Alberta inquiry into ‘foreign-funded’ anti-energy industry groups latest chapter in ‘misdirected attacks,’ says charity
Alberta’s inquiry into what its premier calls a “well-funded foreign campaign” against its energy industry is an attempt to put a “chill” on activism that could spill over into this fall’s federal election, say academics. Premier Jason Kenney announced the launch of the $2.5-million public inquiry on July 4, to look into “foreign special interests […]
Premiers’ meeting sheds light on the real dimensions of Canada’s energy politics
OTTAWA—With Doug Ford going on about how the increasingly conservative lineup of provincial leaders is a driver of concerted Canada-wide action, a reporter at a premiers’ press conference asked the Ontario premier if British Columbia fits that mould. “We look forward to meeting with Premier Hogirth…” replied Ford. Nearby, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney prompted: “Horgan.” […]
Resource minister playing partisan politics with pipeline
At a challenging time for national unity and the state of our federation, federal Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi decided to poke Canadians in the eye. In an article that appeared in both the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal (“New pipeline law will get projects built through trust”), Sohi attempted to justify the passage […]
There’s no sunny middle way out of a climate emergency
VANCOUVER—The Ontario Court of Appeal recently handed a win to the federal government—and dealt a blow to Doug Ford and other premiers bent on derailing the national carbon price—when it found the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act constitutional. The ruling went further than an earlier decision out of Saskatchewan, defining the purpose of the act as […]
Federal government’s efforts to rein in climate change fall short, with expectations highest in Quebec, poll suggests
The Trudeau government’s response to climate change is falling short of many Canadians’ expectations, a new national poll suggests. But that doesn’t necessarily mean people are willing to bear the costs of aggressive targets and policies designed to reduce fossil-fuel dependency, said Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research. Forum Research’s survey suggested that 63 per […]
Feds say clean fuel standard can make LNG ‘more efficient than coal’, despite report’s warning
A recent Global Energy Monitor report says the projected growth of the global Liquefied Natural Gas sector could be “worse than the coal boom,” but, with 18 LNG facilities proposed across Canada, the government says part of the rationale for its clean fuel standard is to help manage the life cycle of fuels to ensure […]
It’s time to act like climate change really is an emergency
As the Canadian Parliament declared a national climate emergency on June 17, Greenpeace activists in the U.K. were showing the world what it looks like when you actually consider climate change to be an emergency. In a 12-day cat-and-mouse battle at sea, activists boarded a BP drilling rig heading to the North Sea multiple times […]
Feds sell out Newfoundland and Labrador economy to play to anti-energy groups
There is a very good reason almost everyone in Newfoundland and Labrador is opposed to Bill C-69. This piece of federal legislation kneecaps our well-managed and responsible petroleum sector, supposedly in the name of the environment. But if you read between the lines—and the oil and gas industry, the provincial government and Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have—the bill prioritizes […]
Feds making a wreck of reconciliation
OTTAWA—Now that the hysteria over the audacity of a national inquiry’s use of the word “genocide” has died down, let’s take stock of how the Canadian government continues to proactively perpetuate systemic and systematic racism against Indigenous peoples. In Grassy Narrows First Nation, children have been suffering (sometimes fatally) from mercury poisoning for the better […]
Trans Mountain pipeline expansion marks sea change in thinking
Not too long ago, news stories about Indigenous peoples and natural resources development all seemed to have a familiar ring. A new oil or gas project would be announced. Indigenous peoples would be in the news opposing it. And then it would disappear from the headlines until the next project was announced—when the cycle would […]
