Cabinet rejected extending early Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits to coal miners forced into retirement by the Trudeau government’s climate regulations, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.. Federal Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan WilkinsonFederal Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson .“[The proposal] would create inequities,” said Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson in a letter to MPs..“The Canada Pension Plan is a comprehensive pension system for all Canadian workers no matter what type of work they choose,” wrote Wilkinson to the Commons Public Accounts committee. .“Allowing specific groups earlier access to CPP benefits than others would create inequities and work against the measures that have already been taken to make the Canada Pension Plan stable and sustainable.”.Wilkinson’s letter was in response to an October 26 committee report Just Transition to a Low Carbon Economy that endorsed “a pension bridging program for workers who will retire earlier than planned due to the coal phase-out.” .Some 40,000 miners face layoffs under a department of Environment plan to abolish thermal coal exports and all domestic use of coal-fired electricity by 2030..The Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Coal-Fired Generation of Electricity Regulations mainly affects workers in four provinces - Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia..The loss of coal industry jobs is among thousands of layoffs expected under climate programs. In a 2022 memo Key Messages on Just Transition, the natural resources department warned that 2.7 million Canadians work in sectors that face “significant labour market disruptions.”.“How many jobs will be lost in the oil and gas sector as a result of the Government of Canada’s climate change actions?” asked the memo. .“The answer to this question depends.”.In a report to Parliament last April 26, Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco said potential losses due to climate regulations rivalled the 1992 collapse of the commercial cod fishery that cost 190,000 jobs. . Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco .“There are risks that are comparable to what occurred with the collapse of the northern cod fishery in Atlantic Canada,” DeMarco told reporters..“Are you saying they really haven’t done anything?” asked a reporter. .“The ‘just transition’ commitment came out of the Paris Agreement in 2015,” replied DeMarco..“They’re very slow off the mark. It’s seven years since they’ve had notice they had to work on this and it’s disappointing to see how slowly they’ve been working.”.“Across Canada, more than 50 communities depend on these sectors while there are an estimated 170,000 direct fossil fuel jobs,” said DeMarco’s report. .“The transition may affect workers wages, pensions, and benefits along with municipal tax bases.”
