'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
The federal government is making it more difficult to develop thermal coal in Canada with a new policy that says all such mines create "unacceptable environmental effects."
The move erects another roadblock for Coalspur Mines and its proposed Vista mine expansion in Alberta, the only such mine in Canada currently before regulators.
Federal Environment Minister Jonathon Wilkinson said the move was made because of the need to stop burning coal for power -- the single greatest source of greenhouse gases in the world.
"Phasing out thermal coal is the most critical climate change issue right now," he said.
The policy, released Friday, does not rule out such development. But approvals will be tough to get.
"The government of Canada considers that any new thermal coal mining projects, or expansions of existing thermal coal mines in Canada, are likely to cause unacceptable environmental effects," it says. "This position will inform federal decision making on thermal coal projects."
It says the federal cabinet must consider sustainability and climate change in weighing any new projects, regardless of size.
"What we're saying is this is something that does not fit from a public policy perspective," Wilkinson said. "A proponent can continue on through the process, but that's a pretty high bar to surmount."
Coalspur's Vista mine expansion project near Hinton, Alta., which would be the largest thermal coal mine in North America, has filed an application to the provincial regulator. Wilkinson has ruled the project should face a federal environmental assessment, although Coalspur is challenging that decision in court.
The company has been informed the new policy will apply to it, Wilkinson said. He added the policy gives more certainty to other companies considering similar projects.
The Alberta government accused Ottawa of changing the rules mid-game, without consulting the province.
"The federal government must stop moving the goalposts on natural resource project approvals," said Energy Minister Sonya Savage in an email. "Sudden and unexpected changes in direction, like this one, will have long-lasting implications on job creation and investment."
Savage said only Albertans should have a say in how the province's natural resources are developed.
Wilkinson said he believes the new policy lies within federal power despite its impact on those resources.
"We're comfortable this is something within our purview to do," he said. "The vast, vast, vast majority of Canadians would think that this is something that's a no-brainer."
Marcel Michaels, mayor of Hinton, Alta., where most of the Vista mine's 300 workers live, said the new policy comes before he has seen any kind of transition plan for miners in his community.
"I don't see a plan by the federal government that Canadians understand that are replacing these jobs. That's what we need."
Michaels said thermal coal will continue to be mined outside Canada. He said the federal government should restrict its development only in response to similar moves by other countries.
"If there was no other thermal coal mines in the world, I'd be the first one to say time to close this. We're just trading off jobs here for another country."
Canada is a founding member of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a group of countries trying to reduce the use of thermal coal around the globe. Wilkinson said permitting new mines would harm Canada's efforts in that forum.
"We've been the leader in the international community telling other countries that they should be phasing out thermal coal -- and then we approve new thermal coal mines? People would say that doesn't make any sense."
The new policy does not affect metallurgical coal, the type of coal found in most of the controversial new coal exploration projects in the Alberta foothills.
The federal government has been asked to step in on many of those projects. Wilkinson has until July 1 to decide if he will request a federal assessment for Montem Resource's Tent Mountain mine.
Wilkinson called emissions from steelmaking a different issue.
"(Thermal coal) is a short-term issue," he said.
"Our commitment with other countries is to help them phase out (coal) nine years from now. That's not much time."
Canada has promised to phase out the burning of coal for power by 2030.
The Cline Group, owners of Coalspur Mines, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But environmental groups, clean energy think tanks, and environmental lawyers all praised Wilkinson's announcement. At least eight such groups released statements in support, some urging Wilkinson to go further by banning the export of U.S. and Canadian thermal coal through the Port of Vancouver.
"The final step is for Canada to end its practice of exporting Canadian and U.S. thermal coal around the world," said Julia Levin of Environmental Defence.
Others urged the federal Liberals to pass their promised Just Transition Act, intended to help workers such as thermal coal miners.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2021.
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.