Global Courant
Federal officials are characterizing this year’s wildfire season across the country as “unprecedented” and a “new normal” caused by climate change, among other things.
“People would say, well, we’ve always had wildfires; what’s new?” Environment Secretary Steven Guilbeault told Power Play host Vassy Kapelos. “Well, this year the area being set on fire is 10 times the normal average… we know that due to higher global temperatures and climate change, we’re going to have more episodes like wildfires.”
Kapelos asked Guillbeault if that means the government would be more aggressive on net zero targets. The current target is 2050, but the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in March prompted the UN Secretary-General to advocate for developed countries to push the date back to 2040.
Guilbeault argued that the federal government could be more aggressive without political resistance.
“What would greatly help our ability to accelerate our fight against climate change in Canada is if I didn’t have to fight with certain jurisdictions all the time to do the bare minimum to fight climate change, if I didn’t have to fight against the Conservative Party of Canada,” he said.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilièvre this week threatened to partially block the federal government’s budget implementation bill if liberals did not agree to halt carbon tax increases. Tories, supported by a report from the parliamentary budget officer, argue that the carbon tax cut does not cover costs for Canadians and that the tax is therefore a punishment. The government disputes the findings of the PBO because they do not take into account the costs of the effects of climate change.
When Guilbeault pressed a timeline on any net zero target changes, Guilbeault was unable to provide one, but did not rule out the possibility of moving it to 2040.
“I can’t tell you right now if we can do it, but what I can tell you is that we will certainly look at the possibility of doing that.”
