pipelines

Saturday March 2, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 2, 2019

SNC-Lavalin and Preferential Treatment

Just when it seems that the scandal currently plaguing the federal government could not get much worse, the federal government may have another trick up its sleeve.

March 1, 2019

First, some background. The federal government’s procurement website states that “in 2015, we introduced a regime to ensure the government does business only with ethical suppliers….”

Federal procurement policies include an Integrity Regime to “help foster ethical business practices, ensure due process and uphold the public trust. It is transparent and rigorous and is consistent with best practices in Canada and abroad.”

As if attempts to secure a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) for SNC-Lavalin weren’t enough, it has been reported that the government now wants to change the Ineligibility and Suspension Policy under the Integrity Regime.

February 23, 2019

That policy sets out the circumstances in which a criminal conviction will result in an organization becoming ineligible to bid on federal contracts. The list of offences that result in ineligibility include bribery, lobbying offences, fraud, false or deceptive statements, and money laundering. The ineligibility period is five or 10 years, depending on the crime.

The proposed changes would give the government more flexibility to decide whether a ban should apply, and if so, for how long.

The federal government is determined to ensure that SCN Lavalin remains eligible to bid on federal government contracts.

The stated reason is to protect jobs. Quebec jobs, to be specific.

The unstated reason may be to protect votes in Quebec.

Why the steely determination to protect this company?

February 18, 2016

Even considering possible political motives, it still seems to defy logic.

After all, it is possible that a corporation’s unsavory conduct may contribute to its growth and stifle competition. Would it be so successful without it?

If SNC-Lavalin goes under, surely someone else will fill the void, and employees will find work elsewhere. Albeit, this may not all happen before election day.

It is perhaps finally obvious to the federal government that it will be difficult to invite SNC-Lavalin to enter a DPA.

So instead, it plans to change the criteria for awarding federal contracts.

This could prove problematic. And possibly rather expensive. (Continued: Kelowna Capital News)  

Reference made to this cartoon on CBC Radio One show “The Current”, Tuesday March 4, 2019 by Jason Markusoff, Alberta correspondent for Maclean’s magazine. 7:35minute mark.

Thursday February 21, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 21, 2019

Pro-pipeline protestors arrive in Ottawa from Alberta, as political attention remains focused on Quebec

December 13, 2018

A convoy of oil workers arrived in Ottawa on Tuesday to deliver a message to the Liberal government about the province’s desperate need for more pipelines. Perhaps fittingly, however, the government’s focus was instead trained on Alberta’s deepest political foe: Quebec.

The long line of semi-trucks sat idling on Wellington Street in Ottawa, blocking off the street that passes in front of Parliament as part of a protest by United We Roll, a pro-industry group.

The Ottawa rally marked the final destination for the convoy, which started its journey in Alberta four days ago. Semi trucks were hitched to trailers emblazoned with calls to “build the pipeline” and “kill” Bill C-69, the Liberals’ environmental assessment reforms. Bearded men in fluorescent vests exhaled thick clouds into the cold air and yelled for Ottawa to “open your eyes” to industry struggles.

December 20, 2018

But, as if drawing directly from Alberta’s deepest political suspicions, MPs were instead focused on Quebec for much of the day, and the ongoing furor over allegations that the Prime Minister’s Office pressured the attorney general to help Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin avoid prosecution on corruption charges. The minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, has quit cabinet and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s principal secretary has resigned.

Haley Wile, a co-founder of United We Roll, brushed off suggestions that the SNC-Lavalin affair was sucking up political oxygen in Ottawa and distracting media from the rally.

Rally organizers said they plan to ask several cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister’s Office, for meetings to discuss energy policy and Alberta’s pipeline woes. No Liberal MPs attended the rally, though Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier both delivered remarks.

Howdy Doodie Andy Scheer

“I didn’t think Justin Trudeau was going to come down and say ‘Let’s get this pipeline built,’” Wile said.

One bright green placard on Tuesday read: “Hey Trudeau, if SNC was in Alberta would you build us a pipeline?” Another read: “Build pipelines, let Jody speak.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office said it would not meet with organizers of United We Roll.

“We will always support the right of Canadians to be heard, but it is essential that their message not be co-opted by those who spew racist and divisive language,” it said.

Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi on Tuesday said it was “very unfortunate” that the message from the convoy has “drifted from pipelines to issues that are not relevant to the discussion on pipelines.” (Source: National Post) 

 

Saturday September 1, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 1, 2018

Pipeline ruling comes at bad time for Trudeau Liberals

April 11, 2018

For Justin Trudeau’s governing Liberals, the timing couldn’t have been worse. On Thursday, as Canadian negotiators in Washington were struggling to salvage whatever they could from the floundering NAFTA talks, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the government’s signature Trans Mountain Pipeline project.

Both the North American Free Trade Agreement fiasco and the pipeline decision strike at the heart of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s economic strategy. That strategy relies on free trade deals and oil exports to keep the economy humming while the government concentrates on its ambitious social policy agenda, such as bettering the lot of Indigenous Canadians.

Of the trade deals, the NAFTA pact tying together Canada, the U.S. and Mexico was the most crucial. Similarly, of the pipeline projects, none was more important to the federal government than the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain expansion. It would bring heavy oil from the Alberta tarsands to British Columbia’s Pacific coast, where it could be loaded into oceangoing tankers.

Indeed, the Trudeau government deemed the Trans Mountain Pipeline so important that it agreed to buy it for $4.5 billion from its U.S. owner and pay all the costs of expanding it. This no longer seems like such a good deal.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the government’s National Energy Board failed to take into account the effect of increased tanker traffic on B.C. coastal communities. It also ruled that the government failed to adequately consult Indigenous communities affected by the pipeline. It said construction cannot continue until these two defects are remedied. (Continued: Toronto Star) 

 

Tuesday September 20, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday September 20, 2016 Trudeau's challenge is to lead on pricing carbon and building pipelines Canada's first commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was made by Brian Mulroney in 1988, at an international conference on the "changing atmosphere" in Toronto. It was pledged then that Canada would seek a 20-per-cent reduction in its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2005. Two years later, that target was adjusted to merely stabilizing GHGs at 1990 levels by 2005. Still, that would have kept emissions to 613 megatonnes per year. Instead, in 2014, the last full year for which data is available, Canada emitted a total of 732 megatonnes of greenhouse gases, a 20-per-cent increase since 2005. If Mulroney had put Canada on a path to achieving that target of 1990, if Jean ChrŽtien or Paul Martin or Stephen Harper had set Canada on its way to achieving any of the targets they subsequently set, Justin Trudeau would now be heading into a merely interesting fall, the biggest issue of which would be the negotiation of new health accords with the provinces or the consideration of a new electoral system. In November, he is due to meet the premiers to finalize a national plan on climate change, or at least the makings thereof. By Dec. 19, his cabinet must decide whether to approve the Trans Mountain pipeline proposal that would transfer oil from Alberta to the port of Vancouver. And between those two, Trudeau gets to wrestle with questions of federalism, the national economy and the future of humanity on a warming planet. The climate change plan seems likely to include some kind of mechanism for pricing carbon.ÊÊAnd while putting a price on carbon has become the focal point of debate about what to do about climate change, pipelines have, fairly or not, become a focus of attention for those who worry about the impact of GHGs on the planet. The prime minister has, either explicitly or implicitly, committed

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 20, 2016

Trudeau’s challenge is to lead on pricing carbon and building pipelines

Canada’s first commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was made by Brian Mulroney in 1988, at an international conference on the “changing atmosphere” in Toronto. It was pledged then that Canada would seek a 20-per-cent reduction in its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2005.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday April 23, 2016 Justin Trudeau signs Paris climate treaty at UN Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the Paris agreement on climate change during a ceremony at the United Nations in New York City this morning, giving his word that Canada will harness the power of renewable energy as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. "Today, with my signature, I give you our word that Canada's efforts will not cease,"ÊTrudeauÊsaid Friday. "Climate change will test our intelligence, our compassion and our will. But we are equal to that challenge.Ó TheÊCanadianÊgovernment has committed to reducingÊgreenhouse gas emissions byÊ30 per centÊfrom 2005 levelsÊby 2030ÊÑ a goal set by the previous Conservative government. Ê The Trudeau government has saidÊthis objectiveÊis a "floor" rather than a "ceiling" for what can be accomplished.Ê During his opening remarksÊat the UN ceremony on Friday, Trudeau saidÊthe Paris agreement will be tabled in Parliament next month and will be formally ratified later this year. The Liberal leader saidÊthe business case for investing in cleanÊenergy was clear, with nearly a third of a trillion dollars invested in renewable powerÊglobally last year. "That's a trend that will continue to grow, and it's one that represents a tremendous opportunity for Canada.ÊOne that we cannot ÑÊand will not ÑÊignore,"ÊTrudeauÊsaid to rousing applause from the UN assembly. Trudeau drew further applause from the crowd when he defendedÊdeveloping countries who are facing extraordinary challenges. "They shouldn't be punished for a problem they didn't create, nor should they be deprived of opportunities for clean growth that developed nations are now pursuing." TrudeauÊtold the UN that the Liberal government hasÊcommitted to investingÊ$2.65 billion over the next five yearsÊto help developing countries fight climate change. "We're not making theseÊinvestments simply to be nice,Êalthough I know Can

April 23, 2016

Two years later, that target was adjusted to merely stabilizing GHGs at 1990 levels by 2005. Still, that would have kept emissions to 613 megatonnes per year.

Instead, in 2014, the last full year for which data is available, Canada emitted a total of 732 megatonnes of greenhouse gases, a 20-per-cent increase since 2005.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday October 29, 2002 Kyoto Quiz Canada is still set to ratify the 1997 Kyoto treaty on global warming this year, even as its provinces grumble at its terms and insist that they should not foot the bill, Environment Minister David Anderson said on Monday. Speaking at the end of a one-day meeting in a Halifax casino, Anderson acknowledged he did not set the agenda to ratify the treaty, which would oblige Canada to cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 6 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. But he said the chance of delay was "highly unlikely," despite complaints from the provinces that a government plan on how Canada will meet the Kyoto targets is short on detail about what ratification will cost and on who needs to act. Prime Minister Jean Chretien says Canada will ratify the treaty by the end of this year, and that it is the federal government, not the provinces, which determines the issue. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) Canada, Alberta, Kyoto, protocol, Ralph Klein, Jean Chretien, environment, climate change, quiz, accord

October 29, 2002

If Mulroney had put Canada on a path to achieving that target of 1990, if Jean Chrétien or Paul Martin or Stephen Harper had set Canada on its way to achieving any of the targets they subsequently set, Justin Trudeau would now be heading into a merely interesting fall, the biggest issue of which would be the negotiation of new health accords with the provinces or the consideration of a new electoral system.

In November, he is due to meet the premiers to finalize a national plan on climate change, or at least the makings thereof. By Dec. 19, his cabinet must decide whether to approve the Trans Mountain pipeline proposal that would transfer oil from Alberta to the port of Vancouver.

And between those two, Trudeau gets to wrestle with questions of federalism, the national economy and the future of humanity on a warming planet.

2016-05-14The climate change plan seems likely to include some kind of mechanism for pricing carbon.  And while putting a price on carbon has become the focal point of debate about what to do about climate change, pipelines have, fairly or not, become a focus of attention for those who worry about the impact of GHGs on the planet.

The prime minister has, either explicitly or implicitly, committed to doing both. (Source: CBC)

 

Thursday September 12, 2013

Thursday September 12, 2013

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 12, 2013

Huge honey bee losses across Canada dash hopes of upturn

Manitoba, New Brunswick and Ontario suffer highest death rates

When Allan Campbell opened his hives this spring, he expected a buzzing horde of bees to greet him. Instead, he found that four out of every five hives were filled with clumps of dead bees.

“It’s very de-motivational when you’re just cleaning up all this death,” said Campbell, who owns a bee farm in Dauphin, Man., and heads the Manitoba Beekeepers Association. “For all the work you do, you’re no further ahead. You’re behind.”

Manitoba lost 46 per cent of its honey bee colonies over the past winter, a record rate for the province that makes it the worst hit province in the country, according to a recently released report by the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA).

But those devastating losses are just one part of a bleak picture across Canada. Nation-wide, the winter mortality rate rose to about 29 per cent of honey bee colonies, nearly double the deaths in the winter prior.

It’s a setback that is dashing hopes raised last year by a low national rate of honey bee deaths — 15 per cent. Beekeepers were optimistic that the low mortality might herald a return to the average and more manageable losses the industry used to see.

“Last year, we were hoping we were going to be going into a trend as a country toward lower losses,” said Rhéal Lafrenière, Manitoba’s provincial apiarist and the president of CAPA.

A 15 per cent loss rate used to be the average and is considered an acceptable percentage of bees left dead or unproductive over the winter period. That’s changed in the past decade as the new norm has been closer to 25 per cent, says Lafrenière.

“It’s getting to a point where we’re getting used to these higher losses.” (Source: CBC News)