In a speech early this year, a partner with a major Bay Street law firm took a shot at Canada’s actions on climate change, telling the audience at an environmental conference that the government had a sorry record on the file.
Recalling that media representatives were in the room, the lawyer immediately asked them not to publish the comments. They were, of course, surprising for a prominent business lawyer. What’s disturbing, however, is that they remain equally true today.
It was just over a year ago that U.S. voters elected Barack Obama president after a campaign in which he promised real action on climate change.
That development sent ripples in Canada, where a previously laggard government began speaking of progress on the environmental file given the change of heart down south.
Leaders announced plans for a clean energy dialogue that would ultimately result in a harmonized approach to greenhouse-gas emissions.
The federal government has repeatedly talked of the importance of moving in step with the United States, especially since our economies are so integrated.
To be fair, Environment Minister Jim Prentice has released draft guidelines for a market for offset credits that companies can buy against their own emissions.
But that’s not enough. Certainly, it’s far from the cap-and-trade system the government says it’s going to unveil in order to realize its plan to cut greenhouse gases by 20 per cent by 2020 over 2006 levels.
In Ontario, we’ve arguably made more progress. Notably, the province has passed the Green Energy Act, legislation that aims to stimulate the development of alternative electricity sources as part of its bid to close its coal-fired electricity plants.
Ontario has also signed onto the Western Climate Initiative, a regional agreement with several other states and provinces to set up a cap-and-trade system. On that file, the governments have made some headway.
In July, for example, the WCI released its mandatory reporting rules, requirements that outline which companies have to track and reveal their emissions.
Those rules are supposed to come into play in 2010 in order to launch the cap-and-trade program two years later, a rather tight timeline but one the province says it intends to meet.
But on the federal level, while Prentice frequently talks about harmonization with the United States whenever he speaks, he also maintains that that principle doesn’t mean Canada will merely follow our southern neighbour.
In fact, the U.S. Congress already has two climate-change bills making their way through the system. Here, we have yet to see concrete legislation implementing planned emissions cuts.
In making his comments, the senior Bay Street lawyer emphasized that businesses actually want to know what the regulations will be so they can start planning for them. Predictability, he noted, is key.
So, it’s not unreasonable to expect action soon. With the global-warming conference in Copenhagen just a few weeks away, let’s hope Prentice has something concrete, and that will lead to real progress, to say.
- Glenn Kauth
