We will receive the first part of the invoice with Thursday’s budget.
His agreement with the NDP will bring many new social programs, which are the best way to reduce inequalities in our society. It is also difficult to dismantle when a new government comes. A victory for the NDP base, but in the eyes of most Canadians, it is Trinto who will receive the credit.
Chrystia Freeland should show that there is at least some idea of a plan to reduce the record deficits we had during the pandemic. Will it take the risk of opening up to the revenue side, as rumored, by eliminating some of the capital gains exceptions for the sale of primary housing? She and Trinto have already said they will raise taxes on financial institutions. What other moves will there be?
One thing is for sure, after the presentation of Steven Guilbeault’s detailed plan, there will be a lot of money for the promised fight against climate change. billions.
Monday’s shocking UN report from the IPCC is a wake-up call for future generations. When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the report “a procession of unfulfilled climate promises” and denounced “the yawning gap between climate promise and reality,” Canada’s own behavior was one of the targets. Despite the fact that Canada will continue to subsidize oil and gas companies and approve new catastrophic fossil fuel projects.
Guilbeault is deeply experienced with a truly realistic series that sets him apart from many of his former colleagues in the environmental movement. He has navigated well in his new position, leaving the bureaucrats to understand that he is the boss. His plan, like his, is clever and ambitious.
I knew him well during the three years I was Quebec’s environment minister. You can talk to the man. He knew when someone made an honest effort and when he was fed a line. We did well.
I was one of the skeptics when he threw his lot with Trinto. I attended his candidacy meeting and was surprised by the strong party tone he sounded in defense of the Liberals’ history of the climate. They had bought a pipeline! How could Guilbeault support this?
His answer was possible if not convincing enough. Trans Mountain was a fait accompli, with no sense in crying over spilled milk. He asked to be judged based on his own results.
He is about to get what he asked for. Information coming out of the Liberal neighborhoods in Newfoundland and Labrador shows the rapid approval of the large offshore oil project known as the bilingual “Bay du Nord”. The sequence of silence was: adopt a big plan for the climate (to provide coverage). Talk a lot about the climate in the budget (for even more coverage). approves this huge new fossil fuel project. Simple as 1-2-3 σαν
The Liberals have prepared a Rolodex rationalization:
It is much less intensive, in terms of GHG production per barrel, than oil sand. True, this can be bypassed-but not unless you’re a techie who knows what he’s doing. Inevitably, oil will burn, somewhere, increasing global warming. According to the constitution, the provinces have jurisdiction over natural resources. Again true, but this offshore project must go to the Federal Cabinet for approval. Without the blessing of Trudeau and Guilbeault, he can not move forward. Canadian oil does not have the stigma of Russian oil. It is true, but it has the same GHG. NL, as part of its sales work, can be persuaded to agree that they will not submit new requests for approvals (but how can a government tie the hands of any future Parliament?).
Trinto broke a key campaign promise with the new liberal climate plan. During the election campaign he was hit hard by Jagmeet Singh for having the worst record at the G7 under the Paris Agreement. To help break the bond, Trinto vowed that there would be a “hard ceiling,” an absolute limit, on greenhouse gas and oil production. This turned out to be false and Guilbeault was stuck saying we would do it sometime in the future. Now the other shoe is going to fall with the approval of the Bay du Nord.
Last Friday, Steven Guilbeault welcomed young people shouting at him for the Bay du Nord. When he became Minister of the Environment, I joked with him that he had better prepare for the day when environmentalists would protest to him. He laughed because he knew it was inevitable.
What is not inevitable is the approval of a project that can only exacerbate climate change.
In my current role as Chairman of Earth Day Board of Directors in Canada, I have a place at the forefront of watching the strong commitment of many Canadians, municipalities, businesses and NGOs to the fight against climate change. I also know that the federal government can be an incredible catalyst and partner. Guilbeault is starting to show it.
What has been missing for decades is any serious action by the Canadian government. To our eternal shame, we were the first country in the world to leave the Kyoto Protocol. That was Stephen Harper’s watch, but the Liberals could not find solace in blaming the Conservatives.
As former Chrétien’s chief of staff Eddie Goldenberg honestly admitted, explaining the Liberals’ failure to meet our international obligations, they had signed Kyoto without a plan. It was, he said, more about mobilizing public opinion. An auspicious way of admitting that it was a political communication exercise, nothing more.
Many Canadians simply believe, without evidence, that the Liberals should do something about the climate. Attacks by the Conservatives really help them in this matter. The Liberals consistently take full advantage of the political advantage of this trust. Trinto has always understood that Canadians need to be informed that we are taking real action, even when we are in last place. It helps him get elected. Like the Wizard of Oz, he tries to maintain the illusion and begs the Canadians not to pay attention to the offshore oil rig behind the curtain. We feel somehow better with the failure of Justin Trudeau on the climate than with the failure of Stephen Harper.
I was in a room in Paris in 2015 when Justin Trinto reached out and declared that “Canada is back”. He waited to return to Canada to say, more discreetly, that he was back with Stephen Harper’s plan, timetables and goals. Trinto never met them.
Trinto was able to attend the Climate Summit last autumn in Glasgow thanks to the presence of Gilbo, who has great credibility on the world stage. Trinto had the audacity to tell other countries that they should look more like Canada! Do not wait for him to pack his things for next.
In the days after the budget, there will be a moment of truth for Guilbeault. Will he go with his Prime Minister and approve the Bay du Nord or will he follow the attitude of the authorities he had in the past?
You can not claim that you are fighting climate change and at the same time approve an increase in oil production of hundreds of millions of barrels.
Will Trinto show once again that for him everything has to do with appearance and that real results do not matter? Despite the real danger and all our promises, will Canada continue to be among the highest per capita emissions on the planet?
Younger Canadians will rely on Trudeau and Guilbeault to do the right thing and refuse to increase fossil fuel production in Canada. Their future quality of life depends on it, but nothing could be less certain, given the history of the Liberals pretending to be.
Tom Mulcair was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada between 2012 and 2017.
