Canadian unity was on full display at the Council of the Federation meeting in Prince Edward Island. One of the main issues discussed by the premiers was wildfires. Yet instead of addressing their causes, Canadians were offered expressions of sympathy. “The premiers stand in solidarity with all those affected by natural disasters,” reads the communiqué issued at the conclusion of the meeting.
Fighting wildfires is important. Reducing the risks that fuel them is even more important. Yet the federal government intends to finance the construction of a pipeline that would increase oil production and further intensify the climate conditions driving wildfires.
It has also recently cut half of the positions at the Government Operations Centre, which is responsible for risk assessment, emergency planning and coordinating the federal response to events of national significance. The government’s choices have consequences.
The Politics of Greenwashing
It took the Prime Minister a year to speak honestly to Canadians. But he finally did so, quietly and without fanfare, on the eve of Canada Day, when he acknowledged that his government’s policies make it impossible for Canada to meet its climate targets.
Two days later, he triumphantly unveiled the proposed route of his “Canadian unity” pipeline, which was presented as a way to save the country from Alberta separatism and the trade war being waged by the United States.
This pipeline would supposedly turn Canada into an “energy superpower,” even as the rest of the world accelerates electrification to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and the geopolitical crises that accompany them.
Since then, the government has launched a series of advertisements promising to unleash Canada’s full energy potential. It has even claimed that its investments, legislative shortcuts and regulatory exemptions will reduce emissions.
There is a reason the Prime Minister abandoned measures designed to combat greenwashing: his own government now relies on it.
The agreement with oil companies on carbon capture and storage is another example. Presented by government and industry as a green initiative, it is primarily a justification for increasing oil production and the greenhouse gas emissions that come with it. Only one-quarter of those emissions would be captured—and only if this complex technology eventually performs at scale, which is far from guaranteed.
All this additional fossil-fuel production will worsen the climate crisis and its very real consequences, to which Canadians are increasingly exposed year after year. Climate change already carries a cost, and the bill will only grow.
How many more communities like Fort McMurray, Lytton and Jasper must burn before we put the public interest ahead of the interests of a handful of oil companies and their shareholders?
Donald Trump’s Carbon Tax
Wildfires also occupied such a prominent place at the Council of the Federation because the U.S. President is using them to justify new tariffs—another serious blow to the Canadian economy and to many Canadian businesses.
In effect, the U.S. President is imposing a carbon tax to compensate for the economic damage experienced south of the border as wildfire smoke spreads across North America.
There is always a price to pay for pollution and its consequences. It is almost enough to make Canadians nostalgic for the Trudeau government’s carbon-pricing system, whose revenues were returned to Canadian households and reinvested in our economy.
Making Better Use of Our Resources
Governments have accustomed us to hearing them blame their predecessors. But watching the current Liberal Prime Minister blame the previous Liberal government, while disavowing positions he himself defended over the past decade, amounts to little more than a political smokescreen.
The Carney government must do better.
It is not reasonable to ask taxpayers, once again, to finance a brand-new pipeline for an industry that is simultaneously demanding the elimination of regulations designed to limit the effects of its operations on public health and the environment.
Those same taxpayers will spend years breathing smoke from the wildfires of “Canadian unity”, fires that Prime Minister Carney and his government are choosing to fuel with public money.
Rather than spending taxpayers’ money on infrastructure designed to transport more fossil fuels, Canada should invest in renewable energy and build the infrastructure needed to strengthen community resilience and protect Canadians from the devastating effects of climate change.
