CLIMATE
Court ruling opens door to limiting oil production
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by Charlie Smith
here’s a widespread belief in Canada that provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over the production of nonrenewable resources, including oil and gas. It’s even spelled out in Section 92A(1) of the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982. As a result, Canadians are watching a surreal spectacle unfold in front of their very eyes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to cut greenhouse-gas emissions from 730 million tonnes in 2019 to 503 million tonnes by 2030. But it also appears to be a hollow promise in light of the National Energy Regulator’s forecast for sharply increasing production of diluted bitumen until about 2040. Trudeau never talks about cuts to oil and gas production. Never. He only speaks about reducing “emissions”. But how can emissions be curtailed when the provinces continue giving the green light to new oil and gas projects? Trudeau’s talk of curbing emissions is like saying you’re going to lose weight as you keep scarfing down chocolate cake—for decades. There is a way, however, for the federal government to intervene to put the country on a fossil-fuel diet that will truly shed emissions and cut production.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault highlighted the carbon tax rather than production cuts at COP26. Photo by Adam Scotti/PMO.
The Supreme Court of Canada laid out a path in its 2021 ruling upholding the national Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, which introduced the national carbon tax. The court found that this legislation was constitutional, even though it appeared to intrude into provincial jurisdiction. That’s
because a majority of judges concluded that global warming causes harm beyond provincial boundaries. Therefore, it’s a matter of national concern under the Constitution’s “peace, order and good government” clause. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Richard Wagner declared that the provinces
must demonstrate an “inability to deal with the matter” because the failure of one or more governments to cooperate would prevent others from addressing it. Alberta is clearly not interested in curtailing production of oil and gas to prevent harm caused by rising greenhouse-gas emissions. “While each province’s emissions do contribute to climate change, there is no denying that climate change is an ‘inherently global problem’ that neither Canada nor any one province acting alone can wholly address,” Wagner wrote. “This weighs in favour of a finding of provincial inability.” He also cited previous rulings noting that international agreements can be relevant to any analysis of national concern. “Any province’s failure to act threatens Canada’s ability to meet its international obligations, which in turn hinders Canada’s ability to push for international action to reduce GHG [greenhouse-gas] emissions,” he added. Enough of Trudeau’s weasel words on “emissions”. For the sake of future generations, he needs to regulate production, regardless of what’s written in the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982. Otherwise, he’ll go down in the history books as the Liberal version of Stephen Harper. g
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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
DECEMBER 30 / 2021 – JANUARY 6 / 2022
