Green Party co-leader in Yukon to pitch national civil defence corps

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 31, 2025 8:16 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Federal Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault was successful Whitehorse connected Monday, pitching a program to physique a 120,000-person civilian defence corps, and grow Canada's reserve forces.

Pedneault called it a "whole-of-society effort to physique resilience, support our ideology and fortify our communities."

Referring to wildfires, a changing climate, "new geopolitical responsibility lines" and that mysterious balloon that was changeable down implicit Yukon a mates of years ago, Pedneault said it's wide that Canada is "no longer harmless successful the ways that it utilized to be." 

Speaking astatine a quality league alongside the party's section campaigner Gabrielle Dupont, Pedneault described a nationalist civilian defence corps of "well-paid jobs" and precedence hiring for former lipid and state assemblage workers displaced by a determination toward a greener economy. 

"We privation to person a a large unit of workers that is dispersed each crossed the state that tin run arsenic independently arsenic imaginable with good-paying jobs and salaries from the national government, and a wide work to look aft the assemblage and beryllium stewards of exigency preparedness," helium said.

He besides projected escaped civilian defence grooming for immoderate Canadian who wants it.

"Every Canadian, young oregon old, volition person entree if they privation to basic exigency preparedness skills, archetypal aid, cyber security, situation effect — so that nary 1 should beryllium near down successful lawsuit of a blackout, a wildfire oregon a integer breach," helium said.

He besides promised optional defence skills grooming for "tens of thousands" of Canadians, specified arsenic firearms training, endurance techniques, and tactical archetypal aid.

"These are tools not conscionable for struggle — and that's important to onslaught and stress — but they are tools for resilience, for helping neighbours, and for starring successful times of crisis," helium said.

"Canada lags down its antiauthoritarian allies successful presumption of civilian readiness."

Pedneault besides promised to grow Canada's reserve forces by 20,000 people, to money the enlargement of the Canadian Rangers, overhaul the Canadian Service Corps. for youth, and to "place Inuit, Dene, Gwich'in, and different Indigenous nations astatine the bosom of our Arctic Indigenous strategy." 

Pedneault argued that the party's program is "not a telephone for militarization," but astir assemblage readiness.

He besides acknowledged that the ambitious program volition outgo "tens of billions" of dollars, astatine a clip erstwhile different parties are calling for fiscal restraint. Pedneault argues that present is not the clip to chopped national spending, but alternatively to cod much taxation from large business. 

"It is important to recognize the situation that we're in," said Pedneault.  

"We request Canadians to cognize that the authorities is determination to assistance them get done these hard times, truthful that Canadians are consenting and acceptable to service erstwhile Canada needs them. And that clip whitethorn travel precise soon."

'On the beforehand lines'

Dupont, the party's Yukon candidate, argued that the North is "on the beforehand lines."

"We're connected the beforehand lines of clime change, we're connected the beforehand lines of vigor self-sufficiency, and we're connected the beforehand lines of Arctic geopolitics. Let's beryllium acceptable for these challenges," she said.

The Green Party has struggled to summation a important foothold successful the Yukon, finishing 5th successful the riding successful the 2021 predetermination with conscionable 4 per cent of the vote. The party's best-ever showing in the territory was in 2011, erstwhile campaigner John Streicker — present a furniture curate successful the territory's Liberal authorities — finished 3rd with 18 per cent of the vote.

Pedneault is the archetypal national enactment person to sojourn the Yukon, oregon immoderate of the territories, during this national campaign. 

Liberal Leader Mark Carney visited Iqaluit arsenic premier curate earlier this month, earlier the predetermination call, to denote plans for a caller early-warning radar strategy for the Arctic, on with different infrastructure investments.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre besides visited Iqaluit earlier the predetermination call.

Singh announced during his sojourn earlier this period that his enactment would cancel Canada's declaration to bargain U.S.-built F-35s and look for companies to physique combatant jets successful Canada.

Poilievre, during his sojourn successful February, said his enactment would double the size of the Canadian Ranger unit and physique a imperishable subject basal successful the Nunavut capital.