Green Party Leader Elizabeth May told the House of Commons that solar panels embody the teachings of Jesus Christ as she endorsed her parish church's decision to bless newly installed renewable energy equipment.In her first Member's Statement to the 45th Parliament, May described attending a ceremony where her bishop blessed solar panels installed on St. Andrew Anglican Church in Sidney, BC, reports Blacklock’s Reporter."As some may know, I am a practicing Anglican and try to follow the path of Jesus Christ in my work," May told the Commons by videoconference. She was unable to attend in person due to "an event that happened this week."May said the Right Reverend Anna Greenwood-Lee travelled to the church and used a cherry picker to reach the roof of the church hall to bless the solar panels. "We had prepared and worshipped together with a liturgy for the blessing of solar panels," said May..The church confirmed it installed the panels with help from BC Hydro utility rebates. In mid-April, St. Andrew's became the first of 46 Anglican churches in the diocese to install solar panels, with estimated savings of about $3,000 annually.The Anglican Church of Canada's 2018 guide on responsible spending stated that "environmental, social, and governance factors" were key considerations for church funds. "We believe climate change is an urgent ethical issue requiring an immediate response from all sectors of society," said the guide.However, solar panels face scrutiny over labour practices and environmental concerns. The Commons voted unanimously 266-0 in 2021 to censure China for crimes against humanity, including the use of minority Muslim Uyghurs as slave labour in polysilicon production for solar panels."Forty-one percent of polysilicon, which is used to produce solar panels, for all the environmentalists in the House, originates from Xinjiang," said Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi at the time..Uyghur migrants testified last September at the Commons Trade Committee that green technology was "directly upholding forced labour systems" feeding Chinese exports. "Uyghurs are being used as a source of slave labour," said Mehliya Cetinkaya, Program Manager of Alberta Uyghur Association.Department of Public Works labelled solar panels a "significant pollution risk" in a 2024 contractor notice, citing toxic chemicals and disposal challenges. "The volume of end of life solar panels will grow, which will result in significant pollution risks," said the department.Panels contain aluminum, tellurium, antimony, gallium, and indium that are difficult to recycle due to high costs and complex construction, according to the government notice on solar panel recycling.
