Thirty-five years ago this summer, the late Brian Mulroney World Conference on Atmosphere Change In Toronto. Participants gathered there to discuss the existing threats of acid rain and ozone layer depletion. It was also one of the first major international conferences organized to discuss the emerging threat of global warming.
“It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this historic conference,” Mulroney said. “More than 350 experts from more than 40 countries are here to address global threats to Earth’s atmosphere.”
A few days later, the conference issued a statement that began with the alarming declaration: “Humanity is conducting an unintended, uncontrolled, globally pervasive experiment whose ultimate outcome could be second only to global nuclear war.”
Last summer, Canada Worst wildfire season on record — A summer in which more than 15 million hectares of forest were burned. For a few days in June The Capitol itself was enveloped in smoke..
Nine months later, the House of Commons Government Operations Committee met to hear from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, whose government he leads. brazenly defying federal carbon pricing laws.
Officially, the meeting was held to review some of the major budgets that the government presents to Congress each spring, covering 12 federal agencies and departments. Mo wasn’t there to say anything about it. Instead, she appeared by remote video to reiterate her opposition to the federal carbon tax.
Mr Moe, along with several other premiers, recently wrote to the House of Commons Finance Committee requesting time. Apparently there was no reply. So Conservative MP Kelly McCauley, chair of the Government Operations Committee, along with New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and Alberta Premier Daniel Smith, said they would schedule a meeting and invite Moe. It seems like a unilateral decision was made.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Mr Macauley offered this bizarre invitation at the height of his party’s ‘Abolish Taxes’ campaign.
“I think this is an important conversation for each of us as elected officials,” Mo said after Liberal and Bloc Quebecois committee members spent nearly 20 minutes questioning why they were attending. .
There are definitely important issues to discuss. Whether or not it is being seriously discussed is a completely different matter.
Three Prime Ministers Express Their Claims
Moe’s views on carbon taxes and various other federal climate policies are longstanding and well known. But Wednesday’s meeting provided a new opportunity to mull them over.
Near the end of his opening remarks, the Prime Minister said the carbon tax “has shown no measurable effect in terms of reducing emissions”. In fact, the Canadian Climate Institute currently estimates that consumer fuel prices will reduce annual emissions by 19 to 22 megatonnes in 2030.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe attended a meeting of the federal Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates on Wednesday. He called on the federal government to suspend future carbon tax increases.
To put this in perspective, this is roughly equivalent to the total emissions produced in Manitoba in 2021. And if Manitoba were to disappear tomorrow, its absence would probably be noticed.
Moe then argued there was an “alternative way”, pointing to Article 6 of the Paris Climate Agreement and suggesting Canada could somehow get credit by exporting clean technology to other countries. did.
The next day, Mr. Higgs and Mr. Smith proposed a similar idea, arguing that if Canada exported more natural gas, it could be used to replace dirtier coal-fired power generation in other countries. .
Prime Minister Blaine Higgs testified before the federal committee about raising the carbon tax (which he opposes), said demand for liquefied natural gas was growing in countries such as the Czech Republic, and promoted LNG exports to Europe. .
The practical feasibility of Moe’s theory is as follows. debatable – Another country must agree to allow Canada to claim full or partial credit for emissions reductions achieved in that country. In any case, expecting other countries to take credit for reducing their emissions doesn’t actually answer the question of how Canada will reduce its own emissions. Natural gas may be cleaner than coal, but it is not clean energy.
More than 300 Canadian economists gave evidence this week while the prime minister and others gave evidence. Sign the open letter It expresses support for carbon pricing and challenges some of the arguments against existing policies. Conservative leader Pierre Poièvre summarily dismissed the letter on Wednesday.
“Common sense conservatives will listen to the common sense of ordinary people, not Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s so-called ‘experts,'” a spokesperson for Poièvre said. told the Canadian Press.
It is not clear why the country’s economists are seen as beholden to the prime minister. Those who signed the letter have ties to numerous universities across the country. Several of them work at Poilievre’s alma mater, the University of Calgary.
What would a serious discussion look like?
Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 were 8.4% lower than in 2005, the base year against which Canada’s current 2030 target is measured. And Higgs can at least claim to be ahead of the curve — New Brunswick’s emissions fell by 39 per cent in 2021.
In Saskatchewan, emissions fell by just 1 per cent. Alberta’s emissions were 8.6% higher. Neither state has an overall emissions target for 2030.
A public forum hosted by Mr. McCauley this week also reminded that grievances about federal climate policy are not limited to the carbon tax. Smith opposes the Liberal government’s proposed oil and gas emissions limits, ongoing clean electricity regulations and zero-emission vehicle sales targets. Moe and Higgs don’t like federal clean fuel regulations.
But it remains unclear What exactly will the prime minister and federal Conservative leaders ask Canada to do instead? To reduce emissions and meet international commitments. There is no way to reduce emissions without cost or inconvenience.
Prime Ministers are clearly very keen to discuss climate policy, so it’s tempting to wonder what would be clarified and achieved if they were all invited to Ottawa for a video conference. Become. They expect you to arrive fully paid for and with an independently analyzed plan. Their province will reduce emissions in line with Canada’s national goals.
As the Climate Research Institute pointed out last fall, Current state goals combined are less than half of the national goal for 2030..
In the meantime, it prevents Mr. Poièvre from submitting his own climate change plan to parliamentary budget officials to study the economic and financial impacts before submitting it to private companies to project emissions reductions. is nothing.
At that point, there may actually be some serious discussion.
Months from now, smoke may blanket some Canadian city, forcing residents to breathe in the acrid air or hide indoors. It is now too late to prevent some of the disasters that were predicted decades ago.
But there may be some consolation if, by then, the country’s political leaders have had a serious conversation about the undoubtedly important issues.
