This story has been updated with a comment from Environment Minister Jason Nixon..The federal government was not prepared to support workers and communities that lost work as Ottawa transitioned to a low-carbon economy, says an independent auditor’s report..The study was published on Tuesday by Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Jerry V. DeMarco..Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and other federal partners were “unprepared and slow off the mark,” and relied on existing programs not designed to support the transition, the report found. .“We found as Canada shifts its focus to low-carbon alternatives, the government is not prepared to provide appropriate support to more than 50 communities and 170,000 workers in the fossil fuels sector,” reads the report. .Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has been moving towards a “just transition” since adopting the 2015 Paris Agreement, an international effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2021, the federal government updated its commitment to reduce emissions by 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030..The Paris Agreement recognizes the need for “a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities.”.Per DeMarco’s report, programs were not always sufficient to meet the needs of workers, and federal agencies failed to measure, monitor, or report on outcomes .For example, during the coal phase out — one of the significant changes in the ongoing transition — federal agencies relied on the existing employment insurance (EI) program. EI benefits provide 55% of earnings up to a maximum amount to support coal workers who lost their jobs because of the coal phase out..The benefit was insufficient and in 2018, Alberta launched a program to top up benefits to 75% of earnings for affected coal workers..“There is an opportunity for the federal government to learn from this initial experience to inform future policies and programs,” DeMarco said..The report highlights the concerns Alberta has with Ottawa’s climate change policy — and confirms the federal government’s plan is to put oil and gas workers on welfare, said Alberta Environment Minister Jason Nixon..“The so-called ‘just-transition’ from the federal Liberal government and previous NDP government in Alberta has devastated communities and Alberta won’t accept a federal plan to transition workers out of Alberta’s world-class oil and gas industry,” Nixon said in a statement. .The report recommended all relevant agencies should define how the federal government will support workers; formalize a governance structure to ensure all relevant departments have clear roles; determine an approach to measure and report on progress; and work together to measure transition outcomes..Each entity responded in the report they agreed with its findings and recommendations..Rachel Emmanuel is the Edmonton Bureau Chief for the Western Standard.remmanuel@westernstandard.news
