Canada’s federal delegation to the last climate conference burned through $622,000 in air fares, accounts show. According to Blacklock's Reporter, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault called the meeting in Egypt “the next step forward for climate ambition.”.“Financials reflect the costs incurred by various government departments recorded in the system as of November 21,” Guilbeault wrote in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons. “Therefore the amounts do not reflect final costs.”.Guilbeault led a 266-member Canadian delegation to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt last November 6 to 18th. Staff from the Department of Environment numbered 53..Records put incomplete expenses for the entire delegation at $1.8 million including a million for hotel charges, $622,000 for air fares and $27,000 on meals. “The federal government only covers costs for federal employees and some indigenous representatives, youth and civil service representatives,” Guilbeault reported to Parliament. “Most delegates cover their own costs.”.The next UN climate meeting will be held this November 30 in Dubai. “We are fully committed to taking stronger actions to limit the effects of climate change,” Guilbeault earlier told reporters. “We must all work together.”.Federal agencies to date have not disclosed all costs of attendance at a 2021 climate conference in Glasgow. Guilbeault spent $11,426 on air fare. A climate crisis was an “inescapable reality,” he said at the time..“Climate change can no longer be considered a future threat,” said Guilbeault. “It is upon us. From droughts to wildfires to shoreline erosion and floods, Canadians are already feeling the effects.”.Delegates to the earlier Glasgow conference included Deputy Finance Minister Michael Sabia who billed $13,655 to attend the final three days of the meeting. Sabia in public speeches urged Canadians to think about climate change..“It is important to make a positive contribution to what I think is a massive issue facing humanity, climate change,” said Sabia. The deputy in 2018 remarks attributed catastrophes to global warming..“We see its impact every day,” said Sabia. “Heat waves and drought in Europe, this summer record temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius north of the Arctic Circle, deadly hurricanes, floods, wildfires that were the largest in the history of the state of California.”.Canada “must meet its greenhouse gas emissions to build a cleaner and more prosperous economy for the future,” Sabia told reporters in 2020. “The evidence is there.”
