Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Legislation is coming next spring to rethink BC’s effort to drive a major consumer switch to zero-emission vehicles. The stringent targets that were set several years ago by both federal and provincial governments are now considered unreachable, due to changes in the market and dramatic U.S. policy shifts that have created huge instability. Energy Minister Adrian Dix signalled Tuesday he will introduce a bill in the spring to adjust BC’s strategy and align it with federal policy, which is also in the midst of a rethink ... CLICK HERE for the full story

In a departure from past practice, Prime Minister Carney has decided not to issue individual mandate letters to his ministers, leaving each to determine on their own how best to contribute to the government’s agenda and fulfill their responsibilities.  In Letter to a minister, The Hub’s new series in collaboration with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, we will provide each minister with a policy agenda that is bold enough to address the grave challenges that the country faces, but manageable enough to be implemented in a realistic time frame. The series begins this week with a letter to the minister of environment and climate change ... CLICK HERE for the full commentary

The end of 2025 will mark a decade since the Paris Agreement on climate change was negotiated. This review of the CleanBC plan is occurring in a different world. Even as the impacts of climate change are imposing widespread economic costs, the urgency of climate action has fallen by the wayside ...  ... The completion of the massive LNG Canada project in Kitimat is particularly timely in this regard, with its first shipment leaving BC for Asia at the end of June. Other liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects are in the works and more are being contemplated. And in recent years, BC’s most valuable export commodity has been coal. Taken together, this represents a dangerous doubling down on fossil fuels. If BC remains committed to pursuing new LNG facilities and more fracked gas production, conversations about improving CleanBC would seem of little consequence ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Why does Mark Carney, whose previous job was the UN special envoy for climate action and finance, not really talk about climate change? Political parties used to jockey for climate credibility. In 2019, Justin Trudeau saw it as an asset to be photographed with Greta Thunberg. In 2021, Erin O’Toole ran on carbon pricing and we had a genuine debate over emission reduction targets and how to credibly get there. As a climate voter, it was good times. But then inflation made this recent election a cost of living battle (Trump took centre stage for much of it, but the cost-of-living issue never really went away). Because of an incredibly effective, “facts-second” campaign by the Conservative party, which pinned the financial squeeze squarely on the carbon tax, the once-hailed climate plan became toxic — not even Liberals were on board with the policy by election day, with only 40 per cent of Liberal voters believing the carbon tax should be kept. That was down from 70 per cent in 2019 ... CL...

The BC government pledged to conserve 30 per cent of land and 30 per cent of water by 2030, but so far only 16 per cent has been protected. The Kaska Dena people, who for thousands of years have lived on a vast swath of intact wilderness in northern BC on the Yukon border, have a saying in their language: Dene K’éh Kusān. It means always will be there. But as more land is swallowed up by industry — logging, mining, gas exploration — concerns are mounting about whether this land will always be there for future generations. They want to ensure it remains undeveloped to preserve their way of life, and doesn’t succumb to biodiversity loss and climate change like other areas of BC ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Randy Sunderman, the newly-announced BC Green Party candidate for Kamloops Centre, says issues related to climate change, healthcare, cost of living and housing will define the next provincial government. Backed by a group of supporters — family members, friends and neighbours — as he announced his candidacy at Riverside Park on Thursday, Sunderman said a future provincial government needs to focus on new ideas and sustainable approaches to such pressing issues ... CLICK HERE for the full story

British Columbia’s natural resource industries—forestry, mining, energy and agri-food—are being buffeted by many challenges. A weaker global economy is weighing on some commodity prices. Multiplying and increasingly complex regulatory requirements continue to raise operating costs. In forestry, the aftermath of the pine beetle infestation, forest fires and government logging deferrals are all hurting the industry. The vaunted low-carbon transition is routinely linked to upside opportunities in some resource-based industries, but it also brings a risk that Canadian jurisdictions will lose out to competing jurisdictions that prefer to advance emission-reduction goals using “carrots” rather than the battery of “sticks” that appeal to Ottawa and Victoria. Capital investment is already shifting to other jurisdictions because of costly and uncertain climate policies ... CLICK HERE for the full story

We all know how climate change works by now, right? We light the hyper-compressed remains of prehistoric creatures on fire, which causes their little carcasses to explode, and with that energy operate useful things like leaf blowers, ice-cream machines, and the incubators in neonatal units. The byproducts of this chemical reaction are noise on Saturday mornings, expanding waistlines, toddlers, and carbon dioxide emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere. Solutions must be found. Many turn out to be universal — like passive-aggressive neighbouring, walking to the store instead of driving, and long time-outs. The writing has been on the wall for a few years now about one attempted solution to climate change: nobody is willing to solve it via personal austerity . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

If you squint, it's possible to read federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault's controversial comments about federal funding for road construction and see the faint outline of something the federal government and (most of) the provinces committed to more than seven years ago. As part of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change — which all of the provinces except Saskatchewan and Manitoba approved in December 2016 — the assembled governments agreed to a broad range of principles and goals, including a commitment to support "the shift from higher to lower-emitting types of transportation, including through investing in infrastructure." "Shifting from higher- to lower-emitting modes of transportation includes things like riding public transit or cycling instead of driving a car," the framework said . . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

As British Columbia emerges from its worst wildfire season on record and continues to recover from recent climate disasters, two of the province’s opposition parties are saying they would scrap the government’s climate action plan ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Once a critical factor in elections, polls now show Canadians just want to be able to afford things In a recent Angus Reid Institute survey, Canadians were asked which political party they would prefer to manage the country’s climate change file. The winner was the Conservative Party of Canada; 28 per cent wanted the Tories, against 14 per cent who wanted the Liberal status quo ... CLICK HERE for the full story

British Columbia's New Democrat government will focus on building more affordable homes and fighting climate change in the run-up to next year's provincial election, Premier David Eby said Saturday, noting efforts to meet environmental goals will involve keeping a provincial carbon pricing program. Eby told more than 700 cheering delegates at the B.C. NDP convention that he will leave no stone unturned on the housing front, while recent experiences with wildfires, floods and landslides mean the fight against climate change must continue ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Justin Trudeau has been juggling the climate change file since he took office. After eight years of twirling, there were just too many parts in the air at the same time. It’s now come crashing down and no one who understands the complex issue is really surprised ... CLICK HERE for the full commentary

A coalition of climate-friendly civil society groups claims B.C. isn’t on track to meet its climate targets — a conclusion with which the province’s environment minister disagrees. The BC Climate Emergency Campaign, which includes the Dogwood, the Wilderness Committee, My Sea To Sky and others, released its 2023 Climate Action Progress Report on Tuesday ... CLICK HERE for the full story

In 2023, 62 per cent of British Columbians say the province's carbon tax has negatively affected their household finances The past two years have provided plenty of opportunities for British Columbians to focus on environmental issues. Following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, forest fires, floods and climate change have been in the news more often. The latest survey conducted by Research Co. and Glacier Media outlines an increase in the personal concern of British Columbians on 10 different environmental problems ... CLICK HERE for the full story

... Nanaimo has become a lightning rod in the province for the controversial issue of banning natural gas as a primary heating source, even though other municipalities, such as Victoria and Saanich, have already approved earlier adoption of zero-carbon rules and others are considering it. When Nanaimo council initially voted on the issue last month, the result was close, at five to four. Monday’s vote was five to three, with one member absent, and no one had changed their vote, despite a huge volume of letters from opponents of early adoption. Many came from supporters of the Alberta-based Canadian Energy Centre ... CLICK HERE for the full story

I expected the launch of the Canadian Future party to attract some attention, but nothing like the wave of public and media interest from coast to coast we received. This conversation with National Post columnist John Ivison might answer some of your questions about our new party. Thank you to everyone who’s been on this journey with us and to the hundreds of new supporters who signed up to Canadian Future over the past week, and to everyone who has written or called with questions and ideas. Many questions focused on what’s next for the party, how to get involved, and key policy areas Canadian Future will focus on, over the next few months. You asked, we answered!   Question: what’s next for Canadian Future? In the coming weeks Canada’s Future will introduce members of our interim National Council and complete Election Canada’s requirements to register as a full-fledged political party. We are gathering membership declarations from our 250 founding members. We w...

Mark Jaccard, a proponent of tougher regulation and critic of carbon energy, is new BCUC chair, CEO The appointment of an academic critical of carbon-based energy as chair and chief executive officer of the British Columbia Utilities Commission is drawing diverging opinions from the political opposition ... ... Jaccard, who previously served in the same role between 1992 and 1997 while the New Democrats were in power, currently works as a professor at Simon Fraser University’s School of Resource and Environmental Management. Jaccard has published and consulted extensively on energy and climate change and has often appeared as a voice for tougher rules to accelerate the transition toward a zero-emission future. Jaccard has also been a vocal critic of the oil and gas industry ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Canadians are already tired of the deep division around issues such as gender, race, climate change and free speech. But we can't avoid it; rather we need to address it   Oh, we were so smug then, in simpler times, when we flicked through the American cable news networks to gawk at people screaming at each other about social values. But like it or not, the so-called “culture wars” have woven their way into the fabric of Canadian political, educational and societal discourse too. Even if we wanted to (and many of us do), there’s no avoiding them anymore. “Culture wars” is a catch-all phrase that has become shorthand for increasingly divisive discourse around issues such as gender, race, climate, capitalism, the nature and limits of public speech, and the legacies of colonialism. Examples are everywhere ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Major efforts to rebuild food systems, gone in an instant as a wildfire tore through the Southern Interior of B.C. But that won’t stop community organizers    This story is part of Nourish, a series about how First Nations are fuelling their people with sustainably harvested, healthy and culturally safe foods amid a changing climate ... CLICK HERE for the first Nourish segment