California & Canada Cooperation
California Governor Jerry Brown met with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau in San Francisco, where the two leaders pledged to expand cooperation on climate action, trade and criminal justice reform.
Brown was Wednesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.
“We’ve got a lot to do with Canada while our Washington government is temporarily missing in action. In terms of climate action, California and more than a dozen other [U.S.] states are taking real action. I’m looking forward to forging agreements with various provinces in Canada and particularly in zero-emission vehicles — electric cars, hydrogen cars,” said Governor Brown at the opening of the meeting. “I’m hoping Canada, California and the rest of America can really commit to developing the technologies that will allow us to have zero-emission vehicles be a big part of our future.”
“It’s a real pleasure to meet with Governor Brown, an opportunity to talk about all the great connections between California and Canada,” said Prime Minister Trudeau. “Climate change has been an issue that the Governor has been a leader on and I want to congratulate him on that and thank him as well for the cap-and-trade system Ontario is part of and others and the fact that we have so much work to do together as friends and as a planet.”
The Governor and Prime Minister discussed the importance of getting more zero-emission vehicles on the road, increasing cooperation between U.S. states and Canadian provinces ahead of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) and Canada’s participation in the Global Climate Action Summit, which will be held in San Francisco this September.
The two leaders also discussed ongoing NAFTA negotiations between the U.S., Canada and Mexico and Governor Brown and Prime Minister Trudeau agreed to explore opportunities for criminal justice reform experts from California and Canada to collaborate.
Last week’s meeting builds on the long-standing cooperation between California, Canada and a number of Canadian provinces to combat climate change.
Last year, Governor Brown welcomed Canada to the Under2 Coalition, a global pact of more than 200 cities, states and countries – representing 1.3 billion people and 40 percent of the world’s GDP – committed to limiting the increase in global average temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius, the level of potentially catastrophic consequences. At last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23), Governor Brown joined Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, to affirm North America’s commitment to the Paris Agreement.
Additionally last year, Governor Brown met with the Premiers of Quebec and Ontario – both members of the Under2 Coalition – and signed an agreement officially integrating their cap-and-trade programs. California along with the states of Oregon and Washington and the province of British Columbia are members of the Pacific Coast Collaborative, a pact formed to strategically align policies to reduce greenhouse gases and promote clean energy.
The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
