Responding to yesterday’s Carney-Eby and Smith-Carney announcements, the Green Party of Canada is calling the whole entanglement of regressive measures a “deal from hell.”
The Canada-B.C. MOU attempts to mislead the public and media into thinking B.C.’s interests were meaningfully considered. Central to that appearance is public funding for an ecological disaster known as the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion. The expansion has been opposed by leading scientists, the Longshoremen’s Union, many First Nations, and the expert review conducted by the federal government itself.
This excerpt is from the federal government’s environmental review:
“[Terminal 2] would result in numerous adverse residual and cumulative effects. The proposed offsetting plan for aquatic species, totalling 29 hectares, would be insufficient to compensate for the reduction in productivity associated with a Project-induced habitat loss of 177 hectares of Roberts Bank.
The proposed terminal and marine shipping associated with [Terminal 2] would occur within Southern Resident killer whale critical habitat that is federally protected under the Species at Risk Act.
The Project would cause significant adverse and cumulative effects on Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) through a loss of legally-defined critical habitat, reduced adult Chinook salmon prey availability.”
“Notably, the panel did not consider the additional risks of making the terminal a port for dilbit-loaded tankers,” said Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May. “This project wins big with $10 billion in federal subsidies, all to grease the skids for a climate-killing pipeline.”
On May 8th, the Carney administration proposed sweeping regulatory changes to allow cabinet to exempt projects from the Species at Risk Act’s jeopardy test in certain federal economic zones. Those changes are still subject to a public consultation set to end July 22.
As well as the Roberts Bank expansion, the Eby-Carney deal includes federal public funding for controversial projects opposed by the Green Parties of B.C. and Canada: $3.5 billion for the North Coast Transmission Line, $500 million for the Red Chris mine and $3 billion for the Massey Tunnel replacement.
The North Coast Transmission Line is expected to support LNG and mining projects that carry serious environmental risks. The Red Chris mine expansion has also faced ongoing scrutiny from environmental advocates over water pollution, tailings safety and regulatory failures. The Green Party calls for full transparency on how much of the cost of these projects will be carried by the public, especially when the primary beneficiaries are industrial resource companies, and what steps the government is taking to address the significant environmental risks these projects pose.
“Despite press releases and multiple empty promises from federal Liberals, there is no private sector proponent for Alberta’s new proposed pipeline,” added May. “The federal Crown corporation TMX, already a major waste of public funds after spending $36 billion to build the Trans Mountain expansion, is now a 50 per cent owner of any new pipeline. The Alberta government holds the other 50 per cent, with private sector pipeline company Pembina’s minor involvement used as a fig leaf. Canadians need to remember that the operation of the TMX pipeline has not made even the tiniest dent in the $36 billion loss to taxpayers for the first diluted bitumen pipeline.”
The Carney-Smith announcement added that they and the Oil Sands Alliance have agreed on terms to launch the Pathways carbon capture project.
Globally, experts agree that carbon capture and storage is unproven at the scale required. Environmentalists point out that it delays real emission cuts while major polluters continue to profit and expand. Pathways cannot guarantee carbon neutrality and cannot make a new pipeline compatible with Canada’s climate commitments.
“Pathways is being used as a permission slip for endless production, more pipelines and more public money for big polluters,” May continued. “Carbon capture promises are always about buying more time for the fossil fuel industry but that is exactly what we do not have. The climate crisis is here now, and Canadians should not be asked to finance risky experiments so oil companies can keep expanding on borrowed time.”
The Green Party is once again calling on the Carney administration to abandon the proposed West Coast pipeline, protect the Southern Resident Killer Whale and other species at risk, and invest federal funds in projects that cut pollution, lower consumer costs and build long-term climate security.
“Fact check: the TMX pipeline has not met the claim of diversifying Canada’s markets. Ninety per cent of our fossil fuel exports still go to the U.S.,” said May. “Government-funded pipelines are not in Canada’s national interest. They serve only the private interests of Big Oil.
“To Mark Carney, directly and personally, I ask this: when the nation’s Canada Day celebrations are cancelled by unprecedented rainfall, much of Europe is facing a killing heat dome now moving into Atlantic Canada, a tornado rips through Winnipeg and wildfires burn through the NWT and Labrador, at what point do you remember that the climate crisis is real, that it carries enormous costs and accelerating risks to our economy, and that it requires action?”
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