Tag Archives: Parliamentary Budget Officer

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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Energy, Seniors

Freeland insists TMX will recoup billions; opposition MPs say no way

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

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is “very confident” the federal government will get back the $34 billion in public funds spent on the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion. But her statement produced widespread skepticism from opposition MPs.

“If you look at market analysis right now, the consensus view is this is a project that is worth a lot of money,” Freeland said at the natural resources committee meeting Monday.

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Energy, Finances

Canada’s business case for Trans Mountain assumes 100 years of operation. The PBO is not so sure

By Morgan Sharp, National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Secret reports the federal government is relying on to argue the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is commercially viable are based on the unrealistic assumption the pipeline will operate for 100 years, Canada’s financial watchdog told Canada’s National Observer.

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Energy

Insurer #17 cuts ties with Trans Mountain pipeline

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

Lloyd’s of London syndicate Aspen Insurance announced April 21 it will cut ties with Trans Mountain when its insurance policy expires this summer, making it the 17th company to do so.

In an email to Coal Action Network, a company spokesperson confirmed Aspen “(does) not plan to renew the Trans Mountain Tar Sands Oil Pipeline project” but wouldn’t comment on the decision “as a matter of corporate policy.”

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Energy

Parliamentary Budget Officer says fossil fuel tax breaks costing Canada $billions

By John Woodside,  National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A report published this week by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) finds Ottawa’s tax breaks to the fossil fuel sector are leaving nearly $2 billion on the table each year in lost revenue.

The report comes at the request of Sen. Rosa Galvez, who asked the PBO to estimate the cost of deductions related to fossil fuel development. Specifically, it found that from 2015 to 2019, tax deductions related to fossil fuel exploration, development, property expenses and other measures averaged $1.8 billion annually. The low year was 2016 with approximately $1.3 billion worth of tax deducted, but since then, the amount has escalated to nearly $2.4 billion in 2019, the most recent figures available using T2 corporate tax data. 

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