Honourable Catherine McKenna, P.C., M.P.

Within just days of taking office as Canada’s first Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Catherine – who was formerly a trade lawyer – represented Canada at COP 21 in Paris, where she helped forge a historic international agreement to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

After Paris, she led Canada’s efforts to implement a made-in-Canada climate plan. The plan includes measures to price carbon pollution across the country, invest in clean technologies, phase out coal-fired electricity, increase the use of renewable energy, and invest in emissions-free vehicles.

Catherine has also fought to protect Canada’s vast lands and oceans. This year, she announced that the federal government would expand Canada’s largest marine conservation area in Lancaster Sound/ Tallurutiup Tariunga – a vast swath of ocean that is home to Beluga and bowhead whales, polar bears, seals, and Arctic cod.