A key meeting between the prime minister and the premiers on climate change is coming soon.
Today, Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason writes, “While not announced officially, [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau will convene a first ministers meeting in Vancouver in the first week of March to discuss a national climate strategy. This is a follow-up to the non-binding commitments made by Canada in Paris last December, where Environment Minister Catherine McKenna endorsed a call to hold global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.” And in a recent op-ed published in the Montreal Gazette, author and activist Gordon Laxer writes, “Trudeau and the premiers are scheduled to meet by March 11 to fashion a plan to transition Canada to a low-carbon future.”
Laxer highlights, “TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline is so capacious that it could single-handedly allow expansion of Alberta’s oilsands by over 40 per cent. That’s the same percentage rise as the sands emission cap that Alberta’s new climate action plan permits. The rise of oilsands emissions from 70 to 100 million tonnes a year will prevent Canada from meeting its laudable and ambitious targets at the Paris climate talks in December and Canada’s 2009 commitment at the G8 meetings in L’Aquila, Italy to lower carbon emissions by 80 per cent below Canada’s 1990 level of 600 million tonnes by 2050. That means a drop to 120 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. To hit Canada’s promises, oilsands output and emissions must be capped at 70 million tonnes and then phased out. We can’t get to a low carbon future unless we do so.”
His conclusion on what the prime minister and premiers should do? “They should nix Energy East.”
While we completely agree, it appears the prime minister has chosen instead to undertake some reforms to the National Energy Board review process for both the Energy East and Trans Mountain pipeline proposals.
So, what will be on the agenda for the federal-provincial meeting on climate change? During the last federal election, the Liberal platform stated, “A Liberal government is committed to attending the Paris climate conference, and within 90 days, holding a First Ministers meeting to work together on a framework for combatting climate change. Central to this would be the creation of national emissions reduction targets. Under the Liberal plan, provincial and territorial governments will have the flexibility to design their own policies to meet these commitments, including their own carbon pricing policies. We will provide targeted federal funding to help achieve these goals, in the same way the federal government supports health care in Canada.”
On carbon pricing, Mason comments, “Mr. Trudeau’s ambitions will not be realized without some fights. By the first ministers meeting next month, for instance, the provinces will not likely have agreed to a national price on carbon. The Prime Minister’s Office is getting major push-back from some provinces, including British Columbia, which has had a modest carbon tax in place for some time and feels it has done its part. …If the provinces don’t want to play along, however, Mr. Trudeau will have to take the gloves off. There is already talk of imposing a national carbon tax if that’s what it takes.”
The Council of Canadians will be mobilizing around the federal-provincial summit on climate change.
That summit will be occurring close to the Feb. 29 International Leap Day. Naomi Klein recently wrote in The Guardian, “The gap between where we are and where we need to be is so great, and the time so short, that small steps simply will not cut it.” That’s why we need to leap. She adds, “On leap day later this month, there will be meetings, teach-ins and other events across the country, all of them pushing our new government to adopt a holistic approach to the twin crises of climate change and inequality.” For more information on this day of action, please click here.
The Council of Canadians supports the Leap manifesto, notably its demands that:
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The leap must begin by respecting the inherent rights and title of the original caretakers of this land, starting by fully implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. -
The latest research shows we could get 100% of our electricity from renewable resources within two decades; by 2050 we could have a 100% clean economy. We demand that this shift begin now. -
No new infrastructure projects that lock us into increased extraction decades into the future. The new iron law of energy development must be: if you wouldn’t want it in your backyard, then it doesn’t belong in anyone’s backyard. -
We want training and resources for workers in carbon-intensive jobs, ensuring they are fully able to participate in the clean energy economy. -
We call for an end to all trade deals that interfere with our attempts to rebuild local economies, regulate corporations and stop damaging extractive projects.
This is the message we’ll be highlighting in Vancouver – and across the country – over the coming weeks in the lead-up to the First Ministers climate summit.
