Tag Archives: Gov of Alberta

Energy, Environment

Carney open to changing major environment policies so projects can ‘move forward’

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

Prime Minister Mark Carney worried environmentalists after he opened the door to changing federal impact assessment legislation and the oil and gas emissions cap in a recent interview.

“We will change things at the federal level that need to be changed in order for projects to move forward,” Carney told CTV News in an interview on Tuesday.

He was asked if this included Bill C-69 — the federal Impact Assessment Act — and a yet-to-be-finalized cap on oil and gas sector emissions.

“Absolutely, it could include both,” Carney responded.

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

First Nations criticism of Danielle Smith goes national

By Jeremy Appel,  Alberta Native News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – The national advocacy organization for Treaty First Nations has joined the chorus of First Nations telling Alberta premier Danielle Smith that a referendum on Alberta independence would be illegitimate without consulting the land’s original inhabitants.

“Any proposed separation of Alberta from Canada would be fundamentally illegitimate and unconstitutional without the explicit, prior, informed and collective consent of the First Nations whose lands and rights predate the formation of the province and of Canada,” Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak said in a May 12 news release.

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Environment, Politics

Conservative platform is ‘flipping the bird’ at climate change, expert suggests

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

The Conservative Party’s election platform claims that repealing a slew of climate policies and resource regulations will generate billions in revenue for the federal government.

This platform is “flipping the bird to climate change,” said Ryan Katz-Rosene, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Ottawa, in a phone interview with Canada’s National Observer.

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Politics

There is no easy way for Canada to de-escalate the trade war

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

As a federal election kicks off, the trade war with the U.S. is casting a long shadow  over voters’ choices, and whoever forms the next government will have  the tall order of trying to draw this conflict to a close. 

“President  Trump wants to break us so America can own us,” said Liberal Leader  Mark Carney at a campaign stop in Gander, NL on Monday. “We are over the  shock of betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We have to  look out for ourselves.”

International trade experts interviewed by Canada’s National Observer say  that will be much easier said than done. The two economies are more  integrated than ever before, and President Donald Trump’s chaotic  governing style makes it extremely difficult to know how to even begin  to unravel this dispute. 

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Energy

Pembina Institute: Why Canada Needs An Emissions Cap for the Oil and Gas Sector

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the oil and gas sector is a major contributor to Canada’s economy, employing 182,000 people and generating $209 billion in GDP during 2023, yet it is also the source of 31% of Canada’’s Greenhouse gas emissions.

 “Demand for oil and gas is not going to go to zero tomorrow.  It is a transition that takes decades  to undergo.  There will be a role for oil and gas as we move forward along that transition, but it is likely to be a  cleaner oil and gas sector as the rest of the world stops buying  the oil and gas products that Canada and other countries produce. Which, I think, really underlines the importance of investing in decarbonization now while we’re still using oil and gas  to 2050 and a little bit beyond  if we get on a net zero trajectory,” explained Janetta McKenzie  from the Pembina Institute, a Canadian think tank and non-profit focused on energy. 

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