Supreme Court opinion doesn't change plans to regulate oil, gas emissions: Guilbeault
Regulations to cap greenhouse-gas emissions from oil and gas production will be published later this fall, and they won't be affected by a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision striking down parts of a federal environmental law, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Tuesday.
The Liberals first promised during the 2021 election to cap emissions from the oil and gas sector and then ratchet them downward towards 2030, when Canada's next emissions target deadline hits.
The sector accounts for more than a quarter of Canada's total emissions, and Canada won't meet its target without a substantial decline in carbon emissions from pumping oil and gas out of the ground.
Canada's emissions plan has the sector cutting its total emissions almost in half by 2030.
Guilbeault said the government remains committed to the cap, and it shouldn't be affected by last week's court opinion labelling parts of the federal environmental assessment legislation as unconstitutional.
That decision said the Impact Assessment Act, which outlines how major projects like pipelines must be reviewed for environmental impacts, strayed into provincial jurisdiction at times by allowing Ottawa to make decisions about whether projects solely under provincial authority could proceed.
"I mean, obviously, we're looking very carefully at what the Supreme Court did," Guilbeault said.
"But people shouldn't forget that there was another Supreme Court decision, which was not an opinion, last year on carbon tax, which made it very clear that the federal government can act when it comes to climate change. And we can put a price on pollution, and that as a federal government we have jurisdiction to fight climate change."
The Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that the federal price on carbon was constitutional because greenhouse-gas emissions did not stop at provincial boundaries, giving them a national impact.
In the Impact Assessment Act decision, Chief Justice Richard Wagner did conclude that there are some provincial projects that could cause effects that fall in federal jurisdiction, which could give Ottawa authority to regulate or legislate them.
Based on the earlier decision on the carbon price, that would include greenhouse-gas emissions.
Guilbeault has tried very carefully to promote the oil and gas cap regulations as being about limiting emissions, not production. The latter is the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces.
He has said that restricting emissions just means oil and gas companies must take actions that cut their own carbon footprint. It doesn't specify how they should do that.
But Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and some oil and gas companies have insisted that capping emissions will force a cut in production.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers told Guilbeault in 2022 that both of the options for enforcing the cap would require producers to scale back how much oil they pump out.
Following the court decision last week, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the federal government should "rethink" its plan to overstep on oil and gas production and electricity generation.
The cap regulations are taking longer than Guilbeault hoped.
Last November, he said he expected the draft regulations would be ready by the spring. But they still haven't been published.
He attributed that to the complexity of the plan.
"There's no hold up," he said. "I mean, as far as I know, we're the only country in the world that are doing that. And we're the fourth largest oil and gas producer, so it's a pretty bold piece of regulation and we want to make sure that we get it as right as possible."
He said an appearance by the CEO of oilsands giant Suncor at a parliamentary committee Monday furthered the government's resolve that such regulations are necessary.
Guilbeault said nothing Rich Kruger told the natural resources committee made him feel more confident that the company would take steps on its own to reduce its carbon footprint and help slow climate change.
Kruger was at the committee to explain comments he made to shareholders in August about refocusing Suncor's priorities more on its core oil business and less on transitioning to lower-emitting fuels.
Guilbeault said those original comments underscored why the regulated emissions cap was needed, because companies like Suncor weren't going to do it on their own.
Kruger told the committee the company is committed to decarbonization but said it must continue to pursue further oil production to raise the money it needs to do that.
NDP MP Charlie Angus agreed with Guilbeault that Kruger sent a clear message.
"They have no intention of taking responsibility for the damage that they are doing to the planet and no intention of changing course," he said. "Even as our planet is on fire."
But Angus called out the government for taking so long to set the cap on emissions.
"This is Canada's Big Tobacco moment and our government, the Liberals, are missing in action," he said.
"It's been three years since this government promised that emissions cap. Where is it?"
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2023.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
'What have we done?' Lawyer describes shock at possible role in Trump's 2016 victory
A lawyer who negotiated a pair of hush money deals at the centre of Donald Trump's criminal trial recalled Thursday his "gallows humor" reaction to Trump's 2016 election victory and the realization that his hidden-hand efforts might have contributed to the win.
Conservative MP says Chinese hacking attack targeted his personal email
A Conservative MP is challenging claims by House of Commons administration that a China-backed hacking attempt did not impact any members of Parliament, because the attack was on his personal email.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Loblaw leaders call criticism 'misguided,' say they aren't to blame for high food prices
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston and the company's new CEO are pushing back against critics who blame the grocery giant for soaring food prices, as a month-long boycott of the retailer gets underway.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
'Giant-killer' Kazushi Kimura to race in Kentucky Derby this weekend: 'I'm representing Canada and Japan'
Six years ago, at age 18, Kazushi Kimura left his home and family behind in Hokkaido, Japan to chase a dream. This weekend, he'll ride in the Kentucky Derby.
President Joe Biden calls Japan and India 'xenophobic' nations that do not welcome immigrants
President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, lumping the two with adversaries China and Russia as he tried to explain their economic circumstances and contrasted the four with the U.S. on immigration.
Local Spotlight
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Haida Elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
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.