Federal carbon-pricing plan a step in the right direction
Re: “Trudeau’s new carbon tax is a can’t-lose gambit,” (The Hill Times, Oct. 29, p. 10). Thomas Walkom is not sure the federal pollution-pricing plan will address climate change in any real way. I’m not either. But I do know it’s a step in the right direction, towards a national revenue-neutral carbon price. And Mr. Walkom misses several […]
Will the new NAFTA undermine our ability to protect ourselves from toxic chemicals?
Undoubtedly, industrial chemicals have played an important role in making our lives more convenient and productive. But these benefits have come with significant costs: plastic trash is choking the world’s oceans and toxic chemicals, such as flame retardants in furniture, are making Canadians sicker, disrupting ecosystem processes and threatening the survival of wildlife. As the […]
Canada’s good climate cop
OAKVILLE, ONT.—As I watch the politics of “climate change” unfold, on both the national and international level, I see it evolving into a game of “Good Climate Cop” versus “Bad Climate Cop.” Playing the part of “Bad Climate Cop” is the United Nations, which recently came out with a report painting an alarmingly dismal picture […]
Clean electricity crucial for Northwest Territories
In last year’s Hill Times special policy edition on the North, I stated I was eagerly awaiting news on Canada’s National Trade Corridor’s funding to begin to address our infrastructure gap, link our communities, and help bring down the cost of living and the cost of developing our resources and bringing them to market. I […]
Time to improve outcomes, ensure northern communities’ needs are met
Canada is a proud Arctic nation, and its vast northern region is a defining part of who we are as a country and the role we play on the international stage. It is the homeland to more than 120,000 people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. As a northerner myself, I know that interdependence, tremendous resilience, and […]
Lobbyists court Senators to kill impact assessment bill
As the Liberals’ controversial environmental assessment bill makes it way through the Senate, stakeholders and activists are hoping to seize what they see as an opportunity to push the Upper Chamber to scrap or significantly change the legislation. Senators began discussing Bill C-69, the wide-ranging environment legislation that would put in place a new Impact Assessment […]
Minister LeBlanc says feds looking at ‘all options’ to cut food cost in the North
Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the federal government is exploring different options to improve access to local “country” foods in the North, as work on redesigning the Nutrition North food subsidy program continues. In an email interview with The Hill Times, the veteran MP who is new to the role said the […]
Grits should ‘stick to their guns’ on climate plan or risk losing message to Tories: politicos, experts
The Liberals should “stick to their guns” on their carbon plan and offer an “extremely clear” message with the tax-turned-rebate frame to ward off “cash grab” attacks from the Conservative opposition intent on making it a wedge issue in 2019, say politicos and environmental groups. The Liberals need to have “a backbone” on a bold […]
We must act now to maintain an Arctic able to keep global climate liveable
Human civilization, indeed the evolution of human beings as a species, has depended on a frozen Arctic. But the North Pole as a frozen ice cap on the top of the world is now in doubt. The rapidly melting Arctic—measured in loss of sea ice, melting permafrost, and temperature surges in mid-winter—is a threat to […]
N.W.T., Canada can work together for sustainable northern development
A year ago this week, I was in Ottawa to call for a national discussion on the future of the Northwest Territories. My red alert was motivated by the continued stagnation of the Northwest Territories economy, compounded by concerns that federal decisions and policies could create roadblocks to meaningful economic development and cut our people […]
