Blake Shaffer – You get what you pay for: Cost and value in renewables procurement
From: Blake Shaffer To: Canadian Energy Policymakers Date: December 18, 2018 Re: You get what you pay for: Cost and value in renewables procurement When buying a car, one tends not to look only at cost. For example, some, such as myself, require a ridiculous number of seats. Others may desire the luxuries of leather. In short, buyers consider […] Kristen van de Biezenbos – Unpacking the Keystone XL Mess
From: Kristen van de Biezenbos To: Canadians Concerned about Pipelines Date: December 10, 2018 Re: Unpacking the Keystone XL Mess A few weeks ago, a US district court judge put the brakes on the Keystone XL pipeline project. This was the latest wrinkle in the saga of the line, which is intended to carry heavy bitumen from Alberta oil sands […] Grant Bishop – Alberta faces tough choices on discounted oil prices: could auctioning pipeline capacity be an option?
From: Grant Bishop To: The Honourable Rachel Notley, Premier of Alberta, and the Honourable Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, Alberta Minister of Energy Re: Alberta faces tough choices on discounted oil prices: could auctioning pipeline capacity be an option? Date: November 30, 2018 The plunge in Western Canadian oil prices relative to equivalent benchmarks is a well-publicized crisis […] Joe Oliver – The Regent Debate: Is Canada Facing an Existential Crisis in Competitiveness?
C.D. Howe Institute’s second Regent Debate took place earlier this month. Four prominent voices sparred over the following question: Is Canada Facing an Existential Crisis in Competitiveness? Today: the case in the affirmative from former federal finance minister Joe Oliver. Two areas of uncompetitiveness are so significant that they merit special mention – natural resources […] Andrew Dusevic – How the New Impact Assessment Act Could Block Canada’s Nuclear Progress
From: Andrew Dusevic To: The Hon. Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment Date: November 2, 2018 Re: How the New Impact Assessment Act Could Block Canada’s Nuclear Progress The proposed Impact Assessment Act (IAA), now before the Senate as Bill C-69, replaces the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) with a joint review panel to perform impact […] Farah Omran – What the Carbon Backstop Means for Households
From: Farah Omran To: Canadian Taxpayers Date: October 25, 2018 Re: What the Carbon Backstop Means for Households The federal government announced its plan this week for the federal carbon pricing system, outlining the treatment of the revenues in provinces that do not comply with Ottawa’s benchmark requirements and where the federal carbon-pricing backstop system will apply. Let’s examine […] Tracy Snoddon – How Should Ottawa Distribute its Carbon Pricing Revenues?
From: Tracy Snoddon To: Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Date: October 19, 2018 Re: How Should Ottawa Distribute its Carbon Pricing Revenues? Ottawa should rebate revenues from its carbon pricing backstop directly to citizens in non-compliant provinces that reject its plan. This option for returning backstop cash ensures government accountability is fair […] The Rocky Road to Canada-wide Carbon Pricing
Ottawa should rebate revenues from its carbon pricing backstop directly to citizens in non-compliant provinces that reject its plan, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “The Rocky Road to Canada-wide Carbon Pricing,” author Tracy Snoddon argues that this option for returning backstop cash ensures government accountability is fair and flexible. Bill Robson on BNN – The economics of carbon pricing
A C.D. Howe report suggests that Ottawa should push ahead with its plans for a carbon tax and distribute the revenues back to residents despite a growing number of provinces vowing to fight the tax. Bill Robson, president and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, joins BNN Bloomberg to explain.
Grant Bishop – Federal carbon-pricing backstop is new constitutional territory
From: Grant Bishop To: The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Attorney General of Canada, and the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment Date: October 17, 2018 Re: Federal carbon-pricing backstop is new constitutional territory Certain commentators have minimized the merits of constitutional challenges raised by provinces to the federal government’s carbon pricing backstop. However, the federal backstop represents new and far-reaching […] Grant Sprague – With no change in the decision-making process, how will Bill C-69 result in change?
From: Grant Sprague To: Concerned Canadians Date: October 12, 2018 Re: With no change in the decision-making process, how will Bill C-69 result in change? The fundamental construct of Bill C-69, which replaces the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act with a new Impact Assessment Act, provides for the same decision-making process found in the current act. Namely, decisions will be […] Andrew Roman – The Trans Mountain Appeal: delay is denial
From: Andrew Roman To: Concerned Canadians Date: October 10, 2018 Re: The Trans Mountain Appeal: delay is denial The Supreme Court of Canada has held that the Crown’s duty of consultation does not give aboriginal peoples a legal right to veto project approvals. Yet the Federal Court of Appeal ’s Trans Mountain decision in August has created an effective […]