Canada's infrastructure, coastal communities most at risk from climate change, gov't

[spaminator]

Canada's infrastructure, coastal communities most at risk from climate change, gov't study
Reuters
Published:
July 4, 2019
Updated:
July 4, 2019 4:37 PM EDT
A government study showed Canada's physical infrastructure and coastal communities could face significant damage over the next 20 years due to climate change. Getty Images
Canada’s physical infrastructure and coastal communities could face significant damage over the next 20 years and top the list of areas most at risk by climate change, a government-backed study released on Thursday showed.
The study was commissioned by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the federal body in charge of government spending, and carried out by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), a nonprofit group that convenes academic experts for research purposes.
“Canada’s unique geographic, environmental, and social identity shapes the hazards that it faces and its exposure to climate-related risks,” Eric M. Meslin, president and CEO of the CCA, said in the press release.
The report is the first of its kind to prioritize the Canadian government’s response to climate change, according to the CCA. A study from Environment and Climate Change Canada published in April found Canada is experiencing effects of climate change at double the global rate.
Climate change has been a polarizing issue in the run up to Canada’s federal election in October. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party supporters rank it among their top concerns, while Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer’s backers put it near the bottom of their list of priorities.
The report identified a total of 12 risk areas Canada faces in the next 20 years. In addition to physical infrastructure and coastal communities, other areas highlighted as top risks include human health and wellness, ecosystems and fisheries.
“All 12 risk areas could lead to significant losses, damages, or disruptions over a 20-year timeframe,” the report said.
The CCA assembled a panel of seven experts from the fields of economics, human health, earth sciences, social sciences, and climate change adaptation and risk assessment.
“This report represents a high-level approach to prioritizing those risks, which we hope will help inform decision making about adaptation strategies,” Meslin said.
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http://torontosun.com/news/national...s-most-at-risk-from-climate-change-govt-study

 

[Curious Cdn]

Fake News! Fake News!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48890556

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-breaks-heat-july-5-2019-1.5202096

 

[Twin_Moose]

You know it's bad when a disclaimer says it's for political purposes

The climate crisis: These are Canada’s worst-case scenarios

This article is part of a special climate change issue in advance of the federal election. This collection of stories offers a comprehensive look at where Canada currently stands, what could be done to address the issue and what the consequences might be if this country continues with half measures. Learn more about why we’re doing this.

 

[B00Mer]

Bump

 

[B00Mer]

Could you imagine if BC invested in some real infrastructure, LIKE MEXICO??

 

[spaminator]

Bump

i had forgotten about this thread. prophetic.

 

[petros]

Govt is the biggest risk to infrastructure.

 

[petros]

Sumas Prairie flooding was preventable and predicted years ago. Zero climate change link.​

​

Ailing Infrastructure in BC, Other Provinces, Highlighted by BC Floods​

By Lee Harding
November 24, 2021 Updated: November 24, 2021

Washed-out roads and flooded farmlands in British Columbia have brought to light dire infrastructure needs, which policy experts say other provinces also face as existing infrastructure ages and new and necessary infrastructure remains unbuilt.

A wet fall capped by torrential rain caused landslides and washed out eight B.C. highways. Some have been reopened for general travel and others for essential travel.

The floods have been especially difficult for the Abbotsford area, a problem even more frustrating for city officials given that they have pleaded for years to higher levels of government to upgrade the city’s insufficient dikes.

In 2015, engineers hired by the province deemed the condition of the 17-kilometre Sumas dike “unacceptable.” “Overtopping is expected during Nooksack River overflow,” they wrote. “The dike geometry is substandard, causing concern.”

In 2019, engineers told the City of Abbotsford it would cost an estimated $446 million to do the necessary reconstruction of the dike system. At the time, Mayor Henry Braun called for decisive action and help from higher levels of government because the cost was twice the city’s annual budget. At a Nov. 19 press conference, Braun restated his belief in the project.

“I shouldn’t say this, my staff will get mad at me, but I can see that whole structure, that whole dike, having to be repaired—not repaired, rebuilt—to a higher standard,” he said.

David Leis, a vice president at the Frontier Centre of Public Policy, said the devastation across the province was “quite astounding,” and no less in areas surrounding his home in Abbotsford.

“It’s obviously a heartbreaking tragedy. It’s really hard,” Leis told The Epoch Times. “There’s a number of people impacted directly with their farms. It’s a pretty tenuous situation right now.”

Leis, a former mayor of Waterloo, Ont., said municipalities have been asking higher levels of government for help with infrastructure with “constant messages … almost like a broken record.”

“None of this is really that much of a surprise,” he said.

“It’s well known that there’s a lot of infrastructure that needs to be upgraded in B.C. and Canada, and politicians have consistently ignored or been in denial of this reality.”

Solutions Not Implemented​

Four years ago, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) issued a report on Canada’s infrastructure needs for the CanInfra Summit of public and private infrastructure stakeholders. It determined that Canada’s infrastructure investment has been “distinctly average” and trailed most other OECD countries from the mid-’70s until 2005. Since then it has played catch-up on an infrastructure deficit estimated at between $110 billion to $270 billion.

A key problem identified by BCG was that municipalities paid for the construction of half of Canada’s infrastructure despite taking in just 13 percent of all government tax revenues. By contrast, the federal government rakes in 37 percent of the tax revenues but covers just 8 percent of the infrastructure construction bill.

The result of this mismatch, BCG said, was a concentration of local projects and a lack of economy-driving national ones. As a result, large Canadian pension funds that invest in infrastructure send 85 percent of that money abroad.

Marco Navarro-Génie, president and CEO of the Haultain Institute, believes Canada has not only failed at a proactive approach, but also at maintenance.

“We’ve fallen behind in that we are not building the things that we’re going to need for the future. And the things that we have are becoming quite decrepit,” Navarro-Génie said in an interview.

“Until about five years ago, most highways and overpasses and underpasses and tunnels in Quebec were falling apart. Literally chunks were falling off these things, killing people on the roads.”

In March, the Canadian Automobile Association gave 51 percent of Quebec roads a failing grade. Navarro-Génie said prohibitive costs and short-term thinking have kept governments from giving infrastructure its due.

“Nobody wants to deal with these nearly transgenerational problems because the amount of monies are huge,” he said.

“The politicians only answer to their concerns for re-election in the next election cycle, [so] we get into big problems.”

Navarro-Génie suggested an independent body arms-length from the government could help Canada reprioritize infrastructure. BCG recommends the example of Infrastructure Australia. Its independent board and CEO rank nationally significant investments based on a set of predefined criteria, continually updating projects underway 10 years into the future. The Major Projects Approval Agency helps streamline the regulatory process.

Although then-finance minister Bill Morneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at the 2017 CanInfra Summit, the Liberal government soon increased regulation instead of streamlining it.

Bill C-69, which went into effect in August 2019, requires project proponents to adequately address “Indigenous knowledge provided with respect to the designated project” and “the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors.” The legislation was dubbed “The No Pipelines Act” by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, an assessment shared by Navarro-Génie.

“Regulation for mega projects have just ballooned. The federal government is introducing all these intersectional evaluations on top of all the other ones—the environmental, the energy, the labour—all of these regulations. Nobody wants to deal with that,” he said.

‘Fundamental Policy Leadership’ Needed​

In the case of the B.C. floods, some politicians are putting the blame on carbon emissions. Leis, however, says the issue goes back to misplaced government priorities.

“Now you have the usual suspects, all articulating, ‘Oh, this is because of extreme weather and climate change.’ No, this is because of [governments’] irresponsible investment in infrastructure designed and required to not only enable our economy to function, but to protect people—that’s the story,” he said.

“The real issue is one of fundamental policy leadership at the provincial-federal level. … We have never spent more money in the history of our country in the form of deficits and large debts to the point where our economic future is in jeopardy. The real issue is where the money goes. Instead of investing in necessary infrastructure, we get diverted by the political fashions of the day.”

 

[Dixie Cup]

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I doubt we're in risk at all. It's not about climate change, it's about control & money - lots and lots of money!! As I've said before, climate always changes and has for billions years!!

 

[Jinentonix]

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I doubt we're in risk at all. It's not about climate change, it's about control & money - lots and lots of money!! As I've said before, climate always changes and has for billions years!!

Ever notice that the fucking morons who kept saying, "the science is settled" are the same fucking morons who keep pushing the "humans are non-binary" pseudo-science garbage?

 

[taxslave]

Vancouver Island is still rising. Over 90% of Vancouver Island communities are coastal. So how are coastal communities at risk?

 

[Jinentonix]

Vancouver Island is still rising. Over 90% of Vancouver Island communities are coastal. So how are coastal communities at risk?

Elsewhere I posted two pics of Harlech Castle in Wales. One was a painting of how it looked 700-800 years ago. You can clearly see the Irish Sea lapping against the cliff face the castle backed up upon. There's even an old sea gate. Today, the Irish Sea is a LONG way from the castle. There are farms, houses, small factories, roads, railways and a highway there now. You can't even call the town a 'coastal community' now.