Let’s remember: climate change is not ideological, it’s fact
As 2018 came to a close, I spent part of December in Katowice, Poland. As president of Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada) I was there to bring the Inuit voice to the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting. The Conference of the Parties (COP) has been held annually since 1995, when the […]
Some progress in Poland
Global warming is physics and chemistry, and you can’t negotiate with science for more time to solve the problem: more emissions mean a hotter planet. Dealing with the problem, however, requires an international negotiation involving almost 200 countries. In big gatherings of that sort, the convoy always moves at the speed of the slowest ships. […]
This just in: a carbon tax won’t kill jobs
CHELSEA, QUE.—How does the old expression go? A lie is halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on in the morning. With social media, as we see every day, the lie travels even farther and faster. One of the most dangerous current lies—although it has been around at least a decade—involves the […]
We need to do more, not less to fight climate change
Re: “Next five years are make-or-break for runaway climate change,” (The Hill Times, Dec. 10, p. 4, by Gwynne Dyer.). Only by increasing our ambition to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, can humanity truly survive in any recognizable form of today’s civilization. We need to do more, not less. Yet today’s political climate […]
Renewed mineral exploration tax credit will maintain Canada’s tax advantage: Minister Sohi
Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi says the recently renewed Mineral Exploration Tax Credit will help maintain Canada’s tax competitiveness and provide investors and mineral explorers with greater certainty. In an email interview with The Hill Times, Mr. Sohi (Edmonton–Mill Woods, Alta.) said the $73-million annual program that directly supports a “dynamic exploration sector” is essential to […]
Time to unclog the pipes
Getting Canadian oil to market is a burning platform for policy-makers. With various well-publicized setbacks, increased pipeline export capacity has been kiboshed or delayed. Facing constrained transport, Alberta has moved on Band-Aid measures to address the stranded supply glut and price discount. However, for the medium and long term, the federal government must get the […]
Market (in)access for Canadian oil: lessons for other resource sectors?
The government of Alberta’s decision to impose production cuts in the oilsands in an effort to buoy prices is the latest surreal twist in the saga that has become the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. Getting Canadian oil to international markets beyond the United States has proven frustratingly elusive for producers. Are there lessons to […]
Feds must better support forestry research collaboration, industry and experts say
The federal government needs to act as a better co-ordinator for scientific research and information sharing on wildfires and forest pests, industry stakeholders and experts agree, especially as the threats become more urgent from the growing impacts of climate change. While the management of Canada’s forests mainly lies with the provinces and territories (almost 90 per […]
Natural Resources Canada has evolved into the Department of Oil and Gas
A few decades ago, the department now known as Natural Resources Canada was called Energy, Mines, and Resources. The department had robust analysis and did work on our energy sector, as well as mines, and substantial research and science and policy innovation in forestry. Under Stephen Harper, the slaying of the Canadian Forest Service was […]
Feds need to move on ridding Canadian lumber of U.S. tariffs, helping forest industry
Recently there has been much focus on the challenges facing the oil sector of Canada’s economy, but much less attention has been paid to the serious problems confronting the forestry sector. In 2017, the United States placed significant import tariffs (more than 23 per cent in some cases) on softwood lumber. Those tariffs are still […]
