Mar 22 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — In May 2009, Quebec government scientist Louis Robert was 15 minutes away from entering a conference room to give a lecture about phosphorus when he got a phone call from his boss ordering him to call it off.
Mar 19 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — The Trudeau government is proposing to eliminate the federal agency in charge of traveller, baggage and worker security screening at airports. Buried in Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s 460-page budget that was delivered Tuesday is a clause noting that the government is “transitioning the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) to an independent, not-for-profit entity.” “The […]
Mar 12 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Canada’s top health professional says “campaigns that target parents on social media and the internet” are planting “seeds of doubt” about vaccines, and she’s worried serious diseases are making a comeback.
Mar 11 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Four days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals opened their first session of Parliament with a throne speech in 2015, the federal government entered into a new confidential deal with SNC-Lavalin. The Quebec construction and engineering giant touted the deal in December of that year, noting that it would allow it to continue scoring lucrative […]
Mar 10 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — There is mistrust and suspicion of government intentions. There are fears about devastating impacts to communities. There’s anxiety over whether officials can deliver on promises. And there’s frustration with being disparaged as dirty. These are some of the stark assessments from the thousands of workers in coal mines and coal-fired power plants across Canada that […]
Mar 8 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — A surge in U.S. and Canadian oil production over the last decade has added the equivalent of “one Russia or one Saudi Arabia” to the markets — pushing the planet farther away from ever getting a grip on the pollution that is driving climate change. Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, […]
Feb 27 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Newswatch — Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is planning to award a multimillion dollar grant to a non-profit organization that will take on a watchdog role, holding the federal government to account for its climate change commitments and policies, says a spokeswoman from her office. The minister’s office confirmed the plans after McKenna’s staff met with the […]
Feb 14 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Two years after the auditor general concluded that the Trudeau government had failed to identify its subsidies for the oil and gas industry, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says federal officials are still working on it. In a letter sent to Karen Hamilton, a program officer at Ottawa-based corporate accountability organization Above Ground, McKenna suggests this […]
Feb 12 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Canada’s parliamentary watchdog has made some changes to a recent report on the Trans Mountain pipeline and its expansion project, rejecting previous criticism of its research by Finance Minister Bill Morneau. The blog post that accompanied the Jan. 31 report of the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) was also updated Tuesday afternoon to “respond to additional […]
Feb 4 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Three Canadian oilpatch giants say they had nothing to do with a campaign to weaken car emissions rules backed by a U.S. trade group to which they belong. In comments to National Observer, officials from Suncor, Husky and Cenovus distanced themselves from recent findings by investigations at the New York Times and ProPublica that revealed […]
Jan 25 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Almost half of the funding in a federal program Canada has promoted as a boon for electric vehicles is being used for natural gas refueling. The Trudeau government has funded a nationwide rollout of 102 electric vehicle (EV) chargers, as part of a Natural Resources Canada program called the “Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure […]
Jan 22 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s outrageous claim Monday that the federal government’s price on pollution would create a “recession” that will “hurt seniors” is precisely backwards, according to new research — it might actually save Canada from one.
Jan 18 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Talks between the federal and provincial governments appear to have sputtered on launching a national electric vehicle strategy. A joint agreement addressing vehicle electrification is expected to be unveiled Monday when transport and highway safety ministers meet in Montreal for their annual meeting. But this agreement is unlikely to be the national Zero-Emission Vehicle Strategy […]
Jan 8 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Humanity’s contribution to climate change made the catastrophic wildfires across the western Canadian province of British Columbia in 2017 far worse, says a new study by Canadian scientists. The devastating season saw an area go up in flames in B.C. that was seven to 11 times larger than what would be expected without human influence […]
Jan 4 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — A lack of pipelines isn’t the only thing that has been choking Alberta’s oilpatch, Canada’s energy regulator says. The National Energy Board (NEB) has released a report that clarifies what has plagued fossil fuel companies in the oil-rich province over the past year. The economic turmoil persisted as the industry ramped up production in a […]