Hon. Mary Coyle: Honourable senators, Stephen Augustine, Hereditary Mi’kmaq Chief and Associate Vice President at Cape Breton University, tells the seven-level Mi’kmaq creation story. Today, as we belatedly celebrate Earth Day, I will share level three with you.

The third level of creation, down below us, is our Mother Earth, on whom we walk, and who bears the spirits of our ancestors. The interconnective relationship between Mother Earth and the whole of creation is evident in the Mi’kmaw language. The Mi’kmaw words for the people, and for the Earth, and for mother, and the drum, all come from that term which refers to “the surface on which we stand, and which we share with other surface dwellers.”

. . . When we hear that drumbeat, we are hearing the heartbeat of our Mother the Earth. And so it is understood that . . . we are children of the Earth and . . . “We recognize your heartbeat in the same way that a child after it is born recognizes the heartbeat of its own mother.”

Honourable senators, the first official Earth Day was initiated in 1970 by American Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson and Republican Congressman Pete McCloskey.

The theme of the original Earth Day was “A Question of Survival,” and its message, as highlighted by Walter Cronkite, was “Act or die.”

Honourable senators, the theme of this year’s Earth Day is “Invest in Our Planet.” People the world over are being called upon to invest wisely and urgently. At COP26, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change. It’s one minute to midnight on that doomsday clock and we need to act now.

Colleagues, as senators in Canada’s upper chamber, we have a duty to legislate, investigate and represent Canadians. With this potent mandate, the advantages of our chamber’s independence, our long-term view and our collective resources, we are well placed to act on climate and to join efforts with legislators around the world.

Canadians should know that, so far, 43 of their senators from throughout the chamber have formed the Senators For Climate Solutions group in order to inform ourselves and to act, and we are collaborating with Peers for the Planet in the U.K. and connecting with our counterparts in the U.S. and Ireland.

Honourable senators, the doomsday clock ticking rapidly towards midnight is connected to the machine monitoring the quickening and increasingly erratic heartbeat of Mother Earth. Let us step up our investments in the health of our planet. It is an imperative for our economy, for our well-being and, frankly, for our lives and for those of all surface dwellers.

Welalioq. Thank you.