Trans Mountain: choose your crisis wisely
The main argument against expanding fossil fuel use is catastrophic global warming. If you accept that, then economic and employment counterarguments had better be solid. Many assumptions used to justify the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion were developed years ago. They’re used in industry and government marketing campaigns to tell a story of how environmentalists and […]
‘Underdog’ NDP in Outremont faces ‘hard battle’ to keep ex-leader’s seat: NDP analysts
The Quebec riding of Outremont is the Liberals’ to lose, with the NDP a “long shot” to keep former leader Tom Mulcair’s seat in the upcoming byelection, say NDP analysts, who call candidate Julia Sánchez a “star,” but still the clear underdog. From what he’s heard on the ground, former NDP national director Karl Bélanger […]
‘I got a lot of very, very angry mail’: interest groups ramp up pressure on Senate, government over sweeping environmental assessment bill C-69
Powerful labour unions, oil and gas lobbyists, environmental groups, and even Alberta United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney are among the players in a growing public relations and lobbying battle to sway Senators studying the government’s controversial environmental assessment reform bill, C-69. The 14-member Senate Environment Committee began studying the bill earlier this month, in […]
Canada bought more than a pipeline when it bought the Trans Mountain project
When the federal government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline project for $4.4-billion, it was not looking for a good deal on the underlying assets. It was looking to ensure that a federally approved project with huge implications for Canada’s economy got built. Purchasing the project was a final—albeit imperfect—option. For this reason, questions emerging from […]
Microgrids eyed as new way to deliver macro impact
On Aug. 14, 2003, the lights went out across much of Ontario and several northeastern states. The Milky Way, normally only visible in more remote communities, could be seen from downtown Toronto, as light pollution was no longer obscuring the solar system. Some 10 million Ontarians were affected, while nearly 50 million Americans were left […]
Public-private partnerships an ‘extraordinary opportunity’ to renew relations with Indigenous communities: experts
The emergence of green energy provides a “once in a generation” opportunity for Canada to improve its approach to engaging with Indigenous communities about major energy projects, a House committee heard as it began a study on an issue that has dogged the Liberal government for its entire mandate. Greg Poelzer, a professor in the University of […]
Cancer survivor now worried about health effects of climate change
Re: “Climate change is a health emergency,” (The Hill Times, by Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Feb. 4, 2019). I am a cancer survivor. So you might think I worry a lot about my cancer returning. I did for several years, but now I worry a lot more about thousands of us dying prematurely from the […]
Senate unlikely to vote on sweeping, controversial environmental assessment bill until May or June
Senators on the Environment Committee are roughly six weeks apart in talks to set an end date for their study on the government’s environmental assessment reform bill, C-69, which will likely bring it up for a final vote in the Upper Chamber in late May or June. The three groups represented on the committee are […]
Senators agree to travel as part of study on C-69, but no deadline or details
After nearly four hours of debating without an agreement, Senators on the Environment Committee opened up their closed-door planning meeting just long enough to hold a public vote in favour of travelling outside of Ottawa as part of their study of the government’s controversial environmental assessment reform bill, C-69—and to punt the rest of the […]
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 […]
