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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, the environment and resources in Canada.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney’s vision for the future of Canada’s energy sector has come into focus this week, and it says a lot about where climate change efforts will end up in the future, too.
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Now, let’s get you caught up on other news.
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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, left, signs a memorandum of understanding with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Calgary on Thursday. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
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Turning a new leaf on energy
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For this week’s deeper dive, we look at the new energy deal between Alberta and Ottawa, signalling a major shift in the provincial-federal relationship and climate policies for the country.
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The Prime Minister has been tasked with the difficult job of running a country in the middle of a trade war. Canada has been waiting to see his plans to fight climate change while balancing an economic agenda that relies heavily on traditional energy industries.
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He’s been making quick work of it. Less than a month after the release of his government’s first budget, he and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding in Calgary.
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“And it turns out to be dramatically different from the strategy he inherited from Justin Trudeau, much more so than indicated even in the federal budget a few weeks ago,” wrote climate columnist Adam Radwanski.
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Both governments said the deal positions Canada to become a global energy superpower while also meeting climate goals.
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The MOU aims to unlock Alberta’s energy sector and diversify export markets. It also opens the door for the construction of a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. Both governments would offer financial supports for the $16.5-billion carbon capture and storage project proposed by the Pathways Alliance of major energy companies. And the deal says the federal government won’t implement its oil and gas emissions cap.
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“The really big shift, in substantive policy with nationwide implications, is that Mr. Carney is scrapping or weakening most climate-related regulations implemented by Mr. Trudeau in favour of putting almost all his eggs in the basket of industrial carbon pricing,” Adam wrote.
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The agreement suspends clean-electricity regulations for Alberta with the proviso that the province increases its industrial carbon price.
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Unsurprisingly, the deal has caused concern among environmentalists and some Indigenous leaders. Coastal First Nations say they’re prepared to challenge any project in the courts.
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British Columbia Premier David Eby isn’t excited about the prospect of a new pipeline across his province, but has said he would be more willing to discuss it if the ban on tanker traffic off B.C.’s northern coast remains in place.
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And perhaps most notably, former environment minister Steven Guilbeault resigned from the federal cabinet the same day the MOU was signed. Although he was serving as minister of Canadian identity and culture, he was known as the personification of the (previous) Liberals’ efforts to combat climate change and had championed several of the policies now being unravelled.
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“He and many other environmental advocates have lamented the change in direction by the Prime Minister, who had previously been recognized as the leading exponent of climate finance,” wrote Jeffrey Jones, The Globe and Mail’s ESG and sustainable finance reporter.
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In his analysis, Jeff also reminds readers that these new provisions are in addition to other changes to environmental policies under Carney, such as scrapping the consumer carbon tax, pausing the rollout of the electric-vehicle sales mandate for 2026 and launching a review of the policy.
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We’re watching for more news on this change in the intergovernmental relationship and energy plans, but first, Carney will be shuffling his cabinet today to make up for the loss of Guilbeault.
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