Learn about some of the Ecology Action Centre's past politics and policy-related projects and initiatives!
2025 Canada Federal Election
2025 Canada Federal Election
Canada is holding a federal election on April 28, 2025. While tariffs, the economy and our very sovereignty are on our minds this election, the ties that bind us together as a country run deeper: iconic landscapes, clean air and water, fairness for everyone and hope for future generations.
Voter Toolkit
This election is an opportunity to help shape the priorities of our country. Right now, it is crucial to talk to your friends and family and engage with your political candidates on the issues that you care about.
The EAC has published a voter toolkit to help you have some of those important conversations. Get your copy of the toolkit here!
The topics in this toolkit are areas where the EAC has ongoing work and where we have identified clear federal actions that could be done quickly to have meaningful impacts on our communities. Given the growing polarization of political discourse, we have also included a section with tips for having difficult conversations with people who may not share your viewpoint.
Environment Pledges
16 of Canada's leading environmental organizations sent questionnaires to the federal political parties. A summary of responses received from four of the five main parties are reproduced on this page (one party did not respond). For detailed responses to each question from each party, click here.
Summary of Responses
2024 Nova Scotia Provincial Election
2024 Nova Scotia Provincial Election
Nova Scotia held a provincial election on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024.
The many crises facing Nova Scotia – from the high cost of living to polarization to environmental degradation – are interconnected. It is critical that our political leadership has the courage, clear plans and resolve to respond to these crises in a way that prioritizes care for all our communities and the ecosystems that sustain us.  
Platform Analysis
The Ecology Action Centre (EAC) has reviewed available party platforms, election promises made on the campaign trail and responses to community organization surveys to provide a picture of where each party stands on a variety of environmental, biodiversity and climate issues. Read the platform analysis here.
This analysis is not an endorsement of any of Nova Scotia’s political parties or their candidates and is not a reflection of their previous work on the environment.  
Voter Toolkit
The EAC has published a voter toolkit to help you engage your candidates and have conversations on climate, biodiversity and environmental justice. This election season, make the environment part of the conversation! View the voter toolkit here.
2024 Nova Scotia Municipal Elections
2024 Nova Scotia Municipal Elections
All Nova Scotia municipalities will held municipal elections on Oct. 19, 2024. The results of these 2024 elections will set the tone of locally based environmental action for the next four years. You can help make climate and environmental justice top election issues and help build your community around sustainability.
Voter Toolkits
For the 2024 municipal elections, the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) has prepared toolkits for voters, including summaries on key environmental issues, questions to ask candidates and what to listen for in their responses.
Find the toolkit for Halifax Regional Municipality here, the toolkit for rural municipalities here and the toolkit for Cape Breton Regional Municipality here.
HRM Candidate Survey
The EAC asked candidates running in the 2024 municipal election in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) seven questions about some of the key environmental and social issues in the area. Read their responses below!
Please note: HRM electoral districts have changed for the 2024 election. See the updated district boundaries here, or search for your address using an interactive look-up tool here.
Candidates for Mayor
- Bob Anders did not complete the survey
- Alex Andreas's survey response
- David Boyd's survey response
- Sean Dibbin did not complete the survey
- Ryan Dodge did not complete the survey
- Andy Fillmore's survey response
- Greg Frampton's survey response
- Andrew Goodsell's survey response
- Nolan Greenough's survey response
- Jim Hoskins' survey response
- Darryl Johnson's survey response
- Zoran Jokic's survey response
- Pam Lovelace's survey response
- Waye Mason's survey response
- Riley Murphy's survey response
- Ross Rankin's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 1 (Waverley - Fall River - Musquodoboit Valley)
- Chris Balcom did not complete the survey
- Cathy Deagle Gammon did not complete the survey
- Angela Dennison's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 2 (Lawrencetown - The Lakes - Chezzetcook - Eastern Shore)
- Will Gilligan did not complete the survey
- David Hendsbee's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 3 (Dartmouth South - Woodside - Eastern Passage)
- Becky Kent did not complete the survey
- Keith Morrison's survey response
- John Paul's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 4 (Cole Harbour - Preston - Westphal - Cherry Brook)
- James Aalders did not complete the survey
- Joe Colley's survey response
- Nicole Johnson did not complete the survey
- Trish Purdy did not complete the survey
Candidates for Councillor, District 5 (Dartmouth Centre)
Candidates for Councillor, District 6 (Dartmouth East - Burnside)
Candidates for Councillor, District 7 (Halifax South Downtown)
- William Breckenridge's survey response
- Cathy Cervin's survey response
- Andrea Hilchie-Pye's survey response
- Aodhan P. Murphy did not complete the survey
- Peter Sonnichsen's survey response
- Laura White's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 8 (Halifax Peninsula North)
- Trayvone Clayton did not complete the survey
- Evyeneia Dexter's survey response
- David Fright did not complete the survey
- Jon Frost's survey response
- Virginia Hinch's survey response
- Stephen MacKay's survey response
- Anika Riopel's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 9 (Halifax West - Armdale)
- Josh Beitel's survey response
- Shawn Cleary's survey response
- Lara Cusson's survey response
- Valar Kaliaperumal did not complete the survey
- Tonya Malay did not complete the survey
- Carlos Pessoa's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 10 (Halifax - Bedford Basin West)
- Debbi MacKinnon did not complete the survey
- Kathryn Morse's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 11 (Spryfield - Sambro Loop)
- Patty Cuttell's survey response
- Bruce Holland did not complete the survey
- Nathan Parker's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 12 (Timberlea - Beechville - Clayton Park - Wedgewood)
- Taqi Hashmi's survey response
- Julie Scott's survey response
- Janet Steele's survey response
- Iona Stoddard's survey response
- Richard Zurawski's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 13 (Prospect Road - St. Margarets)
- Markus Critchley did not complete the survey
- Nancy Hartling's survey response
- Robert Holden's survey response
- Michael A. Marriott did not complete the survey
- Dustin O'Leary did not complete the survey
- Dawn Edith Penney did not complete the survey
- John Profit did not complete the survey
Candidates for Councillor, District 14 (Hammonds Plains - Upper Hammonds Plains - Lucasville - Middle & Upper Sackville)
- Edward Giles' survey response
- John Martin Walker did not complete the survey
- John A. Young's survey response
Candidates for Councillor, District 15 (Lower Sackville - Beaver Bank)
Candidates for Councillor, District 16 (Bedford - Wentworth)
- Mohammed Issa did not complete the survey
- Anita Kirkbride's survey response
- Scott Maskell did not complete the survey
- Prathibha Narasimhan's survey response
- Aaron Rice's survey response
- Jean St-Amand's survey response
2021 Nova Scotia Provincial Election
2021 Nova Scotia Provincial Election
As we face the intersecting crises of climate change, rising inequity and biodiversity loss, we don’t have time for leaders who are stuck in outdated ways of thinking about our environment and our economy. We need true leadership and political will to protect the communities and ecosystems we all love and rely on and ensure a future where everyone living in Mi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia can thrive.
We need leaders that do more than make empty promises. We need an ambitious vision for our future and concrete steps for how to achieve it. In 2021, we demanded No More B.S.
No more B.S.
What did we mean by No More B.S.? Aside from the obvious, we simply meant No More Bad Stuff! No more Big Subsidies to corporations that threaten our environment and our climate. No more Bad Stewardship of the natural spaces we love. No more Burning Stuff like fossil fuels and biomass. No more Bad Salmon farming threatening our marine ecosystems. No more Backwards Systems that fail to take care of our communities.
EAC’s Four Asks
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Bold Climate Plan - We have a legislated target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 53 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Getting there means: 90 per cent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2030, targets and incentives must exist for electric vehicles and investments made in energy efficiency and building retrofits. Money spent on outdated industries that threaten our climate and the long-term stability of our economy like offshore oil and gas, large scale biomass, and natural gas must stop.
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Resilient Communities - In an increasingly unstable climate, our communities need to be adaptive and resilient. This means investing in vibrant and accessible local food systems and active transportation, and integrating climate adaptation concerns in all decision-making across all government departments. It means that our coastal communities are protected from sea-level rise and that all municipalities are provided with adequate funding to implement their municipal climate action plans.
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Healthy Ecosystems - To ensure a livable and sustainable future, we need to do more to protect the ecosystems we all rely on. This means increasing protected areas, reforming our forestry practices, and banning harmful industries that threaten our province’s biodiversity like open-net pen aquaculture and large-scale biomass burning.
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No One Left Behind - We must ensure that all our communities are given the support they need to thrive, and that we all benefit from the transition to a green economy. This means creating thousands of good, green jobs and a just transition for workers, updating environmental decision-making processes to include a race-equity lens, and ensuring all provincial laws are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
All Party Debate
Before the last provincial election in 2021, the EAC, Sierra Club Atlantic Canada Chapter and the Council of Canadians hosted a debate to hear the view of each pollical party on critical issues related to the climate and biodiversity crises.
The debate was held at the Ummah Mosque and Community Centre in Halifax and live-streamed on YouTube. Opening remarks were delivered by Maggy Burns, EAC Executive Director. The moderator was Sheldon MacLeod, journalist and host with Saltwire.com.
Additional Resources
Party Platform Analysis
We've reviewed available environmental party platforms to provide an objective picture of where each party stands on critical environmental, biodiversity and climate issues.  
The targets and promises of each of the parties are taken from their platforms and/or websites, except where otherwise indicated. Click here to read the full Party Platform Analysis from the 2021 provincial election.
2020 Nova Scotia Municipal Elections
2020 Nova Scotia Municipal Elections
In HRM, there was unanimous adoption of the Halifax Green Network Plan and climate change action plan. This, as well as the unprecedented community support for climate, nature, and sustainability that was witnessed through the climate marches, support for Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes Regional Park, and the success of the Shaw Wilderness Park, have shown that now is the time to be ambitious and committed to building our community sustainably.
To help our community engage candidates, we've put together toolkits for voters no matter where they live in the province.
Municipal Election Toolkits
HRM Election Toolkit
Our 2020 Election Toolkit featured significant environmental issues, sample emails and questions, and key information for voters in the region. Click here to view the Toolkit.
Election Toolkit (Outside of HRM)
Our 2020 Toolkit was designed to provide a starting point to raise awareness for environmental issues in your community and assist your future elected representatives to take environmental action outside of HRM. Click here to view the Toolkit.
Survey of Candidates for HRM Election
In the last municipal election, we sent a survey to all HRM candidates. The survey provided an opportunity for candidates to pledge support for some of the major environmental and social issues affecting our region.