Forest fires | Ottawa must stop subsidizing fossil fuels, claims the Bloc

(Ottawa) The forest fires raging in Quebec are further proof that the Trudeau government must stop subsidizing fossil fuels and step up its fight against climate change, according to the Bloc Québécois. The party will use its opposition day on Thursday to force a debate in the House of Commons on this issue.

“I think we’ve come to act,” noted Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet in an interview.

“Ten years ago when I was in the ministry [de l’Environnement] in Quebec, I said and I still say today: the longer we delay in acting, the more radical the measures we will have to take, he added. And there, we are arriving in the period where we will have to take unpleasant measures. »

He will introduce a motion for “the federal government to stop investing in fossil fuels” and “develop incentives […] to stimulate the use of renewable energies and public transit” while respecting Quebec’s areas of jurisdiction.

He will also ask him “to invest more in the fight against climate change which risks becoming more and more costly both for the population and for the environment”.

Ironically, the interview took place on Wednesday as Canada marked Clean Air Day. Outside parliament, the federal capital was still shrouded in smoke from the forest fires.

The Bloc leader recognizes that it is impossible to make a direct causal link between climate change and the forest fires that are currently consuming part of the Quebec forest. “But we know that climate change will increase the length of the season conducive to forest, drought, heat waves and other types of extreme events,” he said. We know that it will increase the intensity of extreme events and we know that it will increase the probability of extreme events. »

The oil and gas industry benefits from several direct and indirect subsidies which are difficult to count precisely. For example, the federal government provided a $520 million tax credit over five years for carbon capture, use and storage in its last budget. This is a technology that “does not work well and is currently overpriced,” according to Mr. Blanchet.

In October, the government also approved a loan guarantee of around $10 billion for the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, bought for $4.5 billion in 2018 when the Texas-based company Kinder Morgan had threatened to abandon the project in the face of opposition from environmental groups.

These fossil fuel subsidies totaled more than 20 billion in 2022, according to the Environmental Defense group, which tried to count them.

The forest fires led to the evacuation of 11,000 people in Quebec, in addition to threatening the forestry industry. “We cannot say that they are climate refugees, but we can say that overall, there will be people who will regularly have to be relocated because of the general effect of climate change. Here, that’s going to be it, ”he admitted.

The debate will be held on the Bloc Québécois motion on Thursday morning for a vote on Monday.

Strong exchanges

During Question Period on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government had “done the most to fight climate change” in the country’s history in response to a question from the NDP leader. Jagmet Singh.

The Liberal leader repeatedly flared up as he was hounded by the Tories over rising interest rates, resulting in a heated exchange with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

“Has it sunk so low that it is exploiting the fires to distract from its inflationary policies,” Mr. Poilievre asked.

The Prime Minister retorted that the Conservatives are not proposing anything to fight climate change.

The government has set itself the target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. It is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050.