We need to think of climate change and mass extinction as part of the DNA of all the other economic, social, and environmental issues and concerns we face. Climate breakdown and mass extinction are not issues related only to fossil fuels or the energy sector. They are the consequences of failures of policy in every aspect of our government. Canada's federal support of animal agriculture, forestry, overfishing, and the chemical and mining industries are heating the planet and killing us. Climate breakdown and mass extinction result from our expectation that an endless growth economy is possible; it is not. We need federal leaders who will help Canadians transition away from climate-destroying and biodiversity-killing industries. We need federal leaders who will educate our citizens about the climate, health, and poverty-ending benefits of a plant-based diet and lifestyle. Climate breakdown and mass extinction cannot be solved with a few minor tweaks to longstanding domestic and international trade policies or by carbon credits or an emissions tax.

Proposing haphazard or disjointed climate and biodiversity protection policies won't stop mass extinction and climate breakdown. The policies of the main four parties will not lead to the deep environmental and social changes we need to take in Canada and globally to stop climate change and biodiversity loss.