Write a Letter

Thanks to your letter writing and our advocacy, the BC government has supported many - but not all - of our requests in its Energy Plan, Climate Change goals, and other legislation.

Man writing a letter.

Over the past three years, the BCSEA has promoted 12 specific policy initiatives to the BC government:

  1. Strong goals for climate action and greenhouse gas reduction;
  2. Strong energy conservation goals;
  3. A strong commitment to produce more power from green, sustainable sources of electricity;
  4. An acceptance that we can use BC's dams to firm up wind energy, and the value of aggregated wind energy as a contribution to the grid;
  5. Smart metering, differential rates, and the ability of energy saving companies to be able to sell saved "negawatts" to BC Hydro for the same price they pay for new megawatts;
  6. A Public Benefit Fund on hydro bills to finance efficiency upgrades and/or renewable energy;
  7. A Standard Offer Contract for small wind, solar, tidal energy, etc. (as in Ontario and Germany);
  8. A review of the BC Utilities Commission mandate to "serve the public interest", which the BCUC has usually interpreted to mean "cheap power", ignoring social and environmental benefits;
  9. Strong support for solar hot water;
  10. A rejection of polluting coal-fired power plants, like those that were proposed for Princeton and Tumbler Ridge;
  11. A commitment to include the cost of greenhouse gases in all power contracts;
  12. More support for sustainable biodiesel.

While the government has supported our positions on many of our goals, the recent commitment to greenhouse gas reductions are not as strong as we would like. From the government’s perspective, however, the carbon tax and other measures are bold and politically risky proposals, and they need you to tell them that you support action on climate change and clean energy, or they may feel compelled to retreat to a more business-as-usual approach.

Writing letters makes a difference!

Letter Writing Tips

Simple handwritten letters, or meeting in person are the most effective and convincing ways of having your voice heard. When writing to your representative please be sure to:

  • Be brief, factual and polite
  • Be clear about the purpose of your letter: make a clear ask; or tell them you support (or oppose) something
  • Use the correct form of address:
    • The Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia: “Dear Premier Campbell”
    • The Honourable Barry Penner, Minister of the Environment: “Dear Minister Penner"
    • The Honourable Carole James, M.P.: “Dear Ms. James”
    • The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada: Dear Prime Minister Harper”

Provincial Contact Information

Find your MLA

Go to www.legis.gov.bc.ca/mla

Provincial party contact information within BC

BC New Democrats
BC Liberals
Green Party of BC
Democratic Reform BC

Premier of British Columbia

Email: premier@gov.bc.ca

Premier of British Columbia
Box 9041, Station PROV GOVT
Victoria, BC, V8W 9E1
Phone: (250) 387-1715
Fax: (250) 387-0087

Federal Contact Information

Find your MP

Go to www.elections.ca and follow the links.

Federal party contact information within Canada

Liberal Party of Canada
New Democratic Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada

Prime Minister of Canada

Email: pm@pm.gc.ca

Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2
Fax: (613) 941-6900

Sample Letter to a Politician

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to you today to express my deep concern for the state of the our community, province, country and planet.

Climate change threatens the future of the earth and everything in it. We must shift away from the extended use fossil fuels, and implement solutions that move our economy towards a sustainable one.

Three great things that I believe could help with this are:

  1. Establish and maintain a permanent moratorium on new oil and gas development.
  2. Invest in clean, renewable energy, in all its various forms (wind, solar, tidal, bio-fuels, etc.)
  3. Move as quickly as possible to meet and exceed our country’s Kyoto targets.

I look forward to discussing these matters with you as my elected representative.

Sincerely,
Joe Smith