last week with a split-screen shot that said it all.

The juxtaposition was so glaring that the Economist cover story had this to say: “In a surreal split-screen moment, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was exulting over the opening of America’s embassy in Jerusalem, calling it a “great day for peace.” The other television split screen shot involved an up-close view of many shots. Israeli military snipers picked off specific targets including personnel from Doctors Without Borders, who had gathered to provide medical support at an expected massive Gaza protest.

Trump’s on-screen triumph included his daughter and son-in-law, accompanied by a motley group of administration officials, Trump fundraisers and Christian zealots, all applauding his decision to move the embassy to west Jerusalem. Missing were most diplomats from other countries, some of whom boycotted, while others were simply not invited.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of protesters had gathered at the frontier to protest the embassy move and mark the 70th anniversary of what they call Nakba, or day of catastrophe, when the creation of the State of Israel displaced more than 700,000 Palestinians.

News reports say that more than 60 people were killed, incuding a baby overcome by tear gas. The New York Times later reported the baby who died had also suffered from a congenital heart disease and The Associated Press quoted an unnamed doctor who believed the cause of her death was a heart ailment, not Israeli tear gas. London, Ont., physician, Dr. Tarek Loubani, was shot in both legs. More than 2,700 Palestinians were injured, including 1,359 hit by live ammunition.

Israel blamed the deaths on Hamas, suggesting it was only defending its borders from terrorist attacks. The White House backed that viewpoint. Principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah called the demonstrations “a propaganda attempt” orchestrated by Hamas.” “I think the Israeli government has spent weeks trying to handle this without violence, and we find it very unfortunate.”

Most of the world community used much stronger language, condemning the unwarranted use of excessive violence by the Israeli military. United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May, usually a staunch defender of Israel, has called for an independent inquiry into the use of live ammunition against civilians.

Meanwhile, Canada’s prime minister added his voice to those calling for a probe, characterizing the use of “excessive violence” as “inexcusable.”

Even the Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson admitted the images were a public relations “knockout” for the Palestinians. “It was a graphic image,” Lt.-Col. Jonathan Conricus, a senior officer in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, was reported to have said Wednesday. “The amount of people hit did us an immense wrong. It was a difficult story to tell.”

The longest-running Israeli newspaper, left-leaning Haaretz, published an opinion piece that pulled no punches. Anyone who isn’t ashamed of what should already be called the “Trump Massacre” should be. Let anyone who is not ashamed be ashamed at the wanton firing at unarmed demonstrators while the VIPs, the leaders, the lords and masters and the rabbis attend a vacuous and tasteless celebration.”

The celebration guest list highlighted a bizarre mix of movers and shakers in the Trump coalition. Invitees included an evangelical Christian pastor who once claimed Jews “can’t be saved.”

Fox News reported in advance of the ceremony that Rev. Robert Jeffress’s prayer would include “thanking God for our President Donald Trump, who had the courage to do what no other U.S. president has done, and that is to officially recognize Jerusalem and to move the embassy.”

In the past, Jeffress has labelled Mormonism and Islam “a heresy from the pit of Hell” and claimed that Islam “promotes pedophilia.” Mitt Romney, a Mormon and Republican 2012 presidential candidate, criticized the inclusion of Jeffress in the ceremony. “Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem,” he tweeted.

Guest Rev. John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, has characterized Adolf Hitler as a “hunter” sent to help Jews return to Israel. Hagee and Jeffress believe last week’s return to Jerusalem sets the stage for the Apocalypse.

The bizarre juxtaposition of death and celebration was no accident. Israeli Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Information Gilad Erdan defended the deaths, telling Ynet News: “We need to go back to targeted killings, and they need to go back to hiding underground and fearing for their lives, not organizing the masses to carry out terror attacks.”

Erdan added, “It’s time for the heads of Hamas to pay a personal price for organizing these terror attacks.”

That may have been his intention. At this juncture it appears that innocent civilians and first responders were the ones who paid the price.

The Hill Times Editor’s note: This column had originally reported the U.S. embassy moved to East Jerusalem, but it was moved to west Jerusalem. As well, The New York Times reported the baby who died had also suffered from a congenital heart disease.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.