Despite three decades of effort, Canada’s carbon emissions have risen 20 per cent since 1990, the country remains unprepared for climate disasters and subsidies for the oil and gas sector have not delivered promised emission reductions, say new reports from the federal government’s chief environmental watchdog.
That damning verdict applies not only to past Liberal and Conservative governments but to the current government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“Canada was once a leader in the fight against climate change. However, after a series of missed opportunities, it has become the worst performer of all G7 nations since the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted in 2015,” said Environment and Sustainable Development Commissioner Jerry V. DeMarco in a media statement.
“We can’t continue to go from failure to failure; we need action and results, not just more targets and plans.”
DeMarco’s five reports look at various federal efforts on the environment and conclude that, despite failures in a number of policy areas, Canada still has time to turn its record around.
“With strong, concerted action from parliamentarians and Canadians, Canada can move past its poor track record on climate change and meet its international climate obligations,” one of the reports said.
“Building on momentum around the globe and at home, including recent climate legislation, stronger plans, and increased funding, Canada can achieve a cleaner, net-zero-emission future for generations to come.”
The report looking at Canada’s record on reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not an audit, DeMarco’s office said, but rather an examination of progress meant to help governments improve outcomes going forward.
The commissioner identifies eight lessons that could get Canada back on track with its target of cutting emissions 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Key lessons
The first requires improved policy leadership and coordination between federal and provincial governments.
The commissioner notes that Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador produce 97 per cent of Canada’s oil and gas and said that any discussion about cutting emissions has to closely involve energy-producing provinces to reduce national tensions over the issue.
“Canada needs to depolarize the climate change discussion to move the debate from whether the country should significantly reduce its emissions and toward a discussion on how emissions should be reduced,” the commissioner said.
(Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)
The commissioner’s office said that while Canada’s oil and gas sector is responsible for eight per cent of GDP, it’s also to blame for 25 per cent of emissions.
To turn that around, the commissioner said Canada needs to fund efforts to transition workers away from emissions-intensive industries and increase the country’s reliance on lower-emission energy sources.
Preparing for climate disasters
The commissioner said that dealing with weather-related disasters, such as the catastrophic flooding in B.C.’s interior, costs the country up to six per cent of GDP annually. Better preparation for such events is critical one of the reports said.
“Compared with the high costs of cleaning up disasters after the fact, investing early in adaptation measures avoids losses and generates significant economic, social and environmental benefits,” the report said.
The report notes that recent polling shows just three quarters of Canadians agreed that global warming is caused by human activity and only 60 per cent of Canadians polled thought the federal government would be failing its citizens if it did not address climate change.
To address this, the commissioner is calling on the federal government to do a better job of countering misinformation on climate change.
The commissioner’s office says that, in the past, Canada’s stated climate targets have not been backed by strategies to follow through.
“While implementation of Canada’s current climate plans may fulfil Canada’s initial 2030 target of a 30 per cent reduction below 2005 levels, Canada now has a new, more ambitious goal of 40 per cent to 45 per cent. Therefore, the government will have to revisit the plans, policies, and actions needed to achieve the new targets,” says one of the reports.
The commissioner calls on the federal government to broaden its team of partners to battle climate change and to take steps to protect future generations from its impacts. He said Ottawa could accomplish that by working closer with Indigenous communities, the financial sector, academics, non-governmental organizations and businesses.
Oil and gas subsidies
The commissioner said that while recent legislation, such as the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act and the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, represent progress, more must be done.
“Parliament … must intensify efforts in the fight against climate change to make up for decades of missed opportunities and missteps,” the report said.
A helicopter dumps a load of water on the Philpot Road fire outside of Kelowna, B.C., Monday, August 28, 2017. Research suggests that bigger, hotter wildfires are turning Canada’s vast boreal forest into a net source of climate-changing greenhouse gases. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)
DeMarco’s fall reports also contained a number of audits. One of the audits looked into the Emissions Reduction Fund, which was launched last year as part of the COVID-19 Economic Response Plan.
The fund provides $675 million to help land-based oil and gas companies maintain jobs, attract investment, increase competitiveness and speed up deployment of equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially methane.
Poor reporting standards
The audit found that in designing the program, Natural Resources Canada did not ensure that drawing from the fund would actually lead to emissions reductions in the oil and gas sector. The audit also found that emission reduction expectations were “overestimated.”
“It is important that programs aimed at oil and gas companies be efficient and effective at delivering emission reductions,” said DeMarco. “Otherwise, such programs risk undermining Canada’s efforts to fight climate change.”
During question period in the House of Commons today, Green MP Elizabeth May called on the government to explain how it intends to fix the program.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he welcomes the report and agrees with “a number of the commissioner’s observations.”
“One must remember that this particular program was a particular COVID response measure … but we are now beyond the worst of COVID and … have now commenced a review of the future of this program and the remaining funding,” he said.
A flare stack lights the sky along refinery row in Edmonton Alta, on Friday December 28, 2018. A report by the International Energy Agency says the oil and gas industry need to increase their efforts to address climate change. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
A separate audit in DeMarco’s fall report looked at the work of 12 federal departments responsible for “healthy coasts and oceans, pristine lakes and rivers, and sustainable food.”
The audit found that while these departments “contributed to meeting the goals” laid out in the federal government’s Sustainable Development Strategy, they failed to adequately follow guidelines or properly report how actions they took contributed to meeting the goals laid out by the federal government.
“Gaps in reporting make it difficult for Parliamentarians and Canadians to understand progress being made against Canada’s sustainable development commitments,” said DeMarco.
The fall reports also noted that efforts to reduce excess deposits of nutrients in Lake Erie, Lake Winnipeg and the Wolastoq—Saint John River would be greatly improved if the federal government shared information and resources with other organizations involved in water management.
Excess nutrients, combined with a warming climate, can lead to “runaway growth of algae” that threatens water supplies, the report said.
‘We’re doing better,’ says environment minister
Wilkinson said that projections made before the Liberals came to power said that Canada’s emissions would be 12 per cent above 2005 levels by 2030. He insisted the country will meet its target of a 45 per cent cut in emissions by the end of the decade.
“To implement, you actually have to plan, you have to have detailed, concrete actions and that is exactly what Canada has,” Wilkinson said.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said he welcomed the report and agreed that “we have to do more.”
“We’re doing better,” he added. “We’re doing more things than any other government has ever done in the history of Canada when it comes to fighting climate change.”
Guilbeault acknowledged that Canada has had a poor record when it comes to implementing climate change policies.
“We’ve been very good in Canada in having debates about targets and we’ve not been very good, until recently, about talking and working on implementation and that’s what we’ve been very hard at work [on] since 2015,” he said.
The minister flagged programs such as carbon pricing and investments in public transit as evidence of progress.
“We already have one of the most aggressive carbon pricing systems in the world,” he said.
The Conservatives released a statement saying the commissioner stated something that they’ve pointed out for years — that targets are not being met.
“We urgently need policies that [encourage] the continued development of low carbon energy and carbon reduction,” said the statement.
“Canada’s Conservatives will continue to fight for a plan that prioritizes provinces, communities and workers to ensure that people can live in a country with a secure climate future. We can address both climate change and secure the future for workers.”
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Victor Hedman as the team captain on Wednesday as training camp opened, making the big defenseman the successor to Steven Stamkos.
Hedman, who is going into his 16th season with Tampa Bay, was considered the obvious choice to get the “C” after the Lightning did not re-sign Stamkos and their longtime captain left to join Nashville.
“Victor is a cornerstone player that is extremely well respected by his teammates, coaches and peers across the NHL,” general manager Julien BriseBois said. “Over the past 15 seasons, he has been a world-class representative for our organization both on and off the ice. Victor embodies what it means to be a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning and is more than ready for this exciting opportunity. We are looking forward to watching him flourish in his new role as we continue to work towards our goal of winning the Stanley Cup.”
The 33-year-old from Sweden was a key contributor in the Lightning hoisting the Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21, including playoff MVP honors on the first of those championship runs. Hedman also took home the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 2018 and finished in the top three in voting five other seasons.
Ryan McDonagh, who was reacquired early in the offseason in a trade with the Predators, and MVP finalist Nikita Kucherov will serve as alternate captains with the Lightning moving on to the post-Stamkos era.
TORONTO – While Toronto FC is looking to improve its position on the pitch, general manager Jason Hernandez is trying to do the same off it.
That has been easier said than done this season.
Sending winger Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to CF Montreal for up to $1.3 million (all dollar figures in U.S. funds) in general allocation money before the secondary transfer window closed in early August helped set the stage for future moves.
But there have been plenty of obstacles, which Hernandez has been working to clear.
“We feel a lot more confident going into this upcoming off-season that we did the one prior,” said Hernandez. “There’s a level of what I would say booby-traps that were uncovered when I first got the (GM) role at the end of last summer.”
The club is paying off departed forwards Adam Diomande and Ayo Akinola as well as a $500,000 payment due in 2024 to Belgium’s Anderlecht for Jamaican international defender Kemar Lawrence. That payment was part of the transfer fee for Lawrence, who joined TFC from Anderlecht in May 2021 and was traded to Minnesota United in March 2022.
Diomande was waived while Akinola’s contract was terminated by mutual agreement.
“That comes to an end in ’25, which is nice,” said Hernandez. “We had to suffer from a salary cap perspective this season. But those things coming off, the Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty money coming in, we’re going to be in a position to make some good additions, which is positive.”
While MLS clubs are allowed one contract buyout per year, Toronto had already used its on former captain Michel Bradley, who retired after last season. Bradley had previously restructured his contract, deferring money.
TFC’s only other move during the summer transfer window was the signing of free-agent defender Henry Wingo. Hernandez said the club knew going into the window that it was likely limited to the one acquisition “unless other business happened”
“We knew we had this bucket of money and we knew we were going to go get Henry,” said Hernandez.
While the sale of the highly touted Marshall-Rutty opened up other possibilities, it came on the eve of the transfer window closing. And the team did not like what it saw in the free-agent market.
“A lot of the opportunities we were presented in the free agency space felt more like a short-term, Band-Aid decision versus what actually the club probably needs.”
Hernandez was not willing to take in players who came with a “club-friendly” salary cap charge in 2024 and a much bigger number in 2025.
Instead, Toronto promoted forward Charlie Sharp and wingback Nate Edwards to the first team from TFC 2 ahead of last Friday’s roster freeze.
MLS teams are operating on a salary budget of $5.47 million this season, which covers up to 20 players on the senior roster (clubs can elect to spread that number across 18 players). But the league has several mechanisms that allow those funds to go further, including using allocation money (both general and targeted) to buy down salaries.
Designated players only count $683,750 — the maximum salary charge — against the cap no matter their actual pay. Toronto’s Lorenzo Insigne is actually earning $15.4 million with fellow Italian Federico Bernardeschi collecting $6.295 million and Canadian Richie Laryea $1.208 million.
Hernandez says Laryea’s contract can — and “very likely” will — be restructured so as to remove the designated player status.
There are benefits in going with just two designated players rather than three.
Teams that elect to go with two DPs can sign up to four players as part of the league’s “U22 Initiative.” The pluses of that structure include a reduced salary cap charge for the young players and up to an extra $2 million in general allocation money.
Hernandez says the club is currently pondering whether that is the way to go.
Captain Jonathan Osorio who is earning $836,370 this season, restructured his deal to allow the team to sign Laryea as a DP. In doing so, Osorio had his option year guaranteed so his contact runs through 2026.
Hernandez and coach John Herdman will have decisions to make come the end of the year.
The contracts of goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh ($94,200), defenders Kevin Long ($277,500), Shane O’Neill ($413,000) and Kobe Franklin ($100,520), midfielder Alonso Coello ($94,050) and Brandon Servania ($602,710), and forward Prince Owusu ($807,500) — all on the club’s senior roster — expire at the end of 2024 with club options to follow.
While there is more work to do, Hernandez believes TFC is on the right road.
Toronto, which finished last in the league at 4-20-10 in 2023, went into Wednesday’s game against visiting Columbus in a playoff position at eighth in the East at 11-15-3.
“By every metric, we are miles ahead of where we were at this point last year,” said Hernandez.
“That’s a low bar, so that’s not saying much,” he added.
But he believes TFC is “quite competitive” when it has all its players at its disposal.
“To get results in this final stretch, we’re going to need our prominent players to really show up and have big performances, and be supported by the rest of the cast.”
After Columbus, TFC plays at Colorado and Chicago and hosts the New York Red Bulls and Inter Miami. The club also travels to Vancouver for the Canadian Championship final.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024
Mackenzie Hughes might just be what the International team needs as this year’s Presidents Cup.
Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., is one of three Canadians on the squad competing in the match-play event at Royal Montreal Golf Club next week.
His putting skills, cool demeanour under pressure, pre-existing connections with teammates and clubhouse leadership could help the team — made up of non-American players outside Europe — end a nine-tournament losing skid to the United States at the biennial event.
“I’ve had this one circled on the calendar for a few years now,” said Hughes on joining fellow Canadians Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners as captain’s picks on the 12-player International team. “I pretty much knew that when it was announced the tournament would be in Canada and that Mike Weir was going to be the captain, you pretty much knew where that was going to go.
“To get that call from (Weir) is really special because he’s the guy that I looked up to, we all looked up to, as Canadian golfers.”
Pendrith and Conners are returning to the team after a disappointing 17 1/2 to 12 1/2 loss to the United States at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. in 2022.
Hughes was ranked 14th on the International team standings in 2022 and could have easily been included on that squad after Australia’s Cameron Smith and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann were ruled ineligible after jumping ship to the rival LIV Golf circuit.
However, captain Trevor Immelman of South Africa instead chose the lower ranked Christiaan Bezuidenhout (16th) of South Africa, Pendrith (18th), South Korea’s Kim Si-woo (20th) and Australia’s Cameron Davis (25th).
“I certainly wanted to be on that team but also I understood the picks,” said Hughes, who lives in Charlotte and plays at Quail Hollow regularly. “I think that like a lot of guys that don’t get picked you more so look back on your own play and I wish I had made that selection easier for them.
“I didn’t do myself any favours in the six weeks leading up to it and that’s a hard pill to swallow.”
It may have been a costly oversight on Immelman’s part, as finishing holes was an issue for the International team in 2022 and Hughes is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour. This season he’s third in shots gained around the green and fifth in shots gained from putting.
“It doesn’t mean that just because I was there it would have turned the tide, but I’d like to think maybe I could have helped,” said Hughes. “That’s why you play the matches. You have to get out there and do it.”
This year Hughes made it easier for Weir, the Canadian golf legend from Brights Grove, Ont., to choose him. Hughes is 51st in the FedEx Cup Fall standings and has made the cut seven tournaments in a row, including a tie for fourth at last week’s Procore Championship.
“Mac played very solidly all year. Really like his short game, an all-around short game,” said Weir on Sept. 3 after announcing his captain’s picks. “He’s one of the elite and best short game guys on the PGA Tour
“I also love Mac’s grit. So that was the reason I picked him.”
Hughes’s intangible qualities go beyond grit.
He, Pendrith and Conners will arrive at Royal Montreal as a unit within the International squad, having become close friends while playing on Kent State University’s men’s golf team before turning pro. They’re also part of a group of Canadians, including Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., that regularly practice together before PGA Tour events.
“To have those guys with me is really icing on the cake, it’s very special,” said Hughes. “Opportunities like this don’t come around very often: to play this kind of team competition, which is already hard to do, but to play with some of your best friends, it almost seems scripted.”
An 11-year professional, Hughes has also been a member of the PGA Tour’s player advisory council the past two years and has been an outspoken advocate for making professional golf more accessible to fans.
Although Weir relied heavily on analytics to make his captain’s selections, Hughes’s character came up again and again when asked why he was named to the team.
“I just have a gut feeling with Mac that he has what it takes in these big moments,” said Weir. “They’re big pressure moments, and I have a feeling he’s going to do great in those moments.”
DP WORLD TOUR — Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., continues his chase for a spot in the Europe-based DP World Tour’s playoffs. The top 50 players on the Race to Dubai standings make the DP World Tour Championship and Cockerill moved eight spots up to 39th in the rankings after tying for ninth at last week’s Irish Open. He’ll be back at it on Thursday at the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England.
KORN FERRY TOUR — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is ranked 38th on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour’s points list. He leads the Canadian contingent into this week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. He’ll be joined at Ohio State University Golf Club — Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio by Edmonton’s Wil Bateman (53rd), Etienne Papineau (65th) of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., and Sudarshan Yellamaraju (99th) of Mississauga, Ont.
CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames is the lone Canadian at this week’s Pure Insurance Championship. He’s No. 2 on the senior circuit’s points list. The event will start Friday and be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course in Monterey, Calif.
LPGA TOUR — There are four Canadians in this week’s Kroger City Championship. Savannah Grewal (97th in the Race to CME Globe Rankings) of Mississauga, Ont., Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (115th), and Maude-Aimee Leblanc (142nd) of Sherbrooke, Que., will all tee it up at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio.
EPSON TOUR — Vancouver’s Leah John is the low Canadian heading into the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout. She’s 54th in the second-tier tour’s points list. She’ll be joined by Maddie Szeryk (118th) of London, Ont., and Brigitte Thibault (119th) of Rosemere, Que., at Mystic Creek Golf Club in El Dorado, Ark.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
