Novembre 15, 2016, Ottawa – The director of the Green Churches Network, Norman Lévesque, shown here at the Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change just after a meeting with a top official. At the end of September, we were invited by the environment minister, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, to explore avenues of closer collaboration because “churches are a sector of society often neglected in environmental education”.

This first meeting began with an assessment of the real needs of churches in environmental matters. Increasing awareness about the current and future impacts of climate change along with developing tools which engage the interests and concerns of the faithful are places to start. This would be followed by an examination of the actual church buildings. Churches must be offered the possibility of carrying out an energy efficiency audit before they can move on to making modifications to reduce energy and water consumption. In cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, the actualization of such projects in the coming months becomes possible.

Mr. Lévesque also invited Minister McKenna to the upcoming Green Churches Conference to be held in May 2017 in Ottawa. She very much wants to be there so as to demonstrate her keen support for churches taking the plunge to become “greener”.