Climate at the crossroads
It began and ended with two new cabinets and two new words: climate change. They were added to the title of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first minister of the environment and climate change in 2015; and taken away from the new title for Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s first minister of the environment, conservation and parks […]
Environmental assessments, national security among hot topics on Senate agenda this fall
With the country’s environmental assessment process recently knocked by the courts, the government’s legislation to overhaul how impacts of major resource development projects are measured will be subject to intense scrutiny this fall as it makes its way through the Upper Chamber. Bill C-69, the Liberals’ wide-ranging environment legislation that would put in place a […]
Liberals have failed to provide leadership on importance of climate action and necessity of carbon pricing
TORONTO—As a high school student, I could hardly wait for the next edition of Mad Magazine, with its smiling and eternally optimistic face of cover boy Alfred E. Neuman asking, “What—me worry?” These days, when I see the smiling face of Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, or Ontario Premier Doug Ford, dismissing efforts to slow climate […]
Environment minister’s COP23 delegation victims of $30,000 hotel lobby theft, documents show
The social media team that tailed Environment Minister Catherine McKenna to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Germany in November 2017 were victims of a hotel lobby theft involving $30,000 in camera and electronic equipment. According to documents and emails obtained by The Hill Times through an access to information request, a thief made […]
Whither—or is it wither?—the NDP
CHELSEA, QUE.—Federal leader Jagmeet Singh isn’t the only New Democrat facing a daunting uphill climb this fall: trying to win a seat, losing veteran MPs to retirement, stumbling into unnecessary controversies. The entire party, federal and provincial, is a mess of contradictory policies, clashing priorities, tired or tentative standard-bearers, and few obvious signs of enthusiasm […]
Pipeline politics won’t help Scheer in Quebec
OTTAWA—It is not a Maxime Bernier-led breakaway party that stands to most damage Conservative prospects in Quebec in next year’s federal election, but rather some of leader Andrew Scheer’s own promises. In a keynote speech to his party’s national convention on Friday, Scheer laid out part of his 2019 battle plan. As expected, it borrows heavily […]
Feds chart path on small modular reactors as questions on nuclear’s role in climate push remain
The Liberal government is examining the future potential of smaller nuclear reactors in Canada, even as it shies away from explicitly endorsing new nuclear generation as a way to move towards low-emission energy production. Natural Resources Canada is asking stakeholders for their input on charting a “roadmap” on future development and demonstration of “small modular […]
Mining group leads July lobbying, urges feds to review pace of policy changes affecting resource industries
An unprecedented level of legislation and consultation affecting the mining industry is creating a “cumulative burden” on all industry players, according to the head of the Mining Association of Canada, which led the charge in July lobbying, as it has month after month. “It’s ironic—we very much welcome the much more open approach to consultation that […]
C-69 will make environmental reviews better, more transparent: Assessment Agency president
Re: “Bill C-69: Is anybody thinking about how to implement it?” (The Hill Times, August 13, p. 23) In a recent op-ed in The Hill Times, Professor Monica Gattinger asks whether anybody is thinking about how to implement Bill C-69. Specifically, she identifies three areas of concern: How the proposed Impact Assessment Agency will conduct […]
Lessons from the Genoa bridge tragedy
There are a number of lessons to be learnt from the Morandi Bridge tragedy and other disasters in Canada and elsewhere for individuals and organizations involved with Infrastructure Canada. We need to change how contracts are awarded, and put new measures in place to account for the performance of the construction over time, then monitor […]
