A majority of Canadians say the country needs to be doing more to address the urgent threat of climate change, but many are skeptical Canada will be able to significantly reduce emissions over the next decade, a new Ipsos poll suggests.
The survey, conducted for Global News as part of yearend poll, found the 71 per cent of Canadians believe the country needs to take the lead globally on the fight against climate change and 76 believe the country needs to be doing more on the issue as a whole.
However, Canadians also appear to be feeling pessimistic in the climate fight, with 58 per cent of respondents believing the solutions will cause economic hardship and 50 per cent agreeing Canada won’t be able to significantly carbon reduce emissions.
The poll, which interviewed 1,002 Canadians online from Dec. 3-5, also found that 64 per cent of respondents believed Canada should capitalize on the global need for fossil fuels. Unsurprisingly, respondents in Alberta were most likely to agree with this statement, at 79 per cent, while support was also strong in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, each at 73 per cent.
Forest fires, historic flooding, and melting Arctic ice are some of the immediate impacts of how changing climate is affecting different regions of Canada.
Steve Easterbrook, director of the University of Toronto’s school of the environment, said that if Canada is going to take the climate crisis seriously, it means moving away from oil and gas production.
“That means a large number of jobs disappearing. So naturally, people are concerned,” Easterbrook said.
2:30 Throne Speech: Government calls climate change the ‘defining issue of our time’
Throne Speech: Government calls climate change the ‘defining issue of our time’
In November, the national economy posted its largest monthly job loss since the financial crisis, shedding more than 71,000 jobs. Alberta lost 18,000 of those jobs as the provincial unemployment rose to 7.2 per cent from 6.7 per cent.
The premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario have also been combative in the battle against the federal “carbon tax” often describing it as a “job killing” tax.
And if Canada is going to be successful in transitioning towards a greener economy, political leaders are going to have to do a better job of selling it, Easterbrook said.
“It will be difficult, no matter what, but people will have to see a clear vision as to what replaces those [oil and gas] industries,” he said, noting that millions of jobs could be created from retrofitting older buildings to have net-zero carbon emissions.
“Until people can see lots of good, made-in-Canada jobs associated with that, I don’t think people are going to be on board,” he said. “It’s much easier to be worried about your current job than to buy into a future job.”
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Canada is “on track” to meet its Paris Agreement target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. In his speech from the throne, Trudeau pledged to achieve “net-zero” emissions by 2050.
But several reports, including the most recent UN report, have Canada missing its targets by roughly 15 per cent, even under the best-case scenario.
What can we do?
Tourists up approach an iceberg in Bonavista Bay, N.L., on June 11, 2019. A report from an international scientific panel concludes that damage to Earth’s oceans and glaciers from climate change is outpacing the ability of governments to protect them. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly
Jackie Dawson, the Canada Research Chair in Environment, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa, said until leaders are able to clearly show that a greener economy can be more prosperous, we will continue to “butt heads” regionally.
“We sometimes think we have to continue down this same economic path and we don’t,” Dawson said. “We have to link the environment to the economics.”
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“The youth are already on board. It’s the older generation in power that are less so.”
Dawson said tackling climate change won’t just come from government policies but from citizens making changes in their day-to-day lives to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
According to estimates from the World Resources Institute, Canada produces about 1.6 per cent of the world’s total greenhouse gases. It may seem like small amount, but it places Canada as the ninth biggest emitter in the world.
2:18 UN warns countries are failing to cut carbon emissions
UN warns countries are failing to cut carbon emissions
And a separate report from Climate Transparency, a coalition of international climate organizations, found Canada is among the highest per-capita users of energy, with emissions from both the transportation sector and buildings four times the G20 average.
Dawson said there are some obvious choices like choosing public-transit, eating less meat, and using air travel less.
Even something as simple as continuing to engage in conversations around climate change and getting politically active at the municipal or local level can help, Easterbook said.
“People say, what does that achieve? Until we are more honest about our fears and discover that other people have those same fears, we just don’t realize how widespread the desire to do something about [climate change] is,” he said. “We have to be talking about it, with neighbours, with co-workers, with family, so we all realize we are in this together.”
Exclusive Global News Ipsos polls are protected by copyright. The information and/or data may only be rebroadcast or republished with full and proper credit and attribution to “Global News Ipsos.” This poll was conducted between Dec. 3 and 5.. For this survey, in total a sample of n = 1,002 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed via the Ipsos I-Say Panel. Quotas and weighting were employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians been polled.
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.
