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Workers Over Billionaires & Stop The War, Support Workers They Gave Us Weekends, Lady Liberty with Distressed US, Gay Pride, & Palestinian Flags, Morons Are Governing America.

Pooja Kishinani and Satakshi Gupta

An interview with visual artist Anuja Dasgupta, whose practice sits at the intersection of eco-art, ethnobotany and community. Using plant-based emulsions, cameraless photography, and repurposed wood, she creates art that refuses to represent the land, …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 1, 2026

The eight-hour workday. Voting rights. Desegregated buses and schools. Every hard-won right Californians depend on today came from people who organized, refused to accept the status quo, and fought back.

In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions made a declaration: in five years, workers across the country would strike on May 1 for an eight-hour workday.  No guarantee of success—and no central command to make it happen. The idea spread anyway, city to city, carried by ordinary workers who organized locally and walked off of the job together. At Haymarket Square in Chicago, workers paid for that defiance with their lives. The movement grew anyway. They won, and May 1 became the international workers’ celebration, May Day.

That is the spirit that drives Public Advocates. For 55 years, we have combined civil rights litigation, policy advocacy, and deep partnership with grassroots communities to challenge the laws and power structures that lock low-income communities and communities of color out of good schools, stable housing, and reliable transit. We do this because rights declared on paper mean nothing without power behind them—and power is built through sustained organizing and coordinated struggle over time. That is how we win resourced schools, renter protections, and transit systems that serve the people who need these most.

That work has never been more urgent.

California is the fourth-largest economy in the world. The people who built it—teachers, nurses, farmworkers, transit workers, essential workers of every kind—are being pushed out of it. The Tenant Protection Act, the state’s primary shield against extreme rent hikes and unjust evictions, expires in 2030. Tens of thousands of affordable homes sit approved but unfinanced. Students in under-resourced school facilities are still denied what the law guarantees. This is not a series of policy failures. It is a system working exactly as it was designed—to concentrate wealth in the hands of a few rather than spreading it to include the people who make this state run.

We know it can be different today because we have seen it. In Minnesota years of cross-racial organizing produced the 2023“Minnesota Miracle,”— a single legislative session that delivered a billion dollars in affordable housing, free school meals for every child, expanded voting rights, paid family leave, and protections for workers and immigrant communities. This past January 23, that same coalition drove a massive ICE presence out of Minneapolis through peaceful community action. It didn’t happen by accident. It happened because people built power—across race, across issues, across years—together.

That is the work of May Day. That is the work of Public Advocates.

This May Day we recommit to the California that should exist—where the people who built this economy can afford to stay here, where every child has a school worthy of their potential, and where no community’s future depends on the goodwill of those in power.

Power isn’t given. It’s built. We’re building it.

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Public Advocates Inc. is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing, transportation equity, and climate justice.

The post Statement: Public Advocates Stands with Workers and Communities Fighting For a Just California on May Day appeared first on Public Advocates.

April 30, 2026—LAist reporter Mariana Dale spoke with Senior Staff Attorney Alicia Virani about Miliani Rodriguez v. California, Public Advocates’ lawsuit challenging California’s inequitable distribution of Prop 2 school modernization funds. Virani explains why the firm filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in March—and why low-wealth districts facing asbestos, leaks, and toxic mold can’t afford to wait for the next bond measure. A hearing is scheduled for May 20.

Read the Story

The post LAIST: California voters greenlit billions of dollars to fix schools. How much has it helped? As schools age, the requests for modernization funding exceed the funding available.As schools age, the requests for modernization funding exceed the funding available. appeared first on Public Advocates.

This profile is part of an ongoing series that introduces members of CalCAN’s newly formed Stewardship Council. The Stewardship Council serves...

The post CalCAN Stewardship Council Profile: Thomas Nelson appeared first on CalCAN - California Climate & Agriculture Network.

For years, farmers and ranchers in the state have been facing rising costs of inputs. Now, as a consequence of the...

The post New Bill Aims to Support CA Farmers Facing Fertilizer and Water Shortages  appeared first on CalCAN - California Climate & Agriculture Network.

The guest blog by Michael Happ of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) below provides an overview of what...

The post USDA’s new Regenerative Agriculture Initiative: A step forward or greenwashing? appeared first on CalCAN - California Climate & Agriculture Network.

Now that science has seen the light, waves of possibility spread out over farm fields and high-tech labs.

On April 8, dairy producers and advocates from CalCAN and the California Dairy Campaign met with more than twenty legislative offices...

The post Dairy Producers Show Policymakers that AMMP Funding is Critical to Meeting Methane Reduction Goals and Staying Viable in California appeared first on CalCAN - California Climate & Agriculture Network.

Hi there

After a brief period of hiatus we’re very happy to announce that we will be returning to regular programing on May Day, May 1 at 1pm EST for a webinar on protecting workers’ safety in the climate crisis.

Our panelists, to be announced shortly, will speak about the vital work trade unions do to protect workers from rising temperatures, new pollutants and other stresses on the job and what they are doing to ensure that their members are safe.

We will have a Zoom link to RSVP shortly but if you would like to discuss joining the panel, please reach out to convener@greeneonnet.ca

See you there.

Our Guests:

Alex Callahan: National Director of Health, Safety and Environment with the Canadian Labour Congress.

 Anne Tennier: President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety 

Roger Duffy: Health & Safety Representative Canadian Union of Public Employees

Registration info:

You are invited to register for a Zoom webinar!

When: May 1, 2026 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Topic:  Green Economy Network

Register in advance for this webinar.

See you there

Ahead of COP30, climate scientists called out governments for  retreating on emissions reduction measures in the face of a deepening climate emergency – and, with the 2025 budget, Canada’s government signalled its intent to do the same.

In a pre-COP30 brief, Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin announced her government’s intent to “to advance international efforts to address climate change” on the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. Yet, the same government has expressed ambivalence towards the Paris Agreement’s targets, with Mark Carney previously stating that he is more interested in “results rather than targets and investments rather than bans.” 

Given these inconsistent positions, how serious is the Canadian government really about addressing the climate crisis? What direction is the Carney government heading?

One of the biggest challenges of finding clarity in Canada’s climate policy is cutting through the technical minutiae that often obscures politics and policy. Behind the targets, agreements, policy papers, press conferences and, apparently, COP30 branded cruise ships, it is difficult for anyone to see what has actually been accomplished.

Under the Paris Agreement, Canada committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to a maximum of 440 megatonnes by 2030. The 2024 emissions data shows that Canada remains stalled at 694 megatonnes and is not on track to meet its target. This kind of failure appears to present two options for the Carney government: perform better or promise less. 

The new budget’s Climate Competitiveness Strategy cancels climate rules and initiatives, while cutting billions of dollars in planned program spending in favor of tax credits and corporate subsidies. What counts for climate competitiveness in this budget are tax credits for liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities and carbon capture schemes, totalling $325 million over the next five years.

Programs that were intended to either monitor pollution or store emissions to meet Canada’s Paris Agreement targets are all facing cuts as part of Carney’s austerity and investment plan.  Environment and Climate Change Canada is expected to take a $1.3 billion cut in annual program spending by 2030. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and the Canada Water Agency – federal regulators meant to safeguard the environment – are also facing cuts. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s $3 billion plan to plant two billion trees, a legacy program meant to build a potential carbon sink to help reduce future emissions, has also been scrapped by Carney’s budget. 

Carney has signalled that the levies polluters pay as part of the industrial carbon price, where the average industry pays the comparatively-low price of $8.40 per tonne of emissions, may not increase despite the commitment needed to meet Paris Agreement targets. Somehow, the federal government is also confident that the planned oil and gas emissions cap will “no longer be required” even though data from the Parliamentary Budget Officer stated clearly that, in the absence of the cap, “upstream oil and gas emissions will exceed the legal upper bound” by 2030.

Capping upstream emissions from production activities, i.e from the extraction of fossil fuels, without capping the actual volume of oil and gas going to market was always questionable. But now Carney’s budget is combining talk of real climate action with commitments to “maximise carbon value for money” and “protect the competitiveness of oil and gas.” Even if one understands this charitably, it would seem to preclude any plan to seriously reduce total emissions any further. One can have the cleanest oil extraction process in the world, but if the actual volume of fossil fuels getting burned remains constant or increases, say, in the interest of maximizing carbon value for money, it’s a rather moot point. Total emissions will still rise, the climate crisis will intensify and the poorest in the world will bear the brunt of the costs.

When Carney promised a budget of “sacrifice” he clearly did not mean a sacrifice for energy company owners. What this does mean, however, is sacrifice for Canadians in the form of cuts to programs, cuts to public sector jobs, and climate inaction.

This page exists to bring together progressive policy organizations’ responses to the 2025 federal budget. Keep an eye on this page, as it will continue to be updated in the coming days.

Commentary and analysis 

Post-election budget could plunge Canada into another federal election by Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives

Oil and gas trumps climate action in brutal federal budget by Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood (National Observer)

Organizational responses

Basic Income Canada Network 

Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness

Canadian Arts Coalition

Canadian Housing and Renewal Association

Canadian Labour Congress | Congrès du travail du Canada

Canadian Mental Health Association

Canadian for Tax Fairness

Centre for Future Work

Child Care Now

Cooperation Canada | Coopération Canada

Generation Squeeze

Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomiques

Migrant Rights Network

National Union of Public and General Employees

National Right to Housing Network

Nature Canada

Public Service Alliance of Canada | L’Alliance de la Fonction publique du Canada

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada | L’Institut professionnel de la fonction publique du Canada

Right To Food

Unifor | Unifor (Français)

Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives Senior Researcher and GEN board member Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood was on CPAC, this week.

He discussed the failures of Canada’s existing EV subsidy scheme and the path to building up Canada’s green industrial capacity.

See the video, below.

WELCOME TO COMMUNITY REPORTS BY CCC’S RESEARCH JUSTICE INSTITUTE! WE’VE LAUNCHED THIS NEW SERIES TO PROVIDE A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR RESEARCH EFFORTS AND HELP DEMYSTIFY THE WORLD OF DATA. in this edition, our summer Intern Meilin Beloney unpacks key terms and topics at the heart of research justice.  Research justice 101: Key terms and readings to know

“Research justice” can sound like a big concept, but at its core it’s about valuing the lived experiences and desires of marginalized community members as essential pieces of evidence and data. Incorporating it into your research practices means ensuring meaningful community participation in every step of the research process. Furthermore, research justice centers the desires of communities as key to understanding their circumstances, rather than relying on narratives that present communities as broken or as problems (i.e., deficit narratives). 

To gain a deeper understanding of what research justice is, the Research Justice Institute looks to the work of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) scholars and researchers. Read on to unpack four key terms, along with some suggested readings, that are integral to understanding research justice.

1.Research oppression

To understand research justice, it is important to start by unpacking what research justice is not. As pointed out by DataCenter in their 2015 report “Introduction to Research Justice,” there is a power imbalance within research practices, wherein dominant institutions control the production of knowledge, resulting in marginalized communities being unable to control or access information produced about them. Research oppression occurs when community members are viewed solely as subjects of research, rather than as active participants in the research process (DataCenter 2015). Social science research has long been used as a tool of oppression. In his book Thicker than Blood: How Racial Statistics Lie, Tufuku Zuberi points to the role that white supremacy plays in our understanding of society. White logic grants objectivity to white scholars while devaluing BIPOC experience and expertise, often framing it as too subjective or anecdotal. Community members’ lived experiences are dismissed as invalid to the research process, leading to dominant institutions controlling the data and the stories that are told about marginalized communities, without the community’s input (Zuberi 2001). When we refuse to use white supremacist logics and tools in our research practices, we envision an alternative to research oppression: research justice. Research justice places community experiences and desires at the forefront of the research process, uplifting community members as integral to every step. Research justice is a process and platform that affirms that marginalized communities are the experts in their own lives.

2.Dominant data vs community data

It is important to understand the distinction between dominant data and community data, and how each may be utilized to advance the aims of research justice. Dominant data is gathered by dominant institutions such as governments and universities, and is often gathered in service of the dominant institution. These data are typically gathered using large population-level surveys like the Census or through the collection of information an individual provides in exchange for a service (i.e., administrative data). Dominant data, which are often quantitative, can highlight trends within populations, but often perpetuates deficit narratives. Numbers and statistics do not always capture the social, political, economic, and historical contexts of the data, often leading to conclusions that lack nuance and place the blame on marginalized communities for their own marginalizations. For example, without the context of institutional racism, a statistic proving the high amount of police violence in Black neighborhoods might imply that Black neighborhoods are inherently dangerous, or that Black people themselves are violent, rather than acknowledging the many social and political factors that lead to over-policing of Black communities (Lanius 2015). 

On the other hand, a key aspect of community data is that it is contextual. At CCC, we define community data as evidence generated by communities about their everyday lives, realities, and desires. Examples of evidence can include numbers, words, art, music, maps, and stories. Community data is collected, interpreted, and used on the terms of the community. By working with communities to understand their everyday experiences, we can gain a true sense of community needs and desires.

3.Community-led research

Community control is a key tenet of research justice. Research justice uplifts and values  marginalized communities as experts of their own lived experiences and, therefore, as leading experts in how to improve their everyday realities and overall well-being. When conducting research with marginalized communities, it is important to not only include community members, but to treat them as authorities in the research process. Trust and collaboration between researchers and community members are paramount, as demonstrated through the work of anthropologist Mariana Mora. Mora worked with a Zapatista community in Chiapas, Mexico to shape her research on Zapatista politics, autonomy, and self-determination. In her article “The Production of Knowledge on the Terrain of Autonomy: Research as a Topic of Political Debate”, Mora takes readers through her research process, describing the ways in which community members helped to shape and evaluate her research at every step, from research design to reviewing drafts of her 2017 book, Kuxlejal Politics: Indigenous Autonomy, Race, and Decolonizing Research in Zapatista Communities. Mora’s experience highlights the importance of community-led research, and provides a key example of how research can be designed and conducted in collaboration with community members.

4.Damage- vs desire-centered research

In an open letter to communities, researchers, and educators, Eve Tuck, Unangax̂ scholar, calls for a moratorium on damage-centered research – research that documents pain and oppression in an attempt to leverage change for marginalized communities. Tuck argues that damage-centered research frames marginalized communities as depleted and broken, perpetuating deficit narratives and defining communities solely by their marginalization. Tuck instead proposes a desire-based framework for research, in which lived realities are acknowledged alongside hopes and visions for the future (Tuck 2009). Research justice should employ a desire-based framework in order to avoid framing marginalized communities solely by what they lack, and to acknowledge the full spectrum of inequality, oppression, wisdom, hope, and the potential for change that exists within all communities.

Check out RJI’s reading library to dig deeper into these concepts and more:

These concepts and readings provide an overview of the key components of research justice, and it is only the tip of the iceberg. To continue exploring these ideas and access a wider range of resources, we encourage you to visit our growing RJI Zotero library. 

A powerful night of community, strength & supporting racial justice

State Sen. Khanh Pham sharing meaningful remarks as our featured speaker. Watch the full speech on our YouTube!

“Building community is what gets us through these times,” shared State Senator Khanh Pham to a packed room at this year’s Summer Soirée on June 13.

“It’s being in relationship with people who share our vision and our values – that is what helps us move out of fear and into collective action.”

At the Coalition of Communities of Color, this belief is at the heart of our mission. Our theme Rooted in Resilience was an important reminder that our strength is most powerful when shared, and grows when we’re together – even in the hard times, like the one we’re facing now.

We are so grateful to everyone who joined and supported our 2025 fundraising gala. We filled the night with a festive and meaningful atmosphere, with tunes by DJ Just Jeff, and folks enjoyed bites from our diverse selection of vendors that were both culturally rich and delicious.

A special thank you to our featured speaker, State Senator Khanh Pham, and our guest speakers, Mayor of Portland Keith Wilson and Oregon Community Foundation’s (OCF) Michael McIntosh, for their powerful and inspiring remarks.

Watch State Sen. Pham’s full speech at CCC’s Summer Soirée here!

View Full Album A Successful Summer SoirÉe

We extend a heartfelt thank you to OCF for being our presenting sponsor and for their support in helping make this night a success.

Together, with the power of community, we raised over $270,000 to sustain our work of transforming systems so that every Oregonian – across race, gender, or zip code – can thrive. At a time when our values are being attacked, your support means more than ever. Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who joined our CCC team at the Summer Soirée!

Because of these generous donations, we will be able to continue our efforts to provide research grounded in lived experience, solutions shaped by community voices, and policies that build a more just and resilient environment for those facing the first and worst of the climate crisis. See our work in action: watch our MADE for Health Justice video.

Didn’t have a chance to donate but want to support? Click here to make a donation today. Every donation makes a difference.

We hope you will join us next year as we celebrate our 25th anniversary! Details will be shared as they become available. Subscribe to our email list to stay in the loop.

Take a look at our event details:

Our special night took place at the OHSU Robertson Life Sciences Building. We are so grateful to OHSU for being our venue sponsor and for generously supporting our event.

A special shoutout to our host and vendors:

• Poison Waters as our Emcee and Auctioneer

• Devil’s Food Catering

• Plant Based Papi

• Annam VL

• DJ Just Jeff

And a special thank you to those who donated items for our raffle prizes and auction packages!

Thank you to our Summer Soirée sponsors!




Support CCC

The Green Economy Network (GEN) is a coalition of labour, environmental, and social justice organizations working to build a green economy in Canada. We are hiring a National Convenor to work with the GEN Management Committee and the GEN Members’ Council to convene GEN members for collaborative advancement of our organizational goals.  

Compensation: $27/hour part-time (average of 20 hours/week) with the possibility of increasing hours over time. 

Location: remote first with preference for Ottawa or Toronto based candidates 

Duties

+ Maintain regular contact with members in between scheduled meetings to ensure consensus and progress on GEN priorities. 

+ Organize and facilitate GEN meetings, symposia, and public-facing events. 

+ Build and execute a communication and media strategy to promote GEN’s policies as a consensus of labour unions and environmental and social justice organizations. 

+ Maintain GEN’s website and social media presence. 

+ Synthesize communications products from research and engagement developed by member organizations. 

+ Develop fundraising among stakeholders and non-member organizations. 

+ Other duties as required, such as coordinating lobby meetings with Members of Parliament and writing briefs, backgrounders, or popular education materials for members and the public. 

Qualifications and Experience 

+ Solid understanding and experience with climate change issues and policy, and the Canadian climate and labour movements. 

+ Experience with internal and external communications. 

+ Experience working with either labour unions and/or environmental groups and/or Indigenous communities will be an asset. 

+ Organizing experience is an asset. 

+ Strong written and verbal communication skills. Demonstrable skill in both official languages will be a further asset. 

+ Proficiency with WordPress, or similar CMS, and social media. 

+ Fundraising experience. 

Please send expressions of interest (resume and cover letter) to convenor@greeneconomynet.ca by August 21, 2025 at 3pm ET/12pm PT.

GEN is committed to employment equity and encourages members of equity-seeking groups to apply. 

**This opening is now closed. We are not accepting any further applications at this time. Thank you.

Applications due by August 27. Click here to view a full description of the job post.

JOIN OUR TEAM: The Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) is excited to announce a new role within our Research Justice Institute! We’re looking to hire a dedicated and experienced Data Systems Administrator to lead the development and management of a robust, community-led, environmental justice data system. This role requires someone with technical expertise in developing data systems with a strong focus on equity.

Position Overview

As the Data Systems Administrator, you will lead the development, management, security, and accessibility of our community-led environmental justice data system. This is a first-of-its-kind opportunity to ensure that qualitative and quantitative data collected by community-based organizations is stored and made available in a way that supports equitable policy decision-making while respecting community ownership.  

We are seeking a data platform engineer and community-minded leader that understands both data systems and the ethical considerations of handling dominant institution quantitative and community-generated qualitative data, and shares our values and commitments to research and data justice. 

The Data Systems Administrator will play an integral role in advancing CCC’s Modernizing Anti-Racist Data Ecosystems (MADE) local level data ecosystem that will advance regional responses and approaches to extreme weather and climate justice needs. They will lead the development, implementation, and management of CCC’s environmental justice data systems, including selection and oversight of technical vendor(s) and building the back end of our data platform. They will also play a key support role in the Research Justice Institute’s quantitative research and data projects and reports.  

For complete details about responsibilities, qualifications and compensation, view the full job posting here.

About the Coalition of Communities of Color

Formed in 2001, the Coalition of Communities of Color is an alliance of culturally specific, community-based organizations engaged in collective action for racial justice. We work to improve outcomes for communities of color through advocacy, environmental justice, and research. Learn more about the Coalition of Communities of Color, its member organizations, and our Research Justice Institute.

TO APPLY

Please send a cover letter (max one page) and resume (max two pages) in one PDF file to HR@coalitioncommunitiescolor.org, with the subject line and file name “[Your name] — Data Systems Administrator.” 

Applications are due Wednesday, August 27.

View Full Job Post

Class & Climate: Perspectives on a Green Economy is a new podcast series from Perspectives Journal and the Green Economy Network that chats with the policy experts and front line trades workers about how climate action can create good jobs, make life more affordable, and debunk the myth that workers and the environment are at odds.

Hosted by Nick Pearce, National Convenor at the Green Economy Network, Class & Climate features conversations about the challenges of green industrial policy, and how workers can lead the way to fight inflation and climate catastrophe.

The series is being released over the course of the federal election. Subscribe to the Perspectives Journal podcast to get notified when the next episode is released. Here’s what you may have missed:

Episode 1: Green Industrial Policy with Jim Stanford and Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood

Economist Jim Stanford and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood define what green industrial policy is and explain why it’s having a renaissance in the middle of the Trump trade war. In this episode, Class & Climate argues that green industrial strategy can make life more affordable in the long-term, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels while charting an independent economic course for Canada.

Episode 2: Building a Green Workforce with Lindsay Amundsen

Lindsay Amundsen of Canada’s Building Trades Unions explains what a just transition really means for workers—and how union-led training programs are preparing the workforce for the green economy. Amundsen makes the case for public investments in training, and for putting workers—especially those in carbon-intensive industries—at the centre of climate planning.

Listen to the Perspectives Journal podcast, available to subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, and all other major podcast platforms.

The federal clean electricity regulations introduced today are a win for Canadians and lower emissions, but any change to the country’s grids must do more to support workers.

If done correctly, these regulations can help create hundreds of thousands of decent jobs in communities across Canada, lower energy bills and avoid hundreds of millions of tonnes of pollution that contribute to the droughts, floods and wildfires that wreak havoc across the country.

That will only be possible with workers at the table, substantial investments in skills and training, and a total commitment to creating good unionized jobs. 

These changes are a key part of the Green Economy Network’s Common Platform. Our Platform urges:

• Canadian electricity to be net-zero by 2035.
• $40 billion for transmission, renewables, upgrades and Indigenous and community power.

 

That’s why the regulations are welcome, but also why more must be done to complement them with a robust green industrial strategy described in the Common Platform that puts Canada on competitive footing with the European Union and the United States. 

To maximize its potential, Indigenous and community ownership and benefits must also be included to lock-in the support new energy projects need.

Further: the weakening of some of these regulations will mean more gas plants are slated to be built and that some fossil fuel plants will continue polluting to 2045 or later.

The fight to win jobs and an affordable, reliable, 100 percent clean electricity will continue, and we will keep fighting for affordable, secure, clean power for all with support for the workforce behind it.

It’s up to the provinces now to plan and implement electricity plans that go further than these federal regulations, and deliver for the workers and communities that produce and use clean energy.

The Green Economy Network (GEN) is mourning the loss of its founder Tony Clarke, 80,  a renowned advocate for social and environmental justice who leaves a foundational legacy in the Canadian climate movement.

 

In the years after the financial crisis of 2008, Clark united a broad coalition of those who saw the need to face the looming climate crisis with a plan that would address the ecological, economic, and equity challenges of our time. 

 

The result was GEN, an organization that continues to bring together diverse voices to support a just transition for Canadians.

 

In the early days of the organization, Tony did much of the spadework of coalition-building — producing GEN’s first documents and research and ensuring the network met its goals without a dedicated staff.

 

Clarke, a prolific writer and organizer who also led the Polaris Institute, acted as a mentor to many who went on to take on leadership roles among GEN’s membership. His profound impact bringing together diverse causes and movements continues to inspire GEN’s work.

 

Matt Firth, senior officer at CUPE National and a member of the GEN management committee, remembers that Clarke’s passion and commitment were always balanced with personal warmth and good humour. 

 

“Tony’s real strength was finding common bonds between people and the organizations that they represented,” Firth said. “I certainly miss him.”

 

GEN is committed to honouring Clarke’s memory by continuing to forge these ties between movements dedicated to a socially, economically and environmentally just Canada.