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NEWS PHOTO ZOE MASON\nThe closing conference for the annual meeting of Canada’s environment ministers saw provincial and federal ministers present a united front on the country’s environmental policy, despite frequent and considerable divergences between Ottawa and Alberta on policy.zmason@medicinehatnews.com<\/a>
\nEnvironment ministers from the 10 Canadian provinces and the federal government met in Calgary this week, and in a closing press conference Wednesday, they celebrated a, \u201cshifting landscape\u201d in environmental decision-making.
\nAlberta Environment Minister Grant Hunter says the selection of Calgary as their meeting place was symbolic of a new direction in Canadian environmental policy.
\n\u201cAt the heart of Canada\u2019s energy sector, meeting here sends a clear message, Canada is ready to build again,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n
He says the focus of the two day conference was finding a balance between economic growth and environmental protection.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important takeaway from our meeting is that these are not competing objectives,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cThat represents a significant shift in the national conversation.\u201d
\nAgainst the backdrop of another severe wildfire season, blanketing the city of Toronto with the worst air quality in the world on Wednesday, Hunter stood firm that the council\u2019s takeaway was that environmental stewardship needs to make more room for economic expansion.
\n\u201cLook, we\u2019ve had wildfire seasons throughout the history of our country, and that will not stop. Where we think our value proposition is is that the world will need more Canadian energy.\u201d
\nPremier Danielle Smith, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford took a similar tack in news conferences announcing two major pipeline projects last week.
\nFederal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, who replaced former environment minister Steven Guilbeault in December, concurred with Hunter\u2019s conclusions, but added an affirmation that Ottawa has not veered from its long-term goals regarding carbon neutrality.
\n\u201cWe are absolutely committed to reaching net zero by 2050. I want to be very clear about that,\u201d she said.
\nThe annual meeting of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment comes on the heels of an announcement that Ottawa, Alberta and the Oilsands Alliance reached an agreement on the multi-billion dollar Pathways carbon capture project.
\nThe agreement inked July 2 represents a substantial rollback from the scope of the Pathways project first proposed in 2021, with objectives reduced from 10 to 12 megatons a year by 2030 to six megatons by 2035.
\nHunter insists that his government has not, \u201clost the narrative.\u201d Rather, he says reducing those targets was necessary to maintain Canada\u2019s competitiveness on the international stage so Canada\u2019s energy production can continue to expand.
\nThe provincial and federal environment ministers also touched on their divergence on Ottawa\u2019s 30-by-30 conservation strategy.
\nCanada was one of 195 countries that announced plans to protect 30 per cent of its land by 2030 in April, but Alberta rejected the strategy, arguing that according to the province\u2019s own definition of conservation, Alberta already surpassed that goal.
\nAlberta argued that all Crown land \u2013 including land used for commercial forestry and oil and gas exploration \u2013 qualified as protected.
\n\u201cMinister Dabrusin and I maybe are defining it a little different, so I don\u2019t hold that against her,\u201d said Hunter.
\nAt Wednesday\u2019s news conference, Hunter used ranching as an example of land that is in commercial use but remains protected by private sector stewardship.
\nDebrusin says such an approach would in fact meet federal guidelines, falling under the \u201cother effective area-based conservation measures\u201d category.
\n\u201cI think this is exactly the kind of space where we can work together with provinces and territories in recognizing the good stewardship of so many Canadians,\u201d she said.
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