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"What in the world does 'economic development' mean?" by Todd Hirsch [summary not available] "The politics of climate change: from one government to the next" by Robin V. Sears Most Canadians support the Kyoto Protocol, even if they don’t know what’s in it. They support clean air and Kyoto’s target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. But they expect government and industry to achieve the necessary efficiencies and are generally unprepared to sacrifice their SUVs or home heating habits to help achieve the Kyoto targets. Contributing writer Robin Sears looks inside the politics of climate change, including the “Kyoto implementation fiasco,” and looks ahead to the Harper government’s Clean Air Act and Green Plan II as a made-in-Canada alternative to unachievable Kyoto targets. "Improving Canada's climate change performance" by Katherine Cinq-Mars “Why are Canada’s emissions so high and why have they increased by so much compared with other countries?” This is the central and embarrassing question Katherine Cinq-Mars poses about Canada’s performance on reducing emissions, relative to most industrialized countries in the OECD. As a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, Canada is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. Instead, emissions increased by 27 percent through 2004 — fully 35 percent above Kyoto targets. How can Canada do better? By moving to lower carbon technologies, and turning an environmental challenge into an economic opportunity. "An integrated approach to air pollution, climate and weather hazards" by Gordon McBean “Since climate is the statistics of weather,” writes the former head of Canada’s national weather service, “climate change is about changing the hazards of weather, and also its benefits, which include rain water for drinking and irrigation, snow for skiing, and warm, pleasant days for recreational enjoyment.” Gordon McBean adds: “Weather-related hazardous events have always mattered to Canadians, but their impacts have been increasing.” And the impact of such hazards will only increase with global warming. McBean offers some pertinent advice to federal and provincial governments for dealing with the impact of increased weather hazards. "Canada's climate change dilemma and how to solve it" by Stéphane Dion Stéphane Dion is man with a plan on climate change and insists that if his environmental plan were implemented by 2007, Canada could still achieve its Kyoto emissions reduction targets by 2012. “The Kyoto Protocol,” he writes in this exclusive to Policy Options,“ is the only credible international tool to fight the coming climate crisis, and Canada must honour its commitments under the agreement, while leading the negotiations to extend it past 2012.” Dion has made the environment the central issue in his candidacy for the Liberal leadership. "Cities 'LEED' the way in green policies" by David Miller [summary not available] "Cities and climate change: policy-takers not policy-makers" by Andrew Sancton Think globally, act locally. It’s a motto of the environmental movement. Yet, as Andrew Sancton writes: “If ever there was a non-local issue, it is global warming.” International agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol are signed by sovereign countries but seriously impact cities, which are not signatories but account for much of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions on the consumer side — driving your car and heating your home are major contributors to GHG emissions. In Canada, cities are constitutionally creatures of the provinces, in what is already a mixed jurisdiction — the environment. Cities, Sancton concludes, are policy-takers, not policy-makers. "Le développement durable à l'heure de la déréglementation : impasse en vue" by Pierre-Luc Gagnon Ten years after the federal government adopted a sustainable development plan, the Quebec National Assembly passed its own law sanctioning the implementation of the concept as integral part of the Quebec government’s activities. Pierre-Luc Gagnon examines the Quebec plan and the administrative apparatus that has been set up to implement it, and compares it with Ottawa’s plan. He notes that Quebec’s plan seems more promising in that it lays out a cohesive approach based on the rapid adoption of a government strategy, the creation of a green fund, and the establishment of the right to a healthy environment. But he also cautions that the ongoing process of regulatory and administrative downsizing may well prevent the profound changes necessary to bring about real sustainable development. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions: some Canadian success stories" by Karen Kun and Toby Heaps Industry’s response to the challenge of global warming is by no means all doom and gloom. Karen Kun and Toby Heaps of Corporate Knights magazine consider several outstanding Canadian examples of companies that have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions to well below 1990 levels, all of them in industries known to be serious emitters. Catalyst Paper in British Columbia has reduced its GHG emissions by two-thirds. Alcan, in aluminum, is another success story, as is EnCana, in one part of the oil patch — the world’s largest GHG sequestration project, at Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Read on. "Walking the walk on climate change: a business case study" by Daniel Gagnier Industry is clearly a major part of the problem on global warming and climate change. But, equally clearly, there is no solution without the pro-active participation of industry, particularly companies in emissions sensitive industries. One such company is Alcan, a Canadian-based aluminum firm with operations in more than 61 countries and regions around the world. In this business case study, Alcan senior vice president Daniel Gagnier tells how one company has made a difference in reducing its global emissions by 3.5 million metric tonnes relative to 1990 levels, with smelter emissions reduced by 30 percent in Canada and 25 percent worldwide. "When Canada led the way: a short history of climate change" by Elizabeth May The 1988 climate change conference in Toronto was a seminal event, at which Canada was more than the host — it was a world leader on the environment. Elizabeth May, then an adviser to environment minister Tom McMillan, recalls those days when Canada’s leadership resulted in the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depletion in 1987, and the federal-provincial agreements on acid rain reduction, which later led to the 1991 Acid Rain Accord with the United States. In the consensus statement at the Toronto conference, scientists bluntly foretold the consequences of global warming: “Humanity is conducting an unintended, uncontrolled, globally pervasive experiment whose ultimate consequecnes are second only to global nuclear war.” The Toronto conference reinforced the landmark report of the Brundtland Commission on sustainable development, leading ultimately to the Earth Summit at Rio in 1992. To Elizabeth May, now leader of the Green Party, it all seems long ago and far away. "Massive power in a tiny beetle" by Roger Gibbins [summary not available] "Remembering Robert Bourassa" by John Parisella Ten years ago this month, Robert Bourassa died, less than three years after leaving office as premier of Quebec in January 1994. He served four terms and nearly 15 years in office during three decades — the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. One of the most enduring political figures of his time, he walked away from one constitutional agreement at Victoria in 1971, brokered another at Meech Lake in 1987 and lived the political consequence of its death in 1990 before the defeat of the Charlottetown Accord in 1992. His former chief of staff reflects on the legacy of the only leader in Canadian history to regain the leadership of his party after losing it. "Petite enfance et santé émotionnelle : l'importance du dépistage" by Raymond H. Baillargeon In order to help reduce pension-plan and health-care costs resulting from a rapidly aging population, argues Raymond Baillargeon, we must immediately begin raising the health status of children. This would ensure that children, once they become adults, have higher levels of productivity and higher rates of participation in the workforce. One of the major challenges in this regard, Baillargeon says, is identifying the emotional and behavioural problems of preschoolers so as to prevent these problems from arising when children begin attending school. The author offers an overview of new research tools available to help children, and concludes that investment in early-childhood research and development should be a priority of governments at all levels. "Waiting for Conservative trade policy" by Michael Hart and Bill Dymond The Conservative government inherited a trade policy that had run out of steam, and has yet to propose one of its own, either regionally within NAFTA and the western hemisphere or globally in the World Trade Organization, where the Doha Round is clearly failing. Once a world power in trade, Canada has been excluded from the inner group of the US, the European Union and Japan in the Doha Round. “India, Brazil and Australia have now displaced Canada from the inner core,” write Michael Hart and Bill Dymond. “One could blame this sad state of affairs on Canada’s implacable defence of supply management for the dairy and poultry sectors.” They conclude: “In truth, Canada is no longer a player because it has little to contribute to — or to gain from — multilateral trade negotiations.” "And the Mambo Kings will live on: Cuba after Fidel" by Julia Sagebien With the announcement this summer that Fidel Castro was undergoing surgery and that power was being temporarily transferred to Fidel’s brother, Raul, speculation about the future of Cuba without the líder máximo started anew. “Fidel’s long-term illness or death,” says Cuban-born Dalhousie University professor Julia Sagebien, “would remove the major kingpin that has held together the country’s internal and external dynamics. Nature abhors a vacuum. The death or incapacitation of Fidel Castro will leave a very big one.” In this article, she takes a look at some likely scenarios for a post-Fidel Cuba and examines the interplay between uncertainty, change and continuity and the actions and reactions of several constituencies within and outside Cuba, notably the Cuban diaspora and the US government. "Innovation and productivity: the need for an intellectual architect" by E. Richard Gold From a productivity standpoint, “innovation is innovation,” writes Richard Gold of McGill University’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy. “It matters little whether it is homegrown or foreign. Markets for innovation are international and many forms of innovation cost nothing to transport,” he says, software being a prominent example. Because the Canadian market is so small, it is hardly worth the trouble for innovators to patent their work here. But Gold also sees an opportunity. “Canada,” he writes, “should develop an intellectual property policy that lowers the cost to those conducting research and creation in Canada, making Canada an attractive location for investment in high technology industries.” "The UN: if it didn't exist, we would have to invent it" by Paul Heinbecker A year after the summit on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations, it is clear that world leaders made “the least of their opportunity to reform the institution,” writes Paul Heinbecker, Canada’s former UN ambassador. For all its institutional failings, he adds, the UN remains the essential international organization. If it didn’t exist, he concludes, we would have to invent it. As at its creation in 1945, it remains at the heart of the multilateral system. "Taking campaign finance reform to the next level" by Tom Kent Until the campaign finance reform of 2003, a kind of deathbed repentance by Jean Chrétien for the sponsorship scandal, there were virtually no limits on donations to political parties and candidates. Chrétien’s Bill C-24 changed that, virtually eliminating corporate donations and limiting individual donations to $5,000 a year to each party. In return, parties received $1.75 per vote per year based on their score in the previous election. The Harper government’s Accountability Act imposes even tighter restrictions, abolishing corporate and union donations altogether and limiting individual donations to all parties and candidates to $1,000 a year each. Our Founding Editor suggests there is more work to be done, including limiting donations to persons of voting age. "Book review: Michel Sarra-Bournet reviews Pierre Elliott Trudeau. L'intellectuel et le politique by André Burelle [summary not available] "Silence, on se bat !" by Alain Noël [summary not available] "Quand la beauté du monde ne suffit pas" by Jean Lemire In September 2005 the Sedna IVsailed from Quebec City for a year-long journey to Antarctica to document the impact of climate change on the South Pole. An exciting human adventure that can be followed on the Internet, a high-level scientific mission carried out in cooperation with NASA and several researchers from around the world, and a film-making project whose result is eagerly awaited, this journey has been dubbed one of the greatest expeditions of modern times. It is also a major campaign to increase public awareness about climate change and other major environmental issues facing our planet. On the eve of Sedna IV’s return, just out of a disquieting Antarctic winter that was too mild, the head of the mission, Jean Lemire, writes to us from “the most beautiful place on Earth.” He describes how, and how much, our behaviour locally is reverberating globally. “There is no better place on the planet in which to witness the catastrophic effect of climatic upheavals brought about by human activity.” |
