Ottawa Insider

“Canada has one of the most emissions-intensive economies in the world,” and achieving net zero by 2050 will “require a major transformation of Canada’s energy system, including a deep decarbonization of energy production and use,” wrote a senior bureaucrat in a memo to the deputy minister.

“If we are to talk about economics in general, I think we can’t hide the fact that there is huge divestment happening from the fossil fuel sector,” says David Suzuki Foundation director general for Quebec and Atlantic Canada, Sabaa Khan.

The Alberta government is rebuffing an influential International Energy Agency plan to reach net-zero carbon pollution as an “unreasonable” and “unfeasible” proposal “driven by activists.”

The federal government is going on a hiring spree to recruit and train up to 2,000 people as energy advisers to support green home renovation programs this summer.

Avi Lewis is expected to be acclaimed as the NDP candidate for the riding of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country during a campaign launch scheduled for Saturday.

“We're finding that (methane) emissions are at least 1.5 times higher than what's currently being reported in official inventory reports,” says Katlyn MacKay, lead author of a recent study.

The fund is the latest addition to the Low Carbon Cities Canada network run by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, joining cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

The Sustainable Finance Action Council, launched May 12, will draw upon “financial sector leaders” for help in transforming Canadian markets so that they properly measure, price and disclose the risks faced by businesses from the climate crisis.

The proposed changes would basically be a return to the laws under the old Fisheries Act, which were ineffective and rarely enforced, said Mark Mattson, environmental lawyer and president of Swim Drink Fish Canada.

The Canada Energy Regulator accepted Trans Mountain's allegations without demanding proof. But when it came to Tsleil-Waututh Nation's arguments, the regulator said it was unconvinced.

Annual methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells might be underestimated by as much as 150 per cent in Canada and 20 per cent in the U.S., according to a recent study from McGill University.

The Straits of Mackinac, a “sacred wellspring of Anishinaabe life and culture,” is part of an area ceded to the U.S. in 1836 only upon assurances that the right to hunt, fish and gather would be protected, tribal governments say.

On Tuesday, the government announced fishers will be allowed to freeze prawns at sea for the upcoming season, but offered no guarantees for the future. Fishers say this isn’t enough.

Governments must take steps to stop their export credit agencies from providing financial help to oil and gas projects worldwide, say a University of Cambridge professor and an environmental law expert barrister.

A private member's bill banning the use of glyphosate in Canada seeks to open up discussion about the controversial chemical, which is used in herbicides like Roundup.