Ottawa needs 'made-in-Canada' response to U.S. Inflation Reduction Act: climate group
Ottawa needs 'made-in-Canada' response to U.S. Inflation Reduction Act: climate group
OTTAWA -
As the federal government readies its spring budget, a climate group is urging Ottawa to pursue a "made-in-Canada" response to U.S. clean energy incentives.
The Canadian Climate Institute published a report on Tuesday with recommendations for the federal government on how to respond to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act passed last summer.
The institute says the federal government shouldn't try to match the incentives and subsidies offered by the U.S. and instead tailor its measures for Canada.
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law last August by U.S. President Joe Biden, invests nearly US$400 billion in everything from critical minerals to battery manufacturing, electric vehicles, and clean electricity, including hydrogen.
"To compete with the Inflation Reduction Act, Canada should not try and replicate it," Marisa Beck, the institute's clean growth director, told reporters on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has signalled the March 28 budget will include ways to keep Canada competitive as countries transition their economies to cleaner energy and technologies.
"Our friends and partners around the world, chief among them the United States, are investing heavily to build clean economies," Freeland said in Oshawa, Ont. on Monday.
"Today and in the years to come, Canada will either capitalize on this historic moment … or we'll be left behind as the world's democracies build the clean economy of the 21st century."
The federal government took the first step in its push to keep Canada competitive by introducing new federal tax credits for clean technology and low-emitting hydrogen production in its fall economic statement last November.
The budget is expected to outline how Canada plans to grow and transition to a clean economy.
The institute says Canada should pursue targeted policies that don't over-subsidize industry but instead support projects to benefit society that the private sector wouldn't pursue on its own.
It also says the Canada Growth Fund, which will invest in clean energy projects using public dollars, should strive to to balance risk and return.
Once projects achieve profitability, the report says the government should pull its support.
"Long-term commitments over 10 (to) 15 years, of course, provide a lot of certainty for investors. But they can become really costly if it ends up that the projects are being over-subsidized," Beck said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2023.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's efforts to assure Canadians that his government is adequately addressing the threat of foreign interference took a hit on Wednesday, when the majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside,' a call Johnston quickly rejected.
A New Democrat MP is trying to convince his colleagues to change the rules that govern the House of Commons in a series of ways he says would instill 'democratic controls' on the prime minister's 'unfettered' powers.
Monday morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it had reached a 'tentative' agreement with the federal government for the 120,000 picketing Treasury Board workers who, since April 19, had been engaged in one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. Here's a rundown of the developments from Parliament Hill as they happened.
The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Danielle Smith's win in the Alberta election hands her the most starkly divided province confronting any premier in Canada, writes commentator Don Martin.
Special rapporteur David Johnston didn't recommend public inquiry knowing it was a pathetically insufficient response for a foreign democratic assault of this magnitude, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
To frame a few new illustrations on pages tucked inside a passport as proof of a Liberal plot to purge the Canadian historical record seems like a severe stretch, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is a bright former federal prosecutor, who was destined to be a star in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But in an opinion column on CTVNews.ca, Don Martin argues Mendicino has taken a stunning fall from grace, stumbling badly on important issues just 18 months into the job.
It's the most peculiar of elections with the frontrunner and her main opponent being the same person, writes columnist Don Martin. 'In the looming Alberta showdown, it's Premier Danielle Smith versus her mouth.'
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston calls the allegations swirling around his objectivity 'quite simply false,' and said Tuesday he plans to push ahead with his work, launching public hearings next month
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the Liberals to keep "multiple murderers" in maximum-security prison, as fallout continues over the transfer of convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security institution in Quebec.
The lawyer representing a woman who alleges she was sexually harassed by a former Northwest Territories premier says her client would likely have to end her lawsuit if a judge determines the trial should be moved to Quebec.
The Canadian military has confirmed it participated in a May 2023 forum for Five Eyes intelligence partners that was held by the director of the Pentagon's UFO research program.
Andrea Fessler found out her third daughter didn't qualify for Canadian citizenship -- even though her two older daughters did -- when she arrived at the Canadian consulate in Hong Kong to register.
Across Canada, the average price of rent climbed back up after pandemic lows, with the monthly rate new tenants face now 20 per cent higher than it was two years ago, according to just-released rental data.
While the Liberals insist a Pacific Rim trade bloc should welcome any country that meets its standards, an internal document suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants China kept out of the deal.
While firefighters get more forest fires under control in northern Ontario, travel restrictions declared under an emergency order are being expanded in several communities.
Video shows Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) staff leading the rescue of a severely entangled humpback whale off the coast of British Columbia last week.
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston calls the allegations swirling around his objectivity 'quite simply false,' and said Tuesday he plans to push ahead with his work, launching public hearings next month
Across Canada, the average price of rent climbed back up after pandemic lows, with the monthly rate new tenants face now 20 per cent higher than it was two years ago, according to just-released rental data.
The smell of smoke is in the air throughout the city of Toronto and could get worse before the week is over as wildfires continue to burn in Quebec and northern Ontario.
Lawyers for Ukraine told the United Nations' top court Tuesday that Russia bankrolled a 'campaign of intimidation and terror' by rebels in eastern Ukraine starting in 2014 and sought to replace Crimea's multiethnic community with 'discriminatory Russian nationalism' after its occupation and annexation of the region.
The past drug use that Prince Harry detailed in his explosive memoir should spark the release of his immigration paperwork, a conservative American think tank argued in a Washington court Tuesday as they appealed to a judge for a quicker response a records request the U.S. government has so far deemed private.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has filed paperwork formally launching his bid for the Republican nomination for president ahead of a town hall event in New Hampshire Tuesday evening.
A British police motorcyclist faced a criminal investigation Tuesday over the death of a woman who was struck in a collision with the officer's vehicle, which was escorting Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, at the time.
Pope Francis briefly went to Rome's main hospital on Tuesday for tests and returned to the Vatican, two months after he was hospitalized with an acute case of bronchitis.
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston calls the allegations swirling around his objectivity 'quite simply false,' and said Tuesday he plans to push ahead with his work, launching public hearings next month
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the Liberals to keep "multiple murderers" in maximum-security prison, as fallout continues over the transfer of convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security institution in Quebec.
Andrea Fessler found out her third daughter didn't qualify for Canadian citizenship -- even though her two older daughters did -- when she arrived at the Canadian consulate in Hong Kong to register.
Two people died in what officials believe was a mass fentanyl overdose over the weekend involving five people in a hotel room in the Hawaii tourist mecca of Waikiki.
Federal safety regulators are urging consumers to stop using baby pillows that have been linked to 10 infant deaths but are still being sold on Facebook Marketplace, despite being recalled two years ago.
The James Webb Space Telescope set its sights on a galaxy 20 million light-years away, capturing a dazzling star-forming galaxy in images streaked with the signature of passing asteroids.
The Canadian military has confirmed it participated in a May 2023 forum for Five Eyes intelligence partners that was held by the director of the Pentagon's UFO research program.
Canadian tech companies say Apple's new Vision Pro headset is giving them hope that augmented and virtual reality wearables could catch on with consumers and businesses.
Prince Harry testimony in a London court, both in cross-examination in the witness box and in his written witness statement, was rare and unusual. By turns defensive, frank and accusatory, his testimony shone a light on life as a royal and on Harry's bitter personal feud with the press. Here's what to know after a historic day at the High Court in London.
Actors represented by the Hollywood union SAG-AFTRA voted Monday evening to authorize a strike if they don't agree on a new contract with major studios, streamers and production companies by June 30.
Lululemon’s CEO Calvin McDonald said the retailer stands by its decision to fire two employees who tried to intervene during a theft at one of its stores.
Across Canada, the average price of rent climbed back up after pandemic lows, with the monthly rate new tenants face now 20 per cent higher than it was two years ago, according to just-released rental data.
Global prices for wheat and corn soared Tuesday after a major dam in Ukraine collapsed, renewing market fears about the fragility of the country's ability to ship food to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia as it fights a war with Russia.
Years ago, when my now-grown daughter Justine was a toddler, we visited a U-pick farm where she plucked plump, ripe strawberries from a field of sprawling plants. Some made it into the basket on that sunny June day; others went directly into her mouth.
A whisky brand co-founded by actor Kiefer Sutherland says it has raised more than $100,000 for relief efforts related to the ongoing Nova Scotia wildfires.
Jessica Tuomela is a swimmer and triathlete, and has been on the podium at the Paralympics, but says the feeling returning a missing person home safely is no comparison.
Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski expressed relief that two of his defensive players were not physically harmed while being robbed at gunpoint by six masked men outside a downtown nightclub.
On the eve of the RBC Canadian Open, news of a merger between the PGA Tour, European Tour and LIV Golf shocked the golf world -- including one of Canada's best players.
Insurance industry group Equite Association says vehicle theft in multiple provinces surged last year. Vehicle theft was up by 50 per cent in Quebec year over year, by 48.3 per cent in Ontario, by 34.5 per cent in Atlantic Canada and by 18.3 per cent in Alberta.
Ontario has committed to paying a third of the cost to save a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone on Tuesday formally pleaded not guilty to a fraud charge over his alleged failure to declare millions of dollars held in a trust in Singapore to Britain's government.
