Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Canadian exports of thermal coal increased another seven per cent last year, reaching the highest level in almost a decade.
The boom in exports of the kind of coal burned to make electricity comes as Canada leads a charge to end the use of coal as a source of power worldwide, including at home.
The Liberals also promised three years ago that all thermal coal exports will stop from Canada by 2030, but exports have risen almost 20 per cent since that promise was made.
Statistics published this month by the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert show 19.5 million tonnes of thermal coal were exported through their terminals last year.
That's up from a little more than 18 million tonnes in 2022 and is almost twice the amount Canada exported in 2015 when the Liberals took power.
In 2022 more than half Canada's exports were coal produced in the United States, mainly Wyoming and Montana, that is shipped by rail to Vancouver and then across the Pacific. Most U.S. west coast ports won't allow thermal coal exports anymore, said Fraser Thomson, a staff lawyer at Ecojustice.
Thomson said the Canadian government has to step in and live up to its promise to stop both Canadian-made exports and the coal coming through Canada from the U.S.
"There's really no time to waste," he said.
"They promised this in 2021 and we've seen the cost of inaction. Coal exports keep going up, this issue is getting worse and it's not going to resolve itself. It requires definitive action, and the federal government is the government that can do it."
Coal is considered the dirtiest fuel for making electricity when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. It produces almost twice the amount of carbon dioxide when burned as natural gas to make the same amount of energy.
Global coal use expanded in 2022, partly as the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a spike in gas prices. The International Energy Agency said in its most recent forecast that it believes thermal coal demand may have peaked in 2023.
China accounts for more than half the world's use of thermal coal, and India almost 15 per cent.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said last month he expects to announce a plan to phase out coal exports later this year.
NDP MP Laurel Collins got tired of waiting for Guilbeault to act and in February introduced a private member's bill to force the end of coal exports. The bill has not yet been debated.
She said Friday she is exasperated by the continued increase in coal exports.
"Even after I tabled my motion they simply repeated the same thing that they've been saying for years now, which is that they intend on phasing out thermal coal exports and yet the facts refute their claims. There has been no action."
Collins said there are workers whose jobs depend on coal, who need a transition plan and time to adjust to different industries. If the government doesn't move soon there won't be enough time for that adjustment and workers will be harmed.
She also said Canada has been lauded as a leader in ending coal power, and yet it is still exporting the problem.
Canada and the United Kingdom also launched the global Powering Past Coal Alliance seven years ago to encourage all countries to cut back on the use of coal as a source of power.
Canada's domestic use of coal power has fallen dramatically, helped by Ontario's decision to close all its coal power plants. The last one in that province closed in 2014.
Alberta's last two coal plants are transitioning to natural gas this year.
Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are the only other provinces with significant reliance on coal, but regulations require them to close them, transition them to gas, or equip them with emissions capture technology by 2030.
Despite all that, Thomson said Canada continues to ship coal overseas.
"What happened when the Liberals brought in the effective ban on burning coal domestically, the idea was that the coal mines that were supplying those plants would be shuttered and eventually that industry would transition," he said.
"What we've seen since that time is domestic production of coal has skyrocketed threefold, and the government seems to not be doing anything about it despite promises to tackle it."
Almost all of the thermal coal Canada produces comes from coal mines in Alberta and is exported, mainly to Asia, from ports in B.C.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
One person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who fell from a balcony following an altercation inside a Toronto apartment building.
Ukraine's troops have been forced to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the embattled east, the country's army chief said Sunday, warning of a worsening battlefield situation as Ukrainian forces wait for much-needed arms from a huge U.S. aid package to reach combat zones.
Zendaya and castmates Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor have been on a globetrotting press tour to get the word out about Italian director Luca Guadagnino's original film, which opened in 3,477 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies Sunday to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution.
U.S. President Joe Biden is out to win votes by scoring some laughs at the expense of Donald Trump, unleashing mockery with the goal of getting under the former president's thin skin and reminding the country of his blunders.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Laurentian University's board of governors approved a budget of just over $201.7 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”