Ottawa Insider

Natasha Bulowski reports from Ottawa with a slant on how federal policy is impacting British Columbians.

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815 Articles

B.C. kills 237 wolves while court case pending

Pacific Wild, a B.C.-based environmental group, launched a legal petition in July 2020 claiming the province’s wolf cull program is unlawful because it contradicts wildlife regulations and federal aviation laws.

Natasha Bulowski

May 3rd 2021

Trans Mountain wins approval to keep insurers secret

Tsleil-Waututh Nation calls it a "dangerous precedent" that limits its ability to assert its inherent and constitutionally protected rights.

Trans Mountain

Carl Meyer

April 29th 2021

‘Pathetic’: Greens blast Trudeau’s climate commitments

Climate experts and the federal Green Party say Canada’s new commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is severely lacking. "It's a disgrace,” said Green MP Elizabeth May.

Race Against Climate Change

Natasha Bulowski

April 28th 2021

Show science backing hydrogen strategy, Bloc MP asks feds

A forthcoming major UN report will show that nations need to accelerate methane cuts in order to avoid more extreme climate change.

Carl Meyer

April 27th 2021

Cracks found in Health Canada oversight of vitamins, probiotics

Natural health products like vitamin supplements are used widely by Canadians, but a lack of oversight from Health Canada has failed to guarantee the safety and efficacy of these products, a new report reveals.

Natasha Bulowski

April 23rd 2021

Trudeau vows steeper pollution cuts at Biden climate summit

Canada’s new greenhouse gas reduction target under the Paris Agreement will be 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Carl Meyer

April 23rd 2021

Canada's Big Five missing from new net-zero banking alliance

None of Canada’s big five banks were founding signatories of the UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) that promised April 21 to align investment portfolios with science-based climate targets starting in 2030.

Carl Meyer

April 22nd 2021

Critics throw shade at federal budget cash for home retrofits

The federal budget’s plan to retrofit residential buildings falls short of what is needed to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions and create well-paying jobs, experts say.

Natasha Bulowski

April 21st 2021

Will Trudeau’s wager on carbon capture help or hurt the environment?

Industry is excited about the budget's carbon-capture investments. But the technology is still expensive, and projects have not performed to expectations. Environmentalists worry it will lock us in to fossil fuels. Will Trudeau's wager pay off?

Race Against Climate Change

Carl Meyer

April 21st 2021

Budget 2021 targets cleantech, funding for carbon capture

The 2021 federal budget represented a pivot towards a national industrial strategy for achieving emissions reductions, said Sahir Khan, co-founder and executive vice-president at the University of Ottawa's Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy.

Carl Meyer

April 19th 2021

How the four main federal parties’ climate plans stack up

On Thursday, Erin O’Toole, leader of the official Opposition Conservative Party, released his long-awaited climate plan, complete with its own price on pollution, meaning that all the major national political parties now support some form of carbon pricing.

Race Against Climate Change

Carl Meyer

April 16th 2021

President Joe Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, signs H.R. 1319, the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021” Thursday, March 11, 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House.

Will Canada follow U.S.’s lead on environmental justice?

The White House’s discretionary budget request, released April 9, includes more than US$1.4 billion for environmental justice initiatives. Of that, US$936 million is earmarked for a new Accelerating Environmental and Economic Justice Initiative.

Natasha Bulowski

April 16th 2021

New York State pension fund pulls out of oilsands

As nations tackle the climate emergency and markets "drive a low-carbon economic transition, we need to make sure our investments line up with this reality,” said New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the trustee of the US$247-billion fund.

Carl Meyer

April 13th 2021

Liberals told Green New Deal support would help contrast with Conservatives

"It’s super important that we send this strong message, in that we’re already doing this, and put our policies in a framework that is palatable to young people and progressives."

Carl Meyer

April 9th 2021

Green New Deal up for debate at Liberal, NDP conventions

The 2021 Liberal National Convention runs April 8 to 10, while the NDP’s Convention 2021 runs April 9 to 11. Both events are being held virtually.

Carl Meyer

April 7th 2021