All quiet on the climate front
“Promoting coal at a climate summit is like promoting tobacco at a cancer summit,” said Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor, but President Donald J. Trump did exactly that. He sent a team of American diplomats and energy executives to the annual world climate summit, being held this year in Bonn, Germany, to extol […]
Why I lobby MPs and Senators
Recently, I and dozens of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada (CCL) colleagues were on Parliament Hill lobbying for improvements to Canada’s carbon pricing policy. I participated in meetings with Senator Rosa Galvez, Conservative Party deputy leader Lisa Raitt and three Liberal Members of Parliament—Francis Drouin, Francis Scarpaleggia, and Maryam Monsef’s legislative assistant. I came away from these meetings with a […]
Climate change represents largest single threat to human well-being over decades to come, time to act
TORONTO—The Trudeau government deserves credit for negotiating, with the provinces, a national climate change action plan to achieve the emission reduction target Canada made in Paris not quite two years ago. But Canada’s action plan may not go far enough to achieve the commitment Canada made at the 2015 Paris climate summit. In 2020, when […]
Political correctness run amok in GG ‘scandal’
Without having to prorogue a single Parliament, Julie Payette, the country’s newly installed governor general, is already making her mark on Canadian political discourse. In the week since she made the keynote address at the Canadian Science Policy Convention on Nov. 1, Ms. Payette has been the subject of numerous editorials, think pieces, and columns, […]
Next door and polluted: how proposed toxic law reforms present opportunity to address environmental injustice in Canada
In recent weeks, the dire situation of people living in close quarters with multiple refineries and petrochemical plants has led the front pages and nightly newscasts of The Toronto Star, National Observer and Global TV. If you’ve been following the investigative news series “The Price of Oil,” reporting on communities impacted by oil and gas operations, […]
It’s the federal government’s moment of truth on the environment
As the Trudeau government approaches the middle of its mandate, the prime minister faces a choice: Will he deliver on his promise to restore rigour and credibility to Canada’s process for making decisions about industrial projects like mines, dams and pipelines? Or will he back down from his campaign commitments and opt instead for a […]
Feds must approve recommended changes to Canadian Environmental Protection Act
The federal government must approve the recommended changes to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Canada relies on a patchwork of air and water policies, which jeopardizes people’s health. More than 20,000 Canadians die prematurely every year because of exposure to environmental hazards and the total cost of pollution in Canada is more than $100-billion a year. […]
Can you say ‘conflict of interest’? Not at the UN
POWELL RIVER, B.C.—When it comes to measures seriously addressing climate change Canadians have pretty low expectations. They know that oil companies have the ear of both Bay Street political parties. Just last week, for example, the auditor general went public exposing the Trudeau government’s refusal to provide the information he needs to determine the level […]
Kudos to Liberals, public servants for meeting marine protection target
Okay, here’s some good news. The federal government announced on Oct. 28 that it had reached its target of endowing protected status upon five per cent of Canada’s marine territory by the end of the year, and the public servants and ministers—Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna—responsible for meeting that goal should […]
Canada should support Taiwan’s inclusion in climate change meeting
The 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is coming up. From Nov. 6 to 17, the signatories to the Kyoto Protocol will meet in Bonn, Germany, to discuss greenhouse gas reduction in the world. In his speech to the UN General Assembly […]
