Pulling no punches, federal Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco said Canada has the worst climate record in the G7..“Canada was once a leader in the fight against climate change,” DeMarco said, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..“However after a series of missed opportunities it has become the worst performer of all G7 nations..“All too often Canada’s environmental commitments are not met with the actions needed,” DeMarco told reporters, soon after tabling a series of audit reports in Parliament..Data shows national greenhouse gas emissions rose after Parliament passed the 2018 Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act which imposed Canada’s first federal carbon tax, at the time capped at 12 cents per litre..Emissions grew by 15,000,000 tonnes in 2018 and another million tonnes in 2019..“Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions have thus far not been on a downward trajectory,” said an audit report..“In fact Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions rose by 21 percent between 1990 and 2019.”.“There is a need for the federal government to achieve real outcomes on environmental protection and sustainable development, not just words on paper or unfulfilled promises,” said DeMarco..“All too often Canada’s environmental commitments are not met with the actions needed.”.DeMarco said the program was so poorly crafted that it did next to nothing to lower emissions..Emissions Reduction Fund focused on payments under a $675 million Emissions Reduction Fund introduced in 2020 to subsidize oil and gas industry conversion to green technology..“Those are fossil fuel subsidies,” said DeMarco adding, “there has to be a coherent policy.”.Emissions Reduction Fund noted the subsidy program intended to “support emission reduction efforts by providing financial support to struggling companies,” but instead paid grants and interest-free loans to applicants without proof that emissions targets were met..“More than half of the total reductions targeted by the program had already been accounted for,” wrote auditors..“We found that when designing the onshore program, Natural Resources Canada did not apply greenhouse gas accounting principles or the concept of additionality,” said the report..“That is, emission reductions attributed to the program should be in addition to what would have happened without it. As a result more than half of the total reductions targeted by the program had already been accounted for.”
