How Parents and Caregivers Can Help #GetOutTheClimateVote

This interview was conducted by Nikta Noparast, member of For Our Kids Burnaby.

For Our Kids is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse any political party.

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and finding meaningful ways to take action can feel overwhelming for many families. To explore how individuals and communities can make a difference, I spoke with Jamie Biggar, one of the co-founders of My Climate Plan, an organization dedicated to helping Canadians build climate-safe communities. In our conversation, Jamie shared insights on climate concerns for Canadian families and how My Climate Plan is empowering citizens to take action, especially during this election cycle.

Nikta Noparast (NN): Thank you for joining us today, Jamie. Before we dive into the questions, can you introduce yourself and tell us what My Climate Plan is all about?

Jamie Biggar (JB): My name is Jamie Biggar. I'm one of five co-founders of My Climate Plan. My Climate Plan is an organization with members across Canada that is helping people to take action in their personal lives, in their communities and in their civic life to build climate safe communities and a climate safe country. 

And when we say climate safe, we mean that in three senses of the term. [First,] being prepared for and resilient to climate impacts. [Second, achieving] zero GHGs [greenhouse gasses] (or even drawing down GHGs from the atmosphere) – so, safe for the climate. And then, the third meaning of the term is a safe harbour for people who are being displaced by climate impacts.So that's My Climate Plan. 

Understanding Climate Priorities

NN: What are the most pressing climate concerns for Canadian families today, and how can My Climate Plan help parents take meaningful action this election cycle?

JB: Canadians’ climate concerns exist on two levels. On one hand, there is a broad fear that climate change is spiralling out of control and that progress made over the last decade could be lost, leaving the country more vulnerable. On the other hand, people across Canada are experiencing the impacts of climate change in very real and immediate ways, depending on where they live. In British Columbia, for example, the heat dome led to the deaths of hundreds of vulnerable people, particularly the elderly, in housing that was not built to withstand such extreme conditions. Meanwhile, in the Maritimes, communities have been devastated by hurricanes like Fiona, one of the strongest storms ever to hit the country, bringing flooding and destruction. Across Canada, storms and floods have become the most financially damaging climate disasters, while wildfires continue to escalate. The wildfire season in 2023 was the worst in Canadian history, releasing carbon dioxide emissions comparable to those of the world’s largest economies. Although 2024 was slightly less severe, wildfires still remained at historic highs, and there’s every reason to expect this trend to continue.

Beyond these immediate disasters, climate change is also creating long-term challenges. Home insurance providers in the U.S. are already retreating from areas most affected by wildfires and floods, and many Canadians are watching with concern, wondering if the same will happen here. Food prices and food security are also being impacted, with climate disruptions making it harder for farmers to produce food, a problem now exacerbated by trade instability.

To help parents take meaningful action this election cycle, My Climate Plan has launched a campaign called Impact Voters.  Impact Voters are people impacted by climate change and their allies across Canada, and it’s a way for us to tell politicians that we are going to vote and expect them to take strong action. 

The campaign invites people across the country to take a survey, sharing what climate policies they want to see from political leaders, and to commit to voting with climate action in mind. For parents who want to get even more involved, there are opportunities to connect with voters in across the country and help make climate action a decisive issue in the upcoming election. 

Balancing Immediate and Long-Term Action

NN: Climate change is a long-term crisis, but many families face immediate environmental challenges. How does My Climate Plan ensure that the urgent needs of vulnerable communities—such as parents with young children—are addressed while also pushing for long-term solutions?

JB: We approach this in two ways. First, we offer direct services to families to help them become more climate-safe, like hosting workshops on heat buddies for vulnerable seniors and creating DIY air purification kits for low-income communities during wildfire smoke events. We also provide an online platform to help people create personalized climate plans.

Second, our advocacy campaigns include both short-term actions and long-term solutions. For example, our “Don’t Let Canada Burn” campaign calls for urgent doubling of support for wildfire fighters, alongside long-term goals to better manage Canada’s forests, making them more resilient to fires and helping to lock carbon into the ground. The way we manage forests and fossil fuel decisions will significantly impact Canada’s role in addressing climate change globally.

Parents as Climate Advocates

NN: How can parents effectively use the Impact Voters campaign to advocate for stronger climate policies within their communities and schools?

JB: At ImpactVoters.ca, parents across the country can share their priorities for climate action. The responses will be sent to relevant candidates and parties, acting like a powerful petition. The survey results will not include names but will be linked to the individual’s riding. By committing to vote, people’s voices will be amplified. We’ll also encourage participants to get at least three friends to join, which is a strategy called vote tripling. This helps increase voter turnout and spread the climate action message.

The Power of Relational Organizing

NN: My Climate Plan highlights relational organizing as a key strategy for elections. How does this approach differ from traditional campaigning, and why do you believe it is more effective in mobilizing climate-concerned parents and families?

JB: So first, I just want to say a little more about relational organizing. It might sound intimidating, but it just means reaching out to your friends, family, and networks to get them involved in a campaign and voting. Vote tripling, which I mentioned earlier, is a form of relational organizing. It’s accessible—get three people to vote. Some people really get into it, like me, texting everyone I’ve ever met during the election. And there are other effective methods too, like deep canvassing, where people have long, values-based conversations at the door. 

The reason we’re using relational organizing in this campaign is that people are overwhelmed by disinformation and increasingly turn to people they trust. In the U.S. and Canada, relational organizing has proven to be one of the most effective ways to get out the vote and spread a message. Also, with the uncertainty around the election timing, relational organizing scales quickly and can spread the word fast.

Engaging Canadian Parents in Climate Action

NN: Based on your experience, how do Canadian voters—particularly parents—respond to climate-focused election messaging? Are there specific strategies or issues that seem to resonate with them the most?

JB: So, what we’ve seen, and I think other organizations have seen, is that in recent years, affordability has become the top priority for people across Canada. This is clear with the housing crisis and the cost of living, especially in grocery stores. Many people who care about climate change still do, but it’s now below affordability on their list of priorities.

There are two effective ways to talk about climate change. One is to focus on how climate change is already costing Canadian households—not as a future threat, but right now, through floods, fires, and heat-related illnesses. Another way is to connect strategies to address affordability with climate solutions, like strengthening public transit, building climate-safe homes, and managing forests better to lock carbon in the ground. These are economic and climate solutions together.

Finally, instead of focusing on abstract messages like degrees of warming or billions of dollars in damages, we should foreground the real stories of Canadians being hit by climate change and those leading the solutions. For example, we worked with Megan Fandrich, a survivor of the Litton wildfire, who became a powerful advocate and storyteller. Recently, we released a video of “Papa” from Papa’s Farm, a Canadian Armed Forces vet turned hydroponics farmer, showing how renewable energy-powered farming makes Canada more resilient. 

Every Canadian has a story about how they’re impacted or part of the solution to climate change, and these stories resonate much more than abstract UN reports, especially during the affordability crisis.

Influencing Party Platforms

NN: What specific steps can Impact Voters take to influence party platforms and ensure climate action remains a top priority during this election?

JB: The key steps are to take the Impact Voters survey at ImpactVoters.ca, which serves as the entry point. By completing the survey, you’ll send a message to candidates and parties about your priorities for climate action. It will also lead you to a series of questions about how you’d like to get more involved in the campaign. This could include a commitment to vote, sharing the survey with three friends, recruiting more people, or volunteering to reach out to other impact voters in your community or across the country. Additionally, there will be opportunities to contact candidates and parties in your riding to ask them to respond to these priorities and show their commitment to the concerns of Canadians.

Resources for Parents & Future Impact Voters

NN: Are there any tools or resources you’d recommend to help parents engage their children in climate action and empower them to become future Impact Voters?

JB: First off, I just want to give a huge shoutout to For Our Kids. What an amazing organization, and the resources they’ve created are incredible. I feel a bit like the expert is asking me to cure a disease that they themselves are experts in. So, a big shoutout back to For Our Kids. Part of our plan with the Impact Voters work is to encourage people, after the election, to join organizations like For Our Kids as a next step and deepen their relationship with climate change. We see ourselves as partners in people’s lifelong journey to building a climate-safe future, and we want to encourage deep relationships with other organizations doing excellent work, like For Our Kids.

With that said, we also have a weekly newsletter called The Weekly, where we offer articles and stories about how people are being impacted by climate change, how they’re rallying to defend each other, and how they’re reducing fossil fuel use and climate pollution in their communities. This resource also includes suggestions on how to talk to your kids when climate change is in the news and making big waves. It’s a free tool, and anyone can sign up at myclimateplan.com to get The Weekly newsletter, which we offer as a regular resource for those conversations.

Holding Local Candidates Accountable

NN: What role do local candidates play in advancing climate action? What are some practical ways parents can engage with them and hold them accountable to their climate commitments?

JB: I think people often underestimate the importance of local candidates for climate action because their true value is not always visible. We should view local candidates, and ultimately MPs or MLAs, as a set of ears across the country. They serve as a listening tool for the parties, communicating what they hear from constituents back to the central party structure. Modern political parties are hierarchical and centrally controlled, but local candidates are key transmitters of the concerns they hear on the doorstep. Whether it’s about climate change or another issue, their feedback can make a big difference in shaping party policy.

This is especially true in competitive ridings, where candidates are more likely to be heard. The carbon tax, for example, was unpopular in many of these ridings, and local candidates were hearing opposition to it. Reaching out to local candidates and ensuring they hear from their constituents about climate action is crucial. Parties are always looking to court voters, and showing support for climate action can influence their stance.

To engage with local candidates, attend debates, show up at town halls, and ask for meetings with your local MP. There’s a strong norm in Canadian politics that MPs meet with their constituents. While it can feel intimidating, sharing your personal story about why you care about climate action can make a huge impact. From my experience as a youth climate activist, focusing on your story is far more effective than a complex proposal. The key is convincing parties that climate action is a vote winner, which builds the political will to increase ambition and take meaningful action.

Beyond the Election: Ensuring Accountability

NN: After the election, how does My Climate Plan plan to maintain momentum and ensure elected officials follow through on their climate commitments?

JB: I love this question because it’s exactly right. The process doesn’t end on election day, no matter who wins or the context. The key question is what happens after the election. Politicians’ perception of their constituents’ sentiment will determine the level of ambition from the next government, either raising or lowering it. We’re piloting a project called the Politician Outreach Project, which helps people, starting with under-30s, build an ongoing relationship with their MPs. Climate Plan will focus on supporting these meetings and encouraging others to do the same.

There are many tactics people can use, whether rallies, op-eds, or other actions, but specifically, having a relationship with your local MP and directly asking, through meetings, social media, or local media, what they’re doing to protect Canadians from climate change is crucial. The more people who do this, the stronger our collective movement will be.

Steps for Parents to Get Involved

NN: As we move closer to the federal election, what can parents do to become more involved in the campaign, and how can they ensure their voices are heard in shaping climate policy?

JB: For this election, we’re using the campaign website ImpactVoters.ca, which acts as the portal for action during the election. It starts by asking what you want to see your candidates and parties commit to, and guides you through a survey to help you create a personal election plan. This plan is tailored to fit your available time, resources, and goals, and we’ll support you all the way. ImpactVoters.ca is the place to go, and we look forward to collaborating with people from the For Our Kids community and network. After the election, we’ll encourage everyone involved to stay engaged with For Our Kids, a powerful climate organizing group for parents who care about climate change—like me.

My Climate Plan was founded by five co-founders, all parents, who wanted to understand how we can keep our kids safe through the climate crisis and its impacts. We invite you to join us at ImpactVoters.ca and find a plan that resonates with you for making a meaningful impact in this election.

NN: Jamie, thank you so much for taking the time to join us today and sharing your invaluable insights. Your work is truly inspiring, and we appreciate all that you’re doing for climate action.