The Liberals and NDP have joined forces once again, this time to propose making ‘ecocide’ an international crime on the same level as genocide.

Speaking at a press conference hosted by Stop Ecocide Canada, Liberal MP Patrick Weiler said, “Canada has long been a supporter of international law and the international rules-based system which, as I mentioned, allows us to punch above our weight… And just as we have done in the past, I think working together with our international counterparts on creating an offense of ecocide would be another important step in this direction.”

NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice added, “If we destroy human populations, you can be held criminally responsible. But if you destroy environments and species and biodiversity, species that are unique, there should also be criminal accountability.”

Wildfires, which are primarily the result of arson in Canada, were also mentioned by the MPs, as well as the hosts.

Following the conference, Weiler presented an e-petition with 1,200 signatures to call on the House of Commons to “publicly declare its support for an international crime of ecocide.”

What is ecocide?

Ecocide is an incredibly broad term that loosely means the widespread destruction of nature by humans.

In 2021, Stop Ecocide hired 12 international criminal and environmental lawyers to create a legal definition of “ecocide” to join the ranks of the other four international crimes—genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression (i.e., attacking another country).

According to the definition they came up with, ‘ecocide’ “means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”

By this definition, everything from intentionally starting an uncontrollable forest fire to cows farting being deemed climate change could potentially be declared an act of ecocide.

Committing such a crime, apparently in the same class as literal war crimes, would, of course, be punishable with jail time.