The Green Party of Canada has thrown its name into the federal election mix, acclaiming local lawyer Lenore Morris as its Yukon candidate.

Morris was formally given the nod at a candidate celebration event held Tuesday evening at the Alpine Bakery meeting room in downtown Whitehorse.

“It feels really exciting,” Morris told the Star this morning.

She said this is the right time for her to come forward as a candidate. She explained that she is in a position in her career to run, having been practising law for 15 years.

Although she loves being a lawyer, she feels it’s the right time to try something else.

Morris chose the Green Party because of her passion for the environment. Similar parties are doing well all around the world, she added, showing that people are interested in the environment.

As for shared values, Morris and the party share the same positions on social justice issues. This is important to her.

She explained that Whitehorse is a stratified community. She feels the divide is between First Nations and non-First Nations people.

She said First Nations individuals have to work harder to get to the same place as their non-First Nations counterparts.

“That’s not fair,” Morris said.

She would like to see this change.

This divide was not as apparent to her when she lived in smaller communities like Dawson City.

In those areas, she said, people know everyone, and there was a lot more mingling.

As the potential Yukon MP, Morris would like to create more opportunities for First Nations.

Indigenous people want to pull themselves up in their own way, she said. She wants to reach out to the community, as her party and First Nations have a lot in common.

The federal government is working with First Nations, she conceded, but the results are not as positive as they could be.

Moving to the environment, Morris said there needs to be a shift away from fossil fuels.

She acknowledged that fossil fuels have been revolutionary for society, but there are consequences for using them. Society has known of this price for 40 years, she added.

New technology can be used, she pointed out.

Geothermal can be used to both heat buildings and generate electricity, Morris said. This technology does not have the limitations that solar and wind power do.

Geothermal can be used at all times of the day all year.

As an MP, she would push to investigate geothermal energy sources.

Canada, with a small population, may not have the biggest foot print in a global context, the candidate said, but everyone needs to be part of the solution.

She noted that the Yukon is seeing faster climate change than other areas. The territory will need to adapt because these changes may not be reversible.

Permafrost is melting, Morris pointed out. This has caused slumping and the loss of a lake in the Old Crow area. It will continue to take its toll on roads, which will cost money to fix, she added.

The changing climate also heightens the risk of forest fires, she noted.

Morris is a supporter of a carbon tax, which will take effect in the Yukon on July 1.

If you want people to use fewer greenhouse gas-emitting products, she said, these goods need to be more expensive. She said this will bring long-term change.

There need to be other incentives to go green, Morris said. These can include greater subsidies for people to buy electric cars.

She would also like to see these vehicles produced in Canada, especially with the layoffs in Ontario’s auto manufacturing sector.

Morris is not completely against pipelines. She said she would support a pipeline to eastern Canada, but not the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Since oil will still be used for the foreseeable future, she said, pipelines are the safest way to transport it.

“We are not going to get off oil any time soon,” Morris said.

She expects that climate change will be a divisive campaign issue, noting the media have emphasized the divide.

She feels that Alberta has been pitted against the rest of the country as a result of climate change and pipeline issues. She believes it does not have to be this way.

Morris proposes looking beyond pipelines. She feels Alberta’s concerns are about expanding its struggling economy.

Job creation and prosperity do not have to be from the oil sands, she argued. The rest of the country can help Alberta transform its economy to one not completely reliant on oil.

Morris expects immigration will be another divisive election issue.

She believes the Yukon has done a good job welcoming immigrants, but that there remains resistance.

The other Yukon candidates for October’s election are incumbent Liberal Larry Bagnell, Conservative Jonas Smith, New Democrat Justin Lemphers and Joseph Zelezny of the People’s Party.

In the Oct. 19, 2015 election, the Green Party candidate was Faro teacher Frank de Jong, who took 577 votes.

Bagnell earned 10,715 votes to defeat then-incumbent Conservative Ryan Leef, who attracted 4,800 votes.

The NDP candidate, the late Melissa Atkinson, finished with 3,890 votes.