The latest emissions projection data suggests Canada is on track to achieve its interim climate target and is getting closer to achieving its 2030 climate goal.
Environment and Climate Change Canada released new modelling on Thursday showing the country’s latest emissions pathway.
The projections are contingent on Canada following through with the full suite of policies announced in its 2030 emissions reduction plan, and the policies the federal government has announced since. It also includes measures that provincial and territorial governments are undertaking.
The modelling shows that Canada’s climate-altering emissions should decrease by mid-decade, bending the curve toward the interim 2026 climate target.
The latest projections show Canada is on track to surpass its previous 2030 target of a 30 per cent emissions cut below 2005 levels. That target was set by the government of former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.
“In 2015, Canada was trending to exceed 2005 greenhouse gas emissions levels by nine per cent by 2030, but since then, many sectors of the economy have made real and measurable progress to lower their emissions,” says a news release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Canada introduces emissions cap for oil and gas industry
The federal government has revealed how it will set an upper limit on greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-trade system for the country’s biggest emitter, the oil and gas industry.
An energy think-tank applauded the government after the report was released.
“Since the current government assumed office, it has introduced several cornerstone emission-reduction measures, including carbon pricing, which is widely accepted as one of the most cost-effective ways to cut climate pollution,” says a press release from Clean Energy Canada.
On Thursday, Wilkinson criticized the climate records of Harper and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
“(Poilievre) was a member of Stephen Harper’s cabinet when Stephen did nothing to address the climate issue,” said Wilkinson. “I was in the clean technology sector. I was a CEO. There was despair across the country that Canada was so far out of the conversation on climate.”
Reached for comment, the Conservatives blasted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s climate and economic record. The Tories also spoke about their approach to tacking climate change.
“Common-sense Conservatives will use technology, not taxes, to lower emissions. We will remove the gatekeepers and green light green projects to bring home our industry and good jobs,” said Sebastian Skamski, director of media relations for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
“After eight years of Justin Trudeau, his inflationary taxes and deficits are sending millions of Canadians to food banks and forcing middle class families to choose between eating and heating this winter.
“All the while they punish Canadians with a carbon tax, he and his activist environment minister have not met a single one of their own emissions targets.”
CBC asked Conservatives to clarify the latter part of the statement since the only climate targets set by the Trudeau government are in 2026 and 2030. Whether Canada officially achieves those objectives are yet to be determined.
The Trudeau government did miss the 2020 climate target that Harper committed to under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord. Under the Conservatives Canada committed by 2020 to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent below 2005 levels. Canada wasn’t far off: emissions fell by an estimated 16 per cent.
Feds still have work to do
Canada is still not on track to meet its enhanced 2030 targets, set under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The latest modelling forecasts the country will overshoot its goal of reducing emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels. The projections say it won’t reach that target until 2035.
That’s still an improvement on the previous year’s report, which showed Canada would not hit the target until after 2035.
Modelling shows Canada could reduce its emissions by 36 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 — a two per cent improvement on previous projections.
But there’s still work to do to close the gap.
Anna Kanduth, a director with the Canadian Climate Institute, said Ottawa needs to follow through on policies in its emissions reduction plan, like the zero-emission vehicle sales mandate and the oil and gas cap.
“That requires quick and effective implementation of all of those policies in the emissions reduction plan,” Kanduth.
It reports actual emissions annually through its national inventory reports — that reporting lags behind by about two years. The latest report shows Canada’s economy released 670 megatonnes in 2021.
According to the most recent projections, reported emissions for 2022 are expected to increase before falling this year.
In a news release, Environment Canada said it is working on more ways to reduce emissions. It said it’s updating existing methane regulations for oil and gas producers, finalizing the cap on oil and gas sector emissions and releasing and implementing the green buildings strategy.
Plans for the marine, rail and aviation sectors are also in development, the department said.
The Canadian Climate Institute, meanwhile, points out that Ottawa’s emissions projections also rely on provinces and territories following through with their policies.
“When we look at closing the gap … the onus should not just be on the federal government to close that gap,” Kanduth said.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
