Canada has for years forked over billions of dollars in subsidies to oil and gas companies — an approach that critics say flies in the face of the country’s climate goals, and impinges on efforts to turn toward renewable energy sources.
Now, the federal government is preparing to release a new policy that will put an end to “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies,” a commitment Canada made more than a decade ago.
A spokesperson for Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the new policy will be released in July.
But the strength of that commitment, environmental groups say, will hinge on how exactly the terms “inefficient” and “subsidy” are defined.
Julia Levin, associate director of national climate for the advocacy group Environmental Defence, said Canada has an opportunity to become a global leader in reducing fossil fuel subsidies if it’s done right.
“If it’s a strong assessment framework, it sets a great precedent. It kind of cements a bit of climate leadership for Canada,” she said in an interview.
“If it’s weak, it sets an incredibly dangerous precedent.”
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault has said he will eliminate inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by the end of 2023. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)
Where is Canada at with fossil fuel subsidies?
Canada has routinely ranked near or at the top of the developed world when it comes to subsidies for oil and gas, according to environmental groups.
G20 countries, including Canada, committed to eliminating such subsidies in 2009, but did not give a firm timeline of when it would happen or what that commitment would include.
The Liberals later committed to a 2025 target and, in the last election campaign, moved that up to 2023.
The long-anticipated policy comes as the oil and gas industry racks up record profits.
The parliamentary committee on environment released a report last week laying out recommendations for the phase out of subsidies and public financing.
The report included 21 recommendations, the first of which was for the government to “continue taking steps to eliminate subsidies and applicable public financing” by the end of the year, while at the same time giving “careful attention to and mitigation of any potential social and economic impacts.”
Another recommendation was to ensure that any existing subsidy “facilitates the transition toward a low-carbon future” and is consistent with the country’s climate goals.
While non-binding, the federal government must table a response to the report — and advocates are hopeful it will put additional pressure on them to act. The NDP also issued a statement last week calling on Guilbeault to eliminate subsidies.
“Canadians are increasingly concerned about the devastating impacts of wildfires, flooding and extreme weather events on their communities, their homes and their livelihoods. They want bold action to tackle the climate crisis,” said Laurel Collins, the party’s environment and climate change critic.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada said the details of the policy will be provided at the time of the announcement and noted that it “has already made progress on phasing out tax measures that are inefficient subsidies.”
The five largest companies in Canada’s oilsands made about $35 billion in profits in 2022. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
What exactly is a fossil fuel subsidy?
There’s no agreed upon definition in Canada of what a fossil fuel subsidy includes — which is why determining how much the government doles out remains a source of heated debate.
Environmental Defence recently calculated that the federal government provided more than $20 billion to oil and gas companies in 2022.
The list includes:
$78 million from the Strategic Innovation Fund to help the oil and gas sector grow and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
$20 million from the Emissions Reduction Fund to help oil and gas companies reduce their methane emissions.
Tax breaks for developing mines and exploration expenses abroad.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), on the other hand, has maintained that the oil and gas industry is not subsidized at all.
In a brief submitted last year to the parliamentary committee, CAPP argued that tax breaks it gets are part of the tax system, “therefore not subsidies.”
Last month, more than 100 environment and civil society groups wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling for a “robust” definition of the term subsidy.
The signatories, which include Environmental Defence, want the government to follow the lead of the World Trade Organization, which says a subsidy is, simply put, a “financial contribution” that “confers a benefit.” Under that definition, a subsidy would include everything from direct transfers to foregone revenue to loan guarantees.
When is a subsidy efficient?
There is also no agreed definition for what constitutes an “efficient” or “inefficient” subsidy.
The G20 statement from 2009 did say that inefficient fossil fuel subsidies “encourage wasteful consumption, reduce our energy security, impede investment in clean energy sources and undermine efforts to deal with the threat of climate change.”
Levin and other advocates say subsidies should only be considered “efficient” — and therefore an acceptable form of government funding — if they align with Canada’s Paris agreement goals.
That means subsidies shouldn’t support new or updated fossil fuel infrastructure, or delay the transition to renewables, according to signatories of the letter to Trudeau last month.
The parliamentary report released last week doesn’t give a clear recommendation on how to define the term.
But it calls on the government to adopt a “broad, internationally recognized definition of a fossil fuel subsidy” and a “definition of ‘inefficient,’ in the context of fossil fuel subsidies.”
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Public financing included?
In its memo to the parliamentary committee, CAPP argued that eliminating all public financing for oil and gas would “work against government commitments to meet their targets and obligations under the Paris Agreement given that government funding helps improve industry emissions performance.”
But Bronwen Tucker, who tracks public financing of oil and gas companies at the advocacy group Oil Change International, is hopeful the new policy will include all forms of public financing (such as government loans or loan guarantees) in order to ensure fossil fuel projects don’t get an advantage over renewable sources of energy.
Canada put an end to international public financing of oil and gas companies last year, something Tucker said was a good first step in cutting back on government support of the industry.
She said tax breaks and more direct support for oil and gas have also been scaled back, but that support shows up in other ways, such as clean up for orphaned wells and carbon capture storage.
“For the public, it can sound actually exciting or often is branded as a climate solution, where what we see in practice is that money goes to a fossil fuel company that frees up money elsewhere in their budget and in their expenses,” she said.
“It’s still a handout and it’s just letting them off for the costs of cleanup that they should be able to cover themselves.”
HALIFAX – A strike that has shuttered libraries in the Halifax region for the past three-and-a-half weeks could come to an end on Thursday now that the employer and union representing hundreds of workers have reached a tentative labour deal.
The Nova Scotia Union of Public and Private Employees Local 14 and Halifax Public Libraries issued a joint statement on Friday announcing the agreement, though they did not share details on its terms.
It said both library workers and the library board will vote on the deal as soon as possible, and branches will re-open for business on Sept. 19 if it’s approved.
Chad Murphy, spokesperson and vice president of NSUPE Local 14, said voting for library workers opened Saturday morning and will close at 12 p.m. Sunday. He declined to share details of the deal but said the membership met to “review the offer in its entirety” on Friday night.
About 340 workers at libraries across the region have been on strike since Aug. 26 as they fought for improvements to wages they said were “miles behind” other libraries in Canada. Negotiations broke down after the employer offered the workers 3.5-per-cent raises in the first year of a new contract, and then three per cent in each of the next three years.
Library service adviser Dominique Nielsen told The Canadian Press in the first week on the picket line that those increases would not bring wages up to a livable wage for many workers, adding that some library workers sometimes have to choose between paying rent and paying for groceries.
When the strike began, employees were working under a collective agreement that expired in April 2023. Librarians make between $59,705 and $68,224 a year under that agreement, while service support workers — who are the lowest paid employees at Halifax Public Libraries — make between $35,512 and $40,460 annually.
By contrast, the lowest paid library workers at the London Public Library in London, Ont.— a city with a comparable population and cost of living to Halifax — make at least $37,756, according to their collective agreement.
Library workers also cited a changing workplace as another reason why they rejected Halifax Public Libraries’ first offer. Libraries have become gathering spaces for people with increasingly complex needs, and it is more common for library workers to take on more social responsibilities in addition to lending books.
“We need to ensure that members are able to care for themselves first before they are able to care for our communities,” an NSUPE strike FAQ page reads.
Other issues at play during the strike have included better parental leave top-up pay for adoptive parents and eliminating a provision of the collective agreement that calls for dismissals for employees who are absent from work for two days or more without approved leave.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
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.
