FELDSTED - Perhaps Mr. Trudeau will be kind enough to explain to outraged residents of Saskatchewan and Alberta how his government’s environmental policies are not discriminatory

Quebec's largest greenhouse gas emitter, McInnis
cement, got a free pass on environmental review

It has been seven weeks since the new Cabinet was sworn in, and the House of Commons will not be back in session for anther 17 days.

We are seeing much less of Justin Trudeau; as a matter of fact, much less of our federal government; it seems that the government is unsure of itself, in sharp contrast to the 2015 version.

The PMO-centric government continues but is now more focused on risk aversion. The shifting authority to Ministers is a sham; no minister dares to take an initiative that could put the government in trouble. Opting for safety is stifling. You can’t get run over by a bus if you don’t leave home, but you can’t accomplish much either.

Behind the scenes, this government has a mittful of serious problems. When it was in majority territory, it signed on to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) without considering the onerous consequences. Now a UN agency, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) condemned Canada for its ongoing violation of Indigenous land rights.

CERD’s new report on Canada’s periodic review goes further to acknowledge Indigenous Nations as decision-makers on their territories. The upshot is that no resource projects can proceed without the prior approval of indigenous bands.

That is squarely contrary to our constitutional framework of democratic governance. No entity can override our provincial and federal government's obligations to govern in the best interests of Canadians and their nation.

Much the same has taken place under Canada’s commitment to the Paris climate change accord. The federal government has committed itself to imposing taxes to reduce carbon emissions and is passing very stringent (and piecemeal) environmental laws while ignoring the devastating effects on our economy.

It is noted that environmental laws are not universal within the nation; they are stringently applied to the west coat but are not applicable or ignored in central and eastern Canada.

A billion-dollar, high carbon emission Port-Daniel–Gascons, Quebec cement plant was given a free pass. The plant will emit between 1.8 and 2.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year after it starts up this fall.

This will make it the largest emitter of carbon in the province, according to Canada’s environment ministry, and will dwarf the yearly emissions of Shell Canada’s oil sands operations in Fort McMurray, Alta.

Perhaps Mr. Trudeau will be kind enough to explain, to outraged residents of Saskatchewan and Alberta, how his government’s environmental policies are not discriminatory.

That will take an acting job that will put him at the peak of role-play over the past couple of centuries.

John Feldsted
Political commentator, Consultant & Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba