Honourable senators, I address you with the same motivation that brought me to this chamber nine years ago, when I gave my first speech in honour of Earth Day and shared my belief that, without nature, we have no city, no society and no nation. When His Majesty King Charles III opened the Forty-fifth Parliament, he reminded us once again of our responsibility to be good stewards of the earth, to protect its inhabitants and to guide our country through times of uncertainty and times of opportunity, such as this historic moment.

In 2017, I said that our country was on the cusp of a renaissance that would enable Canada to become a leader, not through conquest or domination, but through wisdom, fairness and harmony with nature. This renaissance is no longer a distant vision. It is now an urgent necessity.

The King’s speech acknowledged the strength of our diversity and our institutions, as well as the major challenges that lie ahead. Still, I have to ask you this: Are our ambitions equal to the planetary crises we face, including global warming, ocean acidification, environmental degradation and the collapse of biodiversity, at a time when citizens are losing confidence in democracy? Let’s use the King’s speech as an opportunity to reflect honestly on the situation.

Despite decades of scientific warnings, the ecological emergency has only intensified. Record wildfires are now raging, scarring our forests. Our cities have suffocated under smoke and heat domes. In 2021, 619 people died during the B.C. extreme heat dome.

The phenomenon of overwintering fires is becoming an increasingly common occurrence. These are existing wildfires that “. . . move underground and slumber throughout the winter months . . .” before resurfacing in the following spring. The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire and the 2024 Jasper wildfire exceeded $6 billion and $1 billion in insured losses, respectively. Last year, insured losses caused by extreme weather events were calculated at over $9 billion. This year, we have already exceeded the $5-billion mark.

In our Prairie provinces and territories, rivers run dry and ice roads have shorter service time. Our oceans are transforming from cradles of life to acidifying vaults of carbon. Each of these changes is measurable, predictable, preventable and profoundly unjust. They result from a broken system of the unsustainable extraction of natural resources, industrial pollution and an outdated linear economy that treats nature as a limitless warehouse and dumping site rather than as our living sacred space.

I stand here before you to say that there is another way. It is one that does not sacrifice our children’s future for quarterly profits. It is one that recognizes that our greatest source of wealth does not involve selling our natural resources, but instead the various kinds of knowledge our society possesses, the care we feel and give to fellow citizens and the love of, and admiration for, the land itself.

The Speech from the Throne alluded to economic transformation, calling for the largest economic shift since the Second World War. I wholeheartedly welcome this framing. This ambition must be matched with clear vision. This transformation must go beyond GDP growth or global competitiveness. We need a new economy, grounded in the following five interwoven pillars:

the care economy, in which caregiving and health are not viewed as expenses but as foundational investments in human and societal resilience;

the circular economy, in which waste becomes a resource and materials are reused, remanufactured and repurposed;

the knowledge economy, in which education, research, science and the arts are central to innovation and social progress, and in which artificial intelligence is used to increase quality of life for all and not as a tool to manipulate society;

the restoration economy, in which past harms and ecological debt are actively repaired, creating jobs and healing communities; and

the regenerative economy, in which we do not merely sustain ecosystems but enhance them, restoring soils, rewilding lands and reviving oceans.

These new economic models offer a break from the colonial extractive economy and open the door to true partnerships, benefitting the whole of society as they uplift Indigenous knowledge, science and lived experience, restore ecosystems and heal communities thereby advancing both reconciliation and planetary sustainability.

A true transformation requires not only deep decarbonization but also a dismantling of systemic environmental injustice. We must reject economic models that extract wealth from people and nature to concentrate it in the hands of the very few. As seen in the past, inequality is rising as wealth and power become concentrated among the elite, leaving many behind. This fuels frustration, erodes trust in our institutions and deepens social divisions. These conditions breed civil unrest and weaken democracy by undermining participation, legitimacy and social cohesion.

The Throne Speech reaffirmed the government’s commitment to reconciliation. But let us remember this: Reconciliation is not a project to be administered; it is a relationship to be restored.

I commend the increase of the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, and I urge that it be paired with long-term investments in governance capacity, language revitalization, land return and cultural healing.

Let us listen to Indigenous peoples who have stewarded these lands for millennia. Their knowledge systems offer not only insight but wisdom about wildfires, water management, biodiversity and balance. We cannot hope to solve the ecological crisis without Indigenous leadership at the centre. Free, prior and informed consent must not be reduced to a check box. It must guide every major infrastructure decision and must be embedded in law, policy and economic planning.

Senators, this is no time to be timid. As authoritarian regimes gain traction and political instability spreads, including the very real threat posed by Donald Trump’s United States, we must defend democratic principles. Totalitarianism thrives on fear, disinformation and the influence of the inflationary finite resource sectors. It denies climate science, undermines international cooperation and leverages hatred and mistrust to divide societies. It is a threat not only to environmental protection, but to peace itself.

Canada must not follow; it must lead by example. We must be the beacon of an inclusive and pluralist democracy governed by evidence-based policies and guided by fairness.

The Speech from the Throne includes pledges to speed up major project approvals, reduce barriers and create national housing strategies. While these goals are laudable and necessary, we must take care not to sacrifice ecosystems or the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples on the altar of haste. “One project, one review” makes good sense, but the review must be exhaustive, public, scientific and genuinely participatory.

Let’s not forget the painful lessons of Lac-Mégantic, Grassy Narrows and the tar sands tailings pond spills, all instances of haste, poor preparation and lack of transparency leading to devastating and irreparable damage.

If we want to build thousands of housing units and become an energy superpower, we’ll need to make sure that those housing units are built to last and that they are climate resilient, affordable, energy efficient and, most importantly, designed with nature in mind.

When the Senate adopted the amended Impact Assessment Act and the National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Act, we recognized the importance of impact assessments, the need to conduct regional assessments linking cause and effect, and the duty to meaningfully consult Indigenous populations.

When I arrived in Canada over four decades ago — I feel old — I brought with me a tenacious hope for science, for fairness and for progress. That hope still remains very much alive inside me. But in this age of disinformation and short-term thinking, we must renew our commitment to education — not only technical but also civic, environmental and mainly ethical.

The scientific method is our compass through uncertainty. It teaches us to ask hard questions, test assumptions, revise our way of thinking and change our path in light of new evidence. We need that spirit now more than ever. We must empower youth with knowledge. We must support researchers and public interest science. And we must create shrewd policy that is not reactive but proactive — that is based on foresight, not just hindsight.

To this end, Canada would be wise to adopt science-based recommendations as the next steps of our national climate action plan: strengthening Canada’s methane emissions regulations; granting rights to nature to ensure our ecosystems and rivers benefit from the same legal protections as corporations; increasing funding for science and research to promote innovation in Canada to foster resilience; and promoting sustainable finance because without aligning capital flows with crises solutions, we won’t progress but keep regressing. Canada is not keeping pace with our peers. If we want to strengthen our ties with Europe, the Commonwealth and even Asia, sustainable finance is an imperative.

Honourable colleagues, I am an engineer, and I work with constraints. I know what it means to build under pressure, but I also know this: If we design wisely, we can build structures that endure the passage of time. Together, let us design and build a Canada that is innovative while regenerative, not only extractive; a Canada that does not fear the end of pollutant energy but embraces the rise of a biosphere economy; a Canada that does not see nature as a backdrop but as a partner; and a Canada that reconciles with its past by securing a just and livable future for all.

Let us not lead with platitudes but with purpose. Let us show the world that democracy, decency and determination can overcome crisis and fear. Let us move from resilience to regeneration and from rhetoric to concrete results. For the sake of all life that breathes under this northern sky, let us act now with courage, clarity and care. Thank you. Meegwetch.