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Canadian environmental governance formally began in the 1970s with an ambitious vision critical of the status quo. Until the Justin Trudeau government from 2015, this vision had been largely eroded when compared to the transformative environmental ideas, ambition, and efforts initially put forth. Drawing on elite interviews in Canadian environmental politics and an articulation of the dominant system, we develop and demonstrate a novel explanation for Canada's systematic failure to act more ambitiously on the environment. We argue that this failure is the result of progressive selection of Canadian environmental governance in relation to the dominant system at key selection moments. It is at those moments when the environment is least prioritized and the economy most urgently needs attention that environmental governance suffers the most. The paper concludes by emphasizing how features of the dominant political-economic system not typically thought of as environmental can have systematic environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plagued by economic, energy, and national unity troubles, the 1970s were a tumultuous time in Canadian federal politics. Much less is known about Pierre Elliott Trudeau's environmental aspirations. This article provides an account of the ideas, policies, and actions in Canadian federal politics 1968–1982. This account demonstrates that Canadian leaders aspired to a transformative environmental agenda, including a systems approach, a critique of economic growth in favour of alternative visions of prosperity, and a shift in societal values from consumerism and greed toward sufficiency and well-being. The onslaught of problems in the mid-1970s was a significant turning point in Canadian environmental politics. Although Trudeau did not discard his holistic environmental vision, he was unable to move from environmental rhetoric to action. This analysis contributes important insights into the pitfalls of navigating unsettled times such as the 1970s and has important implications for current prospects and opportunities for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]