Fighting climate change needs 'all hands on deck,' says environment minister
Steven Guilbeault says provinces and territories have backed the federal government climate mitigation plan
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the federal government's investment in fighting climate change isn't enough to fully mitigate the impacts of wildfires, floods and other disasters wreaking havoc across the country.
That's why he says it's up to the provinces, territories and municipalities to step up and do their part, too.
The federal government announced Tuesday that provinces, territories and national Indigenous organizations have all signed onto the federal climate change mitigation strategy.
First unveiled as a draft strategy in November, the $1.6-billion plan aims to, among other things, eliminate all deaths due to heat waves by 2040, establish 15 new national urban parks by 2030 and update Canadian building codes with climate change resiliency in mind.
Guilbeault, the federal minister of the environment and climate change, spoke to As It Happens host Nil Köksal about what this means for Canadians. Here is part of their conversation.
Since 2015, your government has invested more than $6.5 billion in [climate change] adaptation. That is closer to $10 billion when disaster relief is factored in. But as you well know, the Canadian Climate Institute says that as early as 2025, this country is expected to experience $25 billion more in losses due to anticipated climate damages. Is what you've pledged and are pledging really enough, given that reality?
Oh, no, that's not enough. And we know and understand that we will need to invest more in this strategy, in collaboration with our provincial and territorial colleagues.
The federal government, as I said, has an important role to play. But, again, we can't do it all. You know, it's all hands on deck. We will need provinces and territories to invest as well, and municipalities.
And people should remember, you know, [when] we're talking $6 billion [or] $10 billion, that's a lot of money, for sure. But $1 invested in preparation and adaptation measures will save us down the line $15. So it's really an investment to help protect Canadians, protect our infrastructures, protect our natural habitat, but also help mitigate and substantially reduce the costs that all Canadians will be paying.
No one can get away from this. So the sooner we can deploy those measures, the faster we can reduce the impacts, both to people, to nature and to our economy.
For a listener who is in Alberta or Nova Scotia or Quebec right now, who are very much feeling directly the impact of wildfires [in] their home, their community, give us an example of how this money is going to be spent to help them directly.
By changing the building code federally … so that those buildings are better prepared to face the impacts of floodings, of heat waves or even forest fires.
We can reduce the number of people that are affected by these natural catastrophes by 30, 40, 50 per cent in the short term. We're not talking 2050. We're talking in the coming years. So we feel that by working together with provinces and territories, we can make a lot of progress in the coming years, and in the coming decades as well.
We have seen several provinces … cut firefighting programs or funding to those programs in recent years. So how confident are you that the provinces are on board and willing to do what it takes from their end to tackle these issues?
We are seeing and feeling … more and more, the impacts of climate change across the country. And I think there is a growing recognition at all levels of government that we need to do a better job.
We're working in partnership with all governments and Indigenous nations to prepare this. So I am confident that the people will step up to the plate because they understand how important this is for the people of their provinces, their territories and for all Canadians.
I do want to ask you about ... a big point of disagreement from Atlantic premiers in particular to a different policy from your government. These are the clean fuel regulations. As you know, the Council of Atlantic Premiers sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau asking for a meeting. They were not satisfied with the meeting they had with you last week. And they want there to be a postponement of what is set to happen on July 1st, the new regulations going into effect. Will they get that postponement?
In 2021, the Atlantic premiers asked the federal government to delay the implementation of the clean fuel regulation by two years. And that's exactly what we did. Now I'm a bit disappointed to see them say, "Well, we want another postponement."
We can't fight climate change without putting in place measures that will transform our economy, the way we build our buildings, the way we build our infrastructures, the way we produce energy, the way we transport ourselves, and the goods that we use.
If we don't do that, then there will be more and more climate impacts across the country. There will be more natural catastrophes. There'll be more Fionas on the East Coast and more forest fires.
At the pumps, it could go up 13 cents is what I'm reading so far from some of our CBC News colleagues in the Atlantic region. What do you say to people in that region and their premiers who are saying: "You're putting us in a very difficult situation at a difficult time. We can't bear this burden"?
Those numbers are based on a study by the parliamentary budget officer that publicly admitted that he did not take into account any of the benefits of these measures.
When people are talking about 13 cents in 2030, this is the absolute worst case scenario if we weren't doing anything to help people reduce the amount of gasoline. I'm not even talking about electric vehicles because I understand … electrification will take longer to be deployed in those regions. But we're investing hundreds of millions of dollars to help people get off home-heating oil, which is very polluting and very expensive, [and move] to cleaner and cheaper alternatives.
Back to the strategy that we were talking about initially. It says, quote, "With the right actions, including concerted efforts to reach net-zero emissions, we can continue to thrive in a changing climate." Are you concerned that that's too optimistic — that Canadians can "thrive" — when we weigh what we'll be up against?
We're hopeful, but not too optimistic when we look at how much investments are being made in Canada, in clean technologies, in electrification of transportation, in alternative fuels.
Since we announced the clean fuel regulations last year, $2 billion have been invested by different companies in Alberta, in Saskatchewan, in Quebec, in Newfoundland, creating thousands of jobs for Canadians so we can tackle climate change and support communities, support workers in that transition.
Interview produced by Morgan Passi. Edited for length and clarity
