Canada’s first climate adaptation strategy, unveiled today, commits the federal government to new targets for preventing extreme heat deaths, reversing species loss and protecting homes in flood- and wildfire-prone areas.
Environment and Climate Change Canada released the strategy — which has been almost two years in the making — in Prince Edward Island, one of the Atlantic provinces that felt the brunt of Hurricane Fiona in September.
The strategy envisions a country prepared to deal with the worst impacts of climate change. The high-level document talks about multiple targets but doesn’t provide any hard numbers. The government says its goal is to set the stage for more detailed implementation plans to be rolled out later.
The government also announced $1.6 billion over five years in new funding to help jump-start the work that needs to be done. The money is meant to improve disaster response, protect Canadians from extreme heat and health effects and top up the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund.
The funding required from the public and private sectors to address the impacts of climate change in Canada is estimated at $5.3 billion per year, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, a trade association that represents the industry.
A federal official speaking on background told reporters Thursday the new funding is a “down payment” and acknowledged more will be required to achieve the strategy’s goals. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair seemed to acknowledge this at the announcement.
“Clearly, there will need to be significant investments by all orders of governments and all Canadians across the country,” Blair told reporters.
The NDP says it’s not enough.
“This is a step in the right direction,” said New Democrat emergency preparedness critic Richard Cannings. “It’s just it’s taken a long time.
“It’s too little. We need much more ambition here to really do some meaningful things [to] prepare Canadians and communities for climate change.”
While governments and communities have been anticipating and planning for the effects of climate change — which range from droughts and floods to permafrost loss, failing infrastructure and pressure on ecosystems — more needs to be achieved, says the strategy document.
“Our collective actions have often been insufficient or disjointed, and have not resulted in the swiftness and scale of adaptation that communities in Canada require,” the document states.
Embedding climate change in all decision-making
In the hope of resetting the country’s approach, the strategy rests on several pillars: disaster resilience, health and well-being, nature and infrastructure.
Without going into specifics, the strategy outlines several targets — such as reducing the number of people affected or killed by floods, wildfires and extreme heat.
On the infrastructure front, the strategy calls for embedding “climate change in all decisions to locate, plan, design, manage, adapt, operate and maintain infrastructure systems across their lifecycle.”
Firefighters struggle to contain a wildfire outside Lytton, B.C. on July 14, 2022. (Supplied by Daniel Mundall)
The strategy commits Canada to new construction guidelines and standards, especially in areas prone to wildfires, flooding and other climate-related threats.
It sets broad targets for stopping and reversing nature and biodiversity loss. Indigenous communities, it says, must have opportunities to protect their traditional lands.
The strategy calls for expanding urban forests and wetlands in city landscapes. These nature-based solutions have been proven to reduce emissions and minimize the impacts of flooding and heat waves on urban populations.
The most significant aspect of Thursday’s plan is that it outlines these priorities, said Sarah Miller, an adaptation research associate at the Canadian Climate Institute. She added that some may be tempted to focus on how much money is needed.
“That’s essential because without [setting priorities], no amount of money is going to make a real difference,” she said.
The strategy is meant to be a living document. The government promises to update it every five years and to start issuing progress reports as soon as 2025.
Feeling the effects of climate change
Climate change has had devastating impacts on Canadians already. In June 2021, Western Canada experienced a historic heat dome which set a record temperature of 49.6 degrees C in Lytton, B.C. A forest first would later tear through the community.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault called Hurricane Fiona in September “the most severe hurricane in the history of Canada. We’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Lives were lost, and this is because of climate change,” he added.
Economic analysis shows the impacts of climate change will be severe, even if the world does not exceed the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C. A recent United Nations report warned that the failure of individual nations to cut their emissions is “leading our planet to at least 2.5 degrees warming, a level deemed catastrophic by scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”
The Canadian Climate Institute estimates that by 2025, the impact of climate change could cut economic growth by $25 billion annually. More recently, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that even if the world meets its emissions reduction commitments, Canada’s real GDP will take a 5.8 per cent hit in 2100.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
