Quadruple carbon tax to meet 2030 targets or pay more to hide costs, Ecofiscal Commission report says
Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission, an independent group of economists focused on aligning government policy with Canada’s emissions reduction goals, released its final report on Nov. 27, and is calling for dramatically increasing the carbon tax by 2030 to meet greenhouse gas emissions targets under the Paris Agreement. The report also said that, compared to regulations and […]
Indigenous participation in energy sector an exercise in Indigenous self-determination, economic development
Now that the dust has settled from the election, the newly re-elected Liberal government will have to take stock of this election campaign and what issues were missed. For Indigenous communities, much was lost or distorted. When a group called Climate Justice Edmonton attempted to hold a “climate strike” in Edmonton on the Friday before […]
Claims of a clean, green energy future based on an electrified natural gas industry must not go unchallenged
VANCOUVER—In late August, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Vancouver to announce that the federal government had agreed to financially support a new hydroelectric transmission line project in British Columbia’s remote northeast region. In a memorandum of understanding signed with the provincial government, the federal government committed $83.6-million to the project, which will cover nearly […]
Canada’s energy narrative needs an urgent reboot
WATERLOO, ONT.—The positive contribution to Canada’s economic well-being by the fossil fuels resource sector—oil, coal, gas—is well-recognized, a matter of record and fully accepted by Canadians. Primarily Alberta and Saskatchewan, but also British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia have been in the vanguard, bringing technological innovation and business acumen to deliver jobs, prosperity, […]
Energy Policy Briefing
Winding down of the carbon century will be a test for all Canadians
OTTAWA—It’s hard to make history go backwards. One need only review the United Kingdom’s experience in trying to untangle itself from nearly 50 years in the European Union. Swayed by visions of Britain’s past glories, xenophobia, and insecurity about being left behind in a changing world, a narrow majority of voters came down in favour […]
Trudeau’s real job now: sparking national action on a post-carbon future
OTTAWA—Apparently Doug Ford didn’t really mean it when he said in the summer that he would let voters in the federal election decide whether he would continue with Ontario’s costly, and likely futile, legal offensive against Ottawa’s carbon levy. Ford, who was shut out of the less-than-stellar federal Conservative campaign, sounded a bit more co-operative […]
Congratulations, we played ourselves
OTTAWA—We got played. The Liberals talked a big game this past election, insisting that “[if] you want progressive action, you need a progressive government, not a progressive opposition.” They reminded us at every turn that cuts to social services, like we saw in Ontario, would surely follow if the electorate foolishly supported a Conservative government […]
Did Justin Trudeau really wreck Alberta’s economy?
Western alienation has dominated much of the political discussion following the Oct. 21 federal election that brought the Liberals back to power with a minority government without a single seat in Alberta or Saskatchewan. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged it in his election night victory speech, and reporters grilled him about it in his first […]
Change is happening, and Kenney and Moe can’t escape this reality
TORONTO—The election results were barely in before cries of Western alienation were hitting the airwaves. The premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Jason Kenney and Scott Moe, had used the election to wage all-out war against the Trudeau Liberals and, in a narrow sense, they won, capturing all but one seat in the two provinces for […]
