New federal environment minister faces daunting balancing act,
Minister wants Liberal government to explore developing technology
OTTAWA— Signalling his “sensitive” approach to climate action, Canada’s new environment minister says the federal government should explore technological breakthroughs to preserve the oil-and-gas sector even as the re-elected Liberals strive to more aggressively slash greenhouse gas emissions.
In an interview Tuesday, North Vancouver Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson told the Star that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants him to figure out “how to address climate change in a thoughtful way.”
That will mean confronting the urgent threat of climate change — a threat bolstered by the latest in a series of alarming reports from the United Nations — while also addressing “the concerns and anxieties” in provinces where tens of thousands of people are employed in the oil-and-gas sector.
With that in mind, Wilkinson said Canada “would be silly” not to explore nascent technologies that could allow the energy from oil and gas to be extracted without heavy emissions — a moon-shot development that he said could soothe tensions between fossil-fuel boosters and advocates for more drastic climate action.
“I’m not going to say to you that I have a magic bullet. I certainly don’t,” he said.
“That is a technology challenge, and I’m not going to tell you it’s a simple one, but I think that there are lots of pathways for us to explore that are ways in which we can try to be thoughtful and sensitive about the needs of all people that live in this country.”
Wilkinson will travel to Spain in early December to attend the annual global summit on climate change, where he said he will trumpet the Liberal government’s new commitments to “exceed” Canada’s emissions target for 2030 and hit net zero by mid-century.
While noting that Tuesday’s UN report underscored how Canada is projected to overshoot that target by at least 15 per cent, he said the figures used don’t account for planned expansions in public transit, construction of electric car infrastructure and a pledge to plant two billion additional trees over the next decade.
Describing the net-zero goal as the “bottom line” of Canada’s climate agenda, Wilkinson said one of his early priorities will be passing a law that would create an independent panel to advise and report on the federal government’s progress on reducing emissions in five-year increments. He will also pursue a “just transition” law designed to help workers shift to an emerging clean-energy economy that the Liberals envision.
But Wilkinson said a total shift from fossil fuels should not be considered inevitable, even as the government encourages a reduction in demand for oil and gas by banning single-use plastics and creating incentives to make buildings and transportation more energy efficient.
With the right technology, it could be possible for Canada to use oil and gas for energy without releasing carbon emissions, he said, pointing to research in this area being done by companies like Proton Technologies in Calgary.
“We have a significant resource. The issue isn’t the resource, the issue is the pollution, and our focus is on reducing pollution,” he said.
“Now, I can’t tell you that we’re going to get there, but I think it’s a legitimate area for Canada to really focus some time and energy on, and I think you would find that provinces like Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan (and) Manitoba would be quite interested in having that conversation.”
Wilkinson previously served as the fisheries minister, and was a clean-tech executive for 15 years before entering politics in 2015. He acknowledged it is “an interesting time” to be Canada’s environment minister.
On Tuesday, the UN released its annual report on global emissions. It found that greenhouse gas emissions hit a record high in 2018 and show no sign of peaking in the next few years. Canada was identified as one of 14 of the Group of 20 countries that are on pace to miss their emissions-reduction target for 2030.
The report also concludes that the world will need to pursue “enhanced action” to fight climate change that “will require unprecedented efforts to transform societies, economies, infrastructures and governance institutions.”
Meanwhile, efforts to reduce emissions in Canada have grown politically contentious as federal Conservatives and like-minded provincial governments disparage Ottawa’s climate policies — particularly its carbon-pricing and rebate system, and a law passed this year that revamped the federal process for environmental assessments — as weak and economically destructive.
Wilkinson is also assuming his new role after the Liberals were locked out of Alberta and Saskatchewan in the general election on Oct. 21, which provoked talk of Alberta separatism and demands for policy concessions from leaders in Edmonton and Regina.