Little progress on climate

Given the position of climate change at the top of most Liberal priority lists, Canadians might have expected to see rapid progress on the issue over the past year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is firmly entrenched in Ottawa. Canada’s biggest provinces, including every province east of Manitoba, are ruled by Liberal governments. Alberta, the heart of Canada’s oil industry, is run by a New Democratic Party government that’s committed to cleaning up practices it claims have tarnished Canada’s image. British Columbia brags of having the country’s most ambitious carbon tax, while Ontario insists it will take a back seat to no one as an anti-carbon warrior. Yet, despite much self-congratulation, there is little to show for all the talk. Ottawa is still struggling to find common ground with the provinces on a national approach to carbon pricing and regulation, with no sign of a breakthrough.

While Saskatchewan remains opposed to any carbon tax, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says existing carbon charges must be higher to be effective. But B.C., which has Canada’s most straightforward charge, hasn’t raised it since 2012 and, with an election due next year, Premier Christy Clark isn’t about to adopt the $10 increase recommended by a government-appointed committee.

In Alberta, where the NDP vowed to end the province’s reputation as oil-friendly and environment-hostile, an ambitious carbon plan has been introduced to little avail. The hope that antioil militants would be won over ran aground this week at National Energy Board hearings on the proposed Energy East pipeline. Rather than allow opponents and advocates to state their case, a small band of zealots in Montreal disrupted the event, wrestled with police and prompted the board to suspend the hearings indefinitely.

The chaos undermines the Trudeau government’s assurances that a new, improved NEB process would revive faith in the board’s credibility. Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre is doing his best to ensure that doesn’t happen, questioning the board’s impartiality after walking out of the hearings when the disturbance began. Environmental groups have seized the opportunity to step up efforts to scuttle the process before either side can be heard. Alberta Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd had the air of someone watching their optimism evaporate when she complained that “standing up and yelling isn’t constructive in any situation.”

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, confronted with persistent complaints about her government’s costly Green Energy Act and regular hikes in power bills, now faces the possibility the cap-and-trade system announced in June may not produce the hopedfor revenue bonanza. Recent auctions have produced far less interest than expected. An auction in May saw only 11 per cent of allowances sold; the latest round of bidding, just this month, saw 35 per cent of the allowances sold. Ontario has budgeted for about $2 billion annually from the auctions, but can’t hope to reach that figure if the trend continues.

Ontario planned to spend the money on additional climate programs (unlike B.C., which returns revenues to taxpayers). Ontario Environment Minister Glen Murray insists there’s no need to worry, but the province’s debt-laden treasury is already so strapped for revenue, it can’t hope to replace the lost income if the auctions are a bust. “If we have to revise the projection, then we will," Wynne said in June. But the Ontario Energy Board has already decided to bury the tax among other charges on household bills, rather than break it out as a separate item, thus saving the Liberals from protests from upset consumers.

It’s all a far cry from last year’s UN summit in Paris, to which Canada sent one of the biggest delegations. Everything was good cheer and optimism at the time: “Today may very well be the day our children look back to as the beginning of an ambitious global effort to finally fight climate change,” Trudeau declared. It may seem presumptuous to suggest serious efforts against climate change only began with the Trudeau government, but modesty has never been a major part of politics.

Another summit is due this fall and the Liberals are said to be keen to show progress, raising concern among provinces that headlines are more important to Ottawa than effective long-range measures. And not without reason: a focus on optics has certainly emerged as a hallmark of the Trudeau government. As September marks the waning of another summer, Canadians might have hoped for real progress on climate change. They’ll likely have to be content with another ample supply of hot air.