The end of the “everything by car” reign?
Soaring gasoline prices, rising vehicle prices: everything seems to be in place to push consumers to swap driving for other modes of transport. And yet… Nothing seems to want to slow down the momentum for the car in 2023. Despite an average price at the pump of $1.82 per liter since August, the “everything by car” is accelerating, observes Pierre-Olivier Pineau, expert in energy management at HEC Montreal. Neither Quebec nor Ottawa have taken advantage of the price of gas and the scarcity of cars to support car-sharing platforms or enhance the public transport offer, he laments. Quebec is playing its all on the electrification of transport, a shift that will explode the demand for new hydroelectric infrastructure. “We must first reduce our travel and turn to more sustainable transport. »
offshore oil exploration
In the coming weeks, the Government of Canada and that of Newfoundland and Labrador should agree to grant new oil exploration permits in the marine environment. At the end of 2022, five companies responded to the call for tenders launched with a view to initiating a series of projects that could lead to the discovery of new deposits off the Canadian east coast. New permits covering no less than 12,000 km should be granted, and companies have committed to investing tens of millions of dollars in exploration. Despite harsh criticism from environmental groups, the Trudeau government says it is convinced that Canada can become a “clean” oil producer. According to the federal government, the sector would even be part of the global “transition” towards an economy with low greenhouse gas emissions.
GHG emissions from the oil and gas sector
Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault has made it a key promise in the government’s climate plan. This year, the federal government must now present its plan to cap and then reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector. “We will have a draft regulation perhaps by spring, at the latest in the first half of the year. And then, the objective is to have the complete regulations before Christmas”, indicated the minister last November. The details of this plan are therefore forthcoming. But one thing is certain, the fossil fuel sector represents a heavy weight in the balance sheet of Canadian emissions. From 1990 to 2019, the industry saw its emissions increase by more than 100 million tonnes. Most of the increase is attributable to a 725% growth in oil sands production.
A protection “strategy” for woodland caribou
What will be the rescue plan to try to avoid the disappearance of the woodland caribou, the emblematic cervid of the boreal forest? The answer should be known by June. The Legault government has indeed promised to present a “strategy” to better protect caribou habitat, which is increasingly disturbed, mainly by the forestry industry. The Innu have been calling for concrete measures for several years, and the federal government threatened in 2022 to intervene in order to impose protective rules. Quebec will also have to rule on the fate of the herds which, isolated, have been placed in captivity in Charlevoix and in the Val-d’Or region. All eyes will also be on Gaspésie, where a project to capture and enclose pregnant females is planned for this winter, to avoid the extinction of the last 30 animals in the region.
End of “inefficient” subsidies for fossil fuels
After supporting the oil and gas industry with billions over the years, Ottawa has pledged to completely eliminate so-called “inefficient” subsidies by the end of the year. The federal government admits, however, that “there is no internationally agreed definition of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”. In this context, each government must develop its own “framework” in this area. “In Canada, the Department of Finance and Environment and Climate Change Canada are working together to develop an analytical framework to identify inefficient subsidies in the Canadian context,” says the Department of Finance. This includes the phasing out of flow-through shares for oil, gas and coal activities in 2023, which was announced in Budget 2022, but also nine subsidies that “have been eliminated or streamlined or are in the process of being phased out.” be “.
Protect Quebec’s lakes and rivers
As of January, the government of Quebec must table a bill implementing the “Blue Fund”, an envelope of 650 million dollars to protect and care for the plans and waterways of the province. Invasive plants, bringing sanitary facilities up to standard, cleaning the banks, revegetating riparian strips: the aspects targeted by the initiative are numerous. At COP15, François Legault also promised that royalties on water drawn in Quebec will be increased. In 2021, these amounted to only $2.50 per million liters of water drawn. Environment Minister Benoit Charette has also pledged to make public the amounts of water withdrawn by commercial and industrial users, something that environmental organizations have long demanded.
The first studies on the third link
Among the list of absentees who are waiting, studies on the third link are very high. The wait cannot last long: Prime Minister François Legault promised, during the election campaign, that his government would present the studies at the beginning of 2023. Several questions still remain unanswered, starting with the very relevance of the twin-tube . The waiting time on the Quebec and Pierre-Laporte bridges, during rush hour, remains enviable compared to those observed in most major American cities. Experts and detractors also criticize a tunnel estimated in billions of dollars which, according to them, will promote urban sprawl and the use of the automobile. The CAQ government does not cultivate any ambiguity: regardless of the studies and their results, the project will go ahead.
The Quebec tramway construction site
The construction of the tramway in Quebec should officially start this summer, after a year of postponement, countless uncertainties and, even, a lawsuit. One mystery remains and it is significant: the final invoice. The cost has already jumped by 600 million dollars and is now close to four billion. The City does not hide it: with the economic cocktail that has been raging for several months, the future promises to be difficult and the bill, salty. It is at the end of the first quarter that the City of Quebec must present its business case and update the budget allocated to the tramway. The provincial and federal governments have already promised to disburse to absorb the cost overruns. The population of the capital is not as quick to rally: after a year of efforts by the Marchand administration, popular support for the tram still stagnates at 42%.