Tag Archives: Catherine McKenna

Energy, Environment

Four Local Leaders React to Canada’s MOU with Alberta

(Part 1 of 2)

Canada’s MOU with Alberta, a proposed new pipeline in British Columbia, and the possible lifting of the tanker ban have been hot news items over the past few days. Steven Guilbeault resigned from cabinet over his opposition to the way Prime Minister Mark Carney is handling these issues. In the first episode of a two part series about the MOU, Cortes Currents asked four local leaders for their take on these events. 

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Politics

Carney’s cabinet selections clarify climate priorities before upcoming election

By John Woodside, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

With an election widely expected to be around the corner, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s  choice of cabinet ministers reveals his approach to this tense political  moment, observers say. 

For voters who  care about climate, the headline is that former Environment and Climate  Change Minister Steven Guilbeault, the longtime environmental activist  who has frequently drawn the ire of conservatives and the fossil fuel  industry, has been shuffled to a new far less controversial role. No  longer overseeing policies aimed at slashing emissions, from the carbon  price to oil and gas emissions cap, he will now serve as Carney’s Quebec  Lieutenant — the government’s leading voice in Quebec — as well as  Minister of Parks Canada and Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity. 

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Water

Vancouver seeking $20 million grant to capture and clean rainfall

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The federal government is inviting the City of Vancouver to apply for up to $20 million in funding for natural infrastructure projects to support the city’s strategy to capture and clean rainfall with natural solutions.

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Politics

Lelu Island: Trudeau Selling Canada Out

By Roy L Hales

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Even Canada’s public broadcaster, the CBC, was critical of the government’s approval of Lelu Island.  Environment reporter Margo McDermid called the Pacific Northwest LNG project the “first real test of the Liberal’s approach to the environment and energy.” Her colleague, Chris Hall, added that approving this project “is going to put an enormous amount of pressure on Justin Trudeau to explain how approving a project that will generate millions of tons in greenhouse gas emissions can also help them meet (the) climate change targets they agreed to in Paris.”[1] Few doubt that Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister started out with good intentions. The Globe and Mail recently called Trudeau’s attempt to please environmental groups and the fossil fuel sector “mission impossible.” For many environmentalists, the honeymoon lasted for around three months. This is just the latest example of what many perceive as Trudeau selling Canada out.

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

Continued Miscarriage of Government at Site C

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The proposed $12 billion Site C Dam has been controversial since it was originally proposed, more than 50 years ago. This project appears to violate Treaty 8, which granted use of the land that will be submerged to local First Nations. The B.C. Utilities Commission turned the project down twice, because B.C. Hydro could not prove there was a need for the power. Many believe that is why Premier Christy Clark’s Government has not allowed the commission to review the project during her tenure. The Canadian Government is now deeply involved in this project, which means local landowners, First Nations and environmentalists are attempting to defend the Peace River Valley against the very people who were elected to look after their interests. There are new evidences of the continued miscarriage of government at Site C.

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