In Canada, both the federal and provincial governments have significant jurisdiction over climate change policy as it affects natural resources. Both levels of government share jurisdiction over the environment. The federal government has significant capacity to implement policies deemed in the...
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While there are some examples of federal-provincial agreement on climate change initiatives that affect natural resources, the more common pattern is for the federal government to act unilaterally rather than collaborating with provinces.
What does it say about the state of co-operative federalism in Canada when all 10 provinces are supporting a legal challenge to the federal government’s Bill C-69 on the grounds that, “The federal government has unilaterally declared responsibility for all emissions regulation that overrides provincial jurisdiction” over areas such as resources?
The court battles, along with C-69 and Canada’s cumbersome regulatory processes for approving projects, have been significant hurdles to approving and completing major projects in Canada, which is very problematic for a country that has seen declining business investment and low growth projections relative to comparable countries.
As well as concern about Bill C-69, western provinces are concerned about the lack of federal support for liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminals since currently Canada’s natural gas is only sold internally or to the United States. Given the priorities to supply LNG to Europe and future energy-security needs, it is no surprise that the U.S. has seven operating LNG export terminals and three more under construction.
Canada, on the other hand, has not yet completed even one. Instead, the federal government has pushed green hydrogen, which, in August 2022, it said would be sold to energy-starved Germany, even though it is well recognized that hydrogen will not be a major source of energy for a decade or two to come. Notably, Germany later announced a 15-year contract to purchase LNG from Qatar beginning in 2026.
Canada is missing a golden opportunity not only to sell more natural resources at higher prices but also potentially to reduce global emissions by replacing Chinese coal as a source of energy. Instead, the western provinces are selling their natural gas at a discounted price to the United States, which in turn exports it abroad.
Canada has had nine climate plans since 1990 and has failed to hit any of the targets in them. However, the targets, especially for oil and gas, have discouraged investment and added to the global problem of skyrocketing energy prices. Alberta should make it clear that it will participate in any realistic plans to reduce GHG emissions from the oil and gas industry so long as they do not result in production cuts, which would merely shift oil and gas production from Canada to countries with lower decarbonization standards.