OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he will guarantee that Canada is going to meet its latest climate target, because this time it’s accompanied by a plan that shows how to get there.
Since 1988, Canada has set its sights on eight different greenhouse gas emissions targets. Six of them have come and gone, and Canada never came anywhere close to meeting them.
The next target is set for 2030, and requires Canada to get emissions to 55 to 60 per cent of what they were in 2005. That’s a more-ambitious version of a previous target the Trudeau government set when it came into power.
Based on emissions levels in 2020, meeting the new target would mean cutting about 23 million tonnes of emissions a year, on average. That’s the equivalent of taking five million passenger cars off the road every 12 months until the end of the decade.
In a question-and-answer session at the Canadian Climate Institute’s conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, Bloomberg News climate reporter Akshat Rathi asked if Trudeau would guarantee that Canada can do that.
His response? “Yes.”
“Every other plan was based on targets,” Trudeau said. “Any politician can put forward a target. Can you actually put forward a plan to do it?”
The Liberals’ first climate plan in 2016 set a course toward their initial 2030 target, but never included enough initiatives to actually get there.
Trudeau said Canada’s Emissions Reduction Plan, published in March, does provide a road map all the way to the new target established last year.
For the first time, the plan outlines the emissions that have to be eliminated to hit the 2030 target sector-by-sector, and spells out some, though not all, of the ways that can be achieved.
The oil and gas sector will be required to cap emissions at current levels and then ratchet them down 38 per cent by 2030. The specifics of that cap are in development now, with more details expected next year.
A new tax credit to help oil and gas producers install carbon capture and storage systems will be one of the heavy lifters to help the sector hit its goals. But the industry has been clear it thinks the government’s timeline is too ambitious.
Transportation needs to cut emissions 11 per cent, largely by replacing combustion-engine vehicles with electric versions.
The electricity grid, which is already about 80 per cent clean, needs to further cut emissions by 88 per cent, which will largely come by closing coal-fired power plants and installing carbon capture systems on gas plants.
But Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said at the conference Tuesday that to meet its climate goals, Canada also needs to double or triple the electricity we produce. And to do that, he said, the government is going to have to invest a lot more in renewable energy.
“It is going to need to be of a much more significant scale for us to move forward,” he said.
Trudeau wouldn’t put a timeline on when Canada will start to see a significant decline in greenhouse gas emissions heading toward 2030.
Between 2015, when the Liberals took office, and 2019, emissions went up about 0.7 per cent. In 2020, when COVID-19 shut down large swaths of the economy for weeks on end, emissions finally showed a sharp drop, declining nine per cent compared to 2019.
The 2021 numbers are expected to rebound, given that the economy was much more open.
Skepticism of Trudeau’s climate guarantee is rampant among his political opponents.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in question period Tuesday that “the Liberals have not hit a single, solitary climate target since they took office.”
He has promised to cut the carbon price and said Trudeau is a hypocrite for charging extra for “little old ladies” to heat their homes in the winter while he jets around the world on vacations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2022.
Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
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