Trudeau’s environment minister sees the energy sector as a “problem”
Justin Trudeau is in Glasgow to save the planet. Or something.
Trudeau is at the COP26 climate summit, no doubt to boast about his government’s plan to ban gas-powered cars (or “end the sale of,” as the Canadian media says) and phase out the oil and gas sector altogether (“create an emissions-free power grid,” in media-speak).
I remarked last week that Canada’s proclamations are particularly hollow given our emissions have risen more than any other G7 nation’s since the Paris agreement six years ago. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean this virtue signalling won’t come at a cost to Canadians.
Trudeau’s new cabinet members are saying the quiet part out loud.
“We recognize the problem,” says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault (whose past as a criminally convicted radical Greenpeace activist apparently qualified him to champion Trudeau’s climate policy).
“We’re not putting a cap on the emissions of the cement sector or the steel sector or aluminum or forestry. We’re putting a cap on oil and gas because it is 25 per cent of our emissions.”
What Guilbeault lacks in coherence he makes up for in candour, I suppose.
Extraction alone makes up nearly 10 per cent of the country’s GDP, not to mention the economic benefits from other aspects of the industry. That isn’t enough to save it from Trudeau’s so-called just transition, however. From the Toronto Star:
For Jonathan Wilkinson, the North Vancouver MP who moved from the environment portfolio to become minister of natural resources in this week’s cabinet shuffle, the goal is to show the world that Canada, as a major oil-producing country, can successfully transition to a clean economy in the coming years.
Setting aside for a moment that the oil and gas sector is pouring billions into technologies allowing for carbon capture, storage and recycling, even vaporizing the sector overnight wouldn’t achieve Trudeau’s precious targets.
If we accept Guilbeault’s figures that 25 per cent of Canada’s emissions come from oil and gas producers, that’s just under half of the 45 per cent by which Trudeau has committed to somehow reduce Canada’s emissions. It won’t end with oil and gas, and once the low-hanging fruit has been plucked, no industry will be spared.
Housekeeping
Hope you all had a safe and enjoyable Halloween. We had enough children come to our door last night that I’ve thus far managed to avoid the Leftovers Sugar Coma – at least for now. Alas, it appears discounted Halloween candy is no longer a thing, as it seems we’ve already kicked off Retail Christmas.
As I enter the fourth week of my foray into newsletter-writing, I extend my thanks to all of you who read, share, and subscribe to my musings. As I’ve mentioned a couple of times, it is a work in progress, so please do let me know what you like and what you don’t, as far as format goes anyway.
Both editions of this newsletter remain free, but taking out a paid subscription, if you’re able, keeps this going for all to enjoy (or hate-read).
After an eventful few weeks, I don’t have too much to announce in the personal category, though last week Danielle Smith and I held the virtual kickoff for Libertarians Who Care and Conservatives Who Care, two grassroots philanthropic networks with the potential to put some real money behind important causes while connecting like-minded folks across the country.
If you want to join up, just sign up for the project’s dedicated mailing list here (and do make sure to check your junk or spam folder for the confirmation email, as this has been an issue for several people).
Only the chosen journalists can question Chrystia Freeland
My friend Sheila Gunn Reid drew my attention so some shenanigans from Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland at the G20 summit in Rome on Saturday.
According to a Politico reporter, Freeland arrived 45 minutes late for a half-hour press conference, then decided to only take questions from Canadian reporters. If you’re only going to speak to Canadians, what’s the point of going to Italy?
This is not exactly new for Freeland. Back in 2019, Sheila and I were both covering the Global Conference for Media Freedom in London for our respective outlets. Despite being accredited for the summit (which Canada was co-hosting) Freeland – the Canadian government’s representative – attempted to ban us from her press conference. The optics of doing this at a media freedom conference weren’t lost on us or our colleagues from mainstream media outlets, who threatened to boycott the media availability until we were allowed in.
Freeland’s office relented, allowing Sheila and I to attend and ask our questions without issue. Alas, this would be short-lived, as just a few months later the Liberals banned me from covering their 2019 campaign events – a ban that remained in place for this past election, with no protests of solidarity from my media colleagues. Nevertheless, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to put questions to Trudeau at the 2019 and 2021 leaders’ debates. Whatever I think of his answers or non-answers, the world has managed to avoid descending into chaos when these moments have arisen, so I don’t see the big deal.
When Trudeau, Freeland, and any other politicians are shielded from the media – or more often specific media – it speaks volumes about how their staff view them. Trudeau’s and Freeland’s communications teams clearly don’t think they can handle curveballs. Maybe they’re onto something.
Manitoba maelstrom
Progressive Conservative MLA Heather Stefanson was elected – or selected, rather – as Maintoba’s next premier on Saturday by 8,405 PC members, and is now set to replace Brian Pallister. Stefanson came just 363 votes ahead of rival MLA Shelly Glover, who has thus far refused to concede. Some Glover supporters have taken feistier positions on this, calling Stefanson a “fake premier.”
There is good reason to be a bit unnerved by the close margin, given that hundreds of members reported not receiving ballots. The party says these were all reissued, but mail-in voting is always fraught with challenges.
The same thing happened in Ontario’s Progressive Conservative leadership race in 2018, which also had tabulation and counting issues thrown in for good measure.
I don’t have any skin in the Manitoba PC leadership game. As it stands, Manitoba is the only province in Confederation I’ve not been to. One colleague says I should keep it that way as a matter of principle, which is an idea worth considering. I’ve certainly not been motivated to hop on the Winnipeg Express seeing outgoing premier Brian Pallister turn the province into a police state over the last 19 months. Whatever comes of the Stefanson-Glover fracas, I hope the next premier is more motivated by the values that are supposed to drive conservative governments.