Dec 5 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — The Trudeau Liberals will attempt to move forward on their campaign promises of setting a target of “net-zero” carbon pollution by 2050, planting two billion trees and protecting a quarter of Canada’s oceans and land. Governor General Julie Payette revealed these and other details in her Speech from the Throne in Ottawa on Thursday. She […]
Nov 26 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — AggregateIQ, a digital advertising and campaign software firm based in British Columbia that became tied to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, broke Canadian privacy law, an investigation by federal and provincial watchdogs has found.
Nov 20 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Canada’s biggest pension fund says it’s “unfathomable” that the fossil fuel sector could wield disproportionate influence over its investment decisions, after a new report claims members of its board of directors and staff are “entangled with the oil and gas industry.” The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the Crown corporation that manages the country’s […]
Nov 2 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Jenica Atwin, Canada’s newest Green MP, has come out swinging against the powerful Irving family, saying New Brunswickians have been “surrounded by their influence” and must “get out from underneath their thumb.” In a wide-ranging interview in Ottawa on Nov. 1, the first-ever Green elected outside of British Columbia also discussed banning a popular pesticide […]
Oct 23 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Do you like the idea of a new multibillion-dollar fossil fuel pipeline in Canada? You have three weeks to tell a federal environmental agency what you think. On Tuesday — the day after the federal election — the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada invited the public, and specifically Indigenous groups, to provide feedback on a […]
Oct 11 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — The Conservative Party and Canada’s largest oil and gas lobby group stand accused of possibly “colluding” in violation of the country’s elections law, according to a complaint made to a federal commissioner. Ethics watchdog Democracy Watch said Thursday it was calling on Commissioner of Canada Elections Yves Côté to investigate whether the Canadian Association of […]
Jul 17 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Imperial Oil says it “took the opportunity” to lobby Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer at a literary gala in May where the oil company paid for everyone’s dinner. In fact, that night both Liberal and Conservative MPs were lobbied by several corporate representatives from various sectors, whose employers paid tens of thousands of dollars to […]
Jul 3 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Canada’s electricity industry lobby group says it was left out of the federal government’s decision to crack down on carbon pollution from new power plants that use natural gas. The comments came after Canada’s wind energy lobby group applauded the government last week for updating its rules to subject larger portions of pollution from new […]
Jun 26 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Canadians risk growing ignorant about the global climate emergency because the federal government has failed to maintain predictable and long-term research funding, scientists say in a newly released survey. The survey by advocacy non-profit Evidence for Democracy and non-partisan charity Canadian Climate Forum has prompted Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna to call for […]
Jun 21 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — “Thank you for coming, we appreciate it.” That’s how Tom Keeley answered when I asked him if he thought extreme weather was being driven by the climate crisis. I was standing in the sunny, leafy backyard of Keeley’s home, northwest of Ottawa near picturesque Gatineau Park, on June 19, because Andrew Scheer had summoned me […]
Jun 14 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Andrew Scheer’s Opposition Conservatives have pounced on a new analysis of carbon pricing that fails to account for the escalating costs of the global climate emergency. The analysis was prepared by Canada’s independent Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux. The watchdog defended his analysis of the carbon tax needed to achieve Canada’s Paris target, acknowledging that […]
Jun 7 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Inuit have long been portrayed as living on the front lines of the climate crisis, forced to deal with shrinking ice seasons and declining availability of food. Less often considered is their seat at the table when Canada crafts climate action. The national Inuit organization in Canada is hoping to change that with proposals in […]
Jun 7 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Indigenous communities in Canada are “disproportionately impacted” by toxic industrial byproducts to the point that it raises questions of discrimination, a UN investigator said Thursday in Ottawa. Baskut Tuncak, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes, spent two weeks touring Canada and visiting First Nations living close to industrial developments […]
Jun 5 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Four young Canadians are tracking the commitments of federal political parties on the climate crisis as campaigns rev up for the fall election. Shake Up The Establishment is a website run by Manvi Bhalla, Janaya Campbell, Taro Halfnight and Cameron Fioret, all graduates or students of the University of Guelph. The team will volunteer their […]
May 29 2019 — Carl Meyer — National Observer — Canadians could save as much as $24 billion annually by 2050 by scaling back the use of fossil fuels to heat and cool their buildings and deploying a range of low-carbon and energy efficient technologies, according to a new joint study by a federal regulator and an international agency. These tens of billions of dollars […]