Towards a Green Economy in Canada

The paper examines mobilization around the green economy in Canada. Based on a content analysis of media and organizational documents in BC and Ontario, the paper compares the framing strategies of various stakeholder groups, including environmental non-government organizations (ENGOs), social justice groups, labour unions, governments at the federal, provincial and municipal level, in order to determine why the green economies in BC and Ontario progressed differently within the same historical period. The findings point to four main frames used by various stakeholders that advocate for a green economy, including Eco-Bridging, Eco-Equity, Eco-Opportunity, and Eco-Urban Politics of Sustainability. The paper discusses these overlapping, but often competing frames as well as the opportunities for uniting diverse frames in order to increase the impact on policy outcomes in both regions. The paper concludes by pointing to the need for a new master frame to link environmental and social justice movements, to reflect the social, economic and environmental dimensions of an equitable and robust green economy. The paper argues that a Social Determinants of Health framework is well-suited for linking these dimensions because it highlights the root causes of inequities, including how these manifest more acutely in some populations than others, and underscores the link between environmental outcomes and social well-being.