The great dying, the Little Ice Age, and us
LONDON, U.K.—The Black Death killed about 30 per cent of the European population in a few years in the middle of the 14th century. A century and a half later, the native people of the Americas were hit by half a dozen plagues as bad as the Black Death, one after another, and 95 per […]
Climate change is a health emergency
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on 1.5 degrees warned that failing to reach Paris targets would cause health crises in many parts of the world. Globally, we can expect an increase in malaria and dengue fever, as well as a shift northward in the geographic range of those diseases. The […]
Investing in Indigenous conservation delivers major social and environmental benefits
Australia may be half a world away and as hot and dry as Canada is cold and snowy, but when it comes to looking after the land, our two countries have plenty in common. Both are committed to protecting vibrant landscapes, restoring species at risk and addressing the impacts of climate change. And both recognize […]
Meet the top-lobbied political gatekeepers in 2018
Canada’s most-lobbied political aide is Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains’ policy director, a man whose job, as one lobbyist put it, is basically to be lobbied. For the second year in a row, David McFarlane, like the minister he reports to, racked up the most communications reports of political staffers with lobbyists in 2018. Some 334 […]
NGOs plan to lobby Senators to nix cross-country tour on environment bill
Five environmental non-profit groups are pushing back against a Conservative proposal to send the Senate Environment Committee on a tour of Canadian cities as part of its study of the government’s sweeping environmental assessment bill, C-69. Those groups “strongly oppose this proposal as it is in our view, a clear attempt to defeat Bill C-69 […]
Senators shouldn’t obstruct Bill C-69, they should rise to the legislative challenge
Members of the Senate Environment Committee will meet next week to begin their study of the government’s sweeping and controversial 400-plus-page Bill C-69, starting with a debate on a Conservative proposal to hold public hearings on the bill across the country. Several committee members say they have serious concerns about the bill, with some saying they want […]
‘Canadians need to be heard on this,’ feds’ sweeping environment bill to take centre stage in Senate, and beyond, as Parliament returns
Senators will get back to work on the government’s controversial and sweeping environmental assessment bill, C-69, next week, as members of the Senate Environment Committee meet to debate a Conservative proposal to hold public hearings on the bill across the country. Conservative Senators will use a Feb. 5 planning meeting to propose that the committee […]
Public safety is no accident
The next time you fly, consider two things: the greenhouse gas emissions created by air travel and whether you will land safely. Then think about who should be the primary regulator of air travel—is it the minister of the environment or transport? Canada has an outstanding safety record, not only for air travel but also […]
Canada must commit its fair share of climate finance to help the world’s must vulnerable
When I met Agness Mamamba and Imelda Simon in their adjoining fields in Tanzania, they told me of the erratic rainfall affecting their crops. Now middle-aged, these women have been farming since they were children. They have noticed that rains today are coming later and are no longer consistent throughout the season. Instead heavy rains […]
Ottawa ought to get out of the grip of oil’s deep state, ditch output-based giveaways
Re: “Why feds should consider a carbon tariff,” (The Hill Times, Nov. 26, 2018, p. 19). Thank you to Member of Parliament Erin Weir for impeccable economic and environmental logic. But there is also a political aspect he didn’t mention in his opinion piece. The cost of rebates of carbon prices to trade-exposed industries would […]
