An economist explains: Textbook economics is badly flawed when it comes to climate change


Junaid B. Jahangir, MacEwan University
Wed, April 10, 2024 

THE CONVERSATION

The federal carbon tax increase that has raised gas prices by three cents per litre in most Canadian provinces has been met by nationwide protests, many featuring slurs against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Riding on this tide of protest, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called the carbon tax “inhumane,” pushing back against more than 200 economists who signed a letter defending the carbon tax by telling them to come out of their ivory towers.

But economists are hardly infallible experts on the carbon tax and other fiscal measures implemented by governments.

A seasoned politician seizes the opportunity that populist outrage affords them despite their own inconsistencies. Indeed, Smith spoke of the benefits of the carbon tax in 2021.

While the carbon tax increase kicked in, the Alberta fuel tax was hiked by 13 cents the same day. In other words, the carbon tax has been a blessing for Smith as she deflects attention away from her own government’s role in raising gas prices.
Double standards

The carbon tax has come at an opportune moment for me as an economics professor, because I have been teaching about externalities — a cost or benefit that is caused by one entity but financially incurred by another — in intermediate microeconomics. I’ve noted the carbon tax serves as a scapegoat or a punching bag.

For instance, some homeowners have blamed the carbon tax for higher electricity bills in Alberta, ignoring the fact that the carbon tax does not apply to the electricity sector.

When the Alberta government implemented its fuel tax of 13 cents per litre, electricity bill rebates expired and deferred repayments kicked in.

Double standards abound on the carbon tax. While protesters chant “Axe the tax,” they ignore that fossil fuel subsidies cost them more than the carbon tax. This seems to be a common trend in economic issues.

Read more: Fossil fuel subsidies cost Canadians a lot more money than the carbon tax

As another example, businesses complain about the increase in minimum wage but remain quiet about the rising compensation of CEOs and senior management.

In a similar vein, the Alberta government rushes to economists to lend their expertise on critiquing the minimum wage, but spurns them when their views do not fit the desired narrative on the carbon tax.

This is because Economics 101, or what Harvard University Prof. James Kwak terms as “economism,” opposes initiatives like the minimum wage but supports measures like the carbon tax. Both stances are problematic, as I discovered while preparing lesson plans on the minimum wage and climate.
Textbook economics backs carbon tax

As an economics instructor, a key lesson is that the carbon tax is the least costly method to address carbon emissions. In my pedagogical paper on climate change, I refer to McGill University economist Chris Ragan, who states that the carbon tax is more efficient than regulation.

We believe that under emission or technology regulations, there is no incentive to do better than achieving those standards. But the carbon tax incentivizes investment in new technologies to limit the tax payment. Regulations also fail to bring in revenues, whereas the carbon tax facilitates government revenues that can be used to offer rebates to low-income households and reduce other taxes.

Additionally, ending fossil fuel subsidies and imposing the carbon tax are effective since a significant reduction in emissions isn’t going to happen due to consumer actions, like lowering the thermostat or cycling instead of driving. That’s despite the fact that such actions contribute to public morality and facilitate the implementation of government policies on climate change.

Similar to Ragan’s views, University of Alberta economist Andrew Leach advocates for carbon pricing as the best policy to reduce emissions in his book Between Doom and Denial. While the Alberta government milks populist outrage for political advantage, Leach argues that climate change is the single biggest environmental, political and societal challenge of our time.

The limits of textbook economics

Yet there is something awry about the textbook carbon tax approach.

Ian Urquhart, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Alberta, pointed out in 2019 that a $30 per tonne carbon tax in Alberta did not prompt the public to use more public transit.

He argued that Canada would need a $200 per tonne carbon tax by 2030 to reach the target of 30 per cent less emissions than in 2005. The current estimated schedule for carbon tax hike by $15 each year will only lead it to $170 per tonne by 2030.

However, there is a more fundamental issue. The way textbook economics approaches climate change through externalities suggests it’s simply a minor aberration. Economist Kate Raworth points out in her book Doughnut Economics that this approach reduces the issue of climate change to a mere side-effect of production.

Mainstream economics focuses on two production factors — labour and capital. Energy and raw materials are ignored, which means that biophysical or ecological limits are disregarded in the pursuit of growth. According to Australian economist Steve Keen, that approach was embedded within the discipline of economics when Adam Smith shifted the focus on sources of wealth from land/environment to labour in his famous book The Wealth of Nations.

Keen argues that mainstream economics assumes 90 per cent of GDP will be unaffected by climate change. He adds that urgent warnings from climate scientists have been diluted by optimistic estimations by some economists who don’t account for tipping points that lead to catastrophic outcomes. In short, he argues, mainstream economics has been complicit in the existential crisis of climate change.

Other scholars make a similar argument, accusing mainstream economics of fostering dangerous complacency and delay on climate change by suggesting technological progress will address emissions via a profit motive.
Radical solutions

The carbon tax is an important policy tool. But it may be too little too late, necessitating radical solutions beyond the carbon tax.

In this regard, Keen argues that carbon pricing is not enough, calling for carbon rationing. His proposal rests on a universal carbon credit and pricing everything in terms of carbon and money, where the rich would have to buy credits from the poor.

Others call for immediate action on halting material growth. This is because by focusing on the tax-versus-regulation debate and ignoring ecological limits, mainstream economics fails to convey the urgent need to address the climate crisis.

Raworth argues in her book for replenishing living systems through designs like rooftops that grow food, pavements that store storm water to add to aquifers, buildings that sequester carbon and sewage that is turned into soil nutrients.

In essence, economists need to convey a sense of urgency on climate change. This happens by going beyond textbook economics and technical jargon by highlighting the ecological and biophysical limits to growth.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organisation bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Junaid B. Jahangir, MacEwan University

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Fining big polluters can reduce environmental damage, but only if the fines match the crimes

I am not affiliated with any organization. Though, I have in the past done research assistance work for the Parkland Institute.

Halifax judge fines furniture company The Brick $143K after fatal workplace fall

CBC
Wed, April 10, 2024

Martin David was the father of four and a grandfather. (Mark Crosby/CBC - image credit)

A Nova Scotia provincial court judge has handed furniture company The Brick $143,750 in fines related to occupational health and safety violations in the case of a 47-year-old employee and father of four who died following a fall at a Halifax-area store and warehouse.

In her decision Wednesday, Judge Elizabeth Buckle noted Martin David died in hospital two days after he was found in a store washroom, but his family had no idea where he was for 30 hours because nobody from the company told them he'd been taken away by ambulance.

"If The Brick had notified them when Mr. David was taken to hospital, it is possible that they could have been there to comfort him," Buckle said, noting that managers had a "moral obligation" to try to contact his family.

David, a delivery driver for the company, was found by another employee on the floor of a darkened store washroom, vomiting and only semi-coherent, on June 9, 2020. The court heard the co-worker thought David had become ill, and didn't realize he was injured.

The lights were not on because they were on a timer and there was no switch either inside or outside the bathroom. Buckle said the timing of the lights had been rescheduled two months earlier due to store-hour changes in the early days of COVID-19. It meant warehouse employees who worked earlier hours were going to the washroom in the dark, or using flashlights on their phones.

Marty and LaVerne David, the parents of Martin David, are shown Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at Halifax provincial court.

Marty and LaVerne David, the parents of Martin David, are shown Wednesday at Halifax provincial court. (Richard Cuthbertson/CBC)

David's 73-year-old father, Marty David, said the judge's decision was "heartening." He said he is glad the legal process is over, and his faith in God has helped him and his family weather the nearly four years since his son's death.

He noted the vice-president of The Brick apologized to the family during a hearing earlier this year, but said they feel "cheated" by the death and by the fact the company never reached out to tell them Martin David had been taken to hospital. David left behind four children — two of them still young.

"Who's going to be there to nurture them, to help them, to make their lives satisfied and make sure they're doing fine?" Marty David said outside the courtroom. "Financially, these kids have been left without a father, left without money."

During a court hearing earlier this year, Brick vice-president Greg Nakonechny apologized to the David family. The company has instituted a series of changes around lighting and policies, and has done more training for employees on reporting.

The Brick pleaded not guilty to the charges. In September, following a trial, Buckle found the company guilty of three occupational health and safety charges, including two for failing to implement its policies around injury investigation and lighting, and one of failing to ensure the toilet facility was properly illuminated.

The Brick on Chain Lake Drive in Halifax, N.S., June 12, 2020.

The Brick on Chain Lake Drive in Halifax is shown on June 12, 2020. (Robert Short/CBC)

An autopsy later determined David had fractured the back of his skull. The company never reported the incident to the Labour Department, which only learned what had happened days later when David's father called to see if there was an investigation.

The judge found the company guilty of health and safety violations, but also said the Crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the lack of lighting led to David's fall, a ruling that limited the maximum fine the company could face.

The Crown had argued it could be reasonably inferred that the darkness led to David's fall, but Buckle said he could also have fainted in the bathroom following what appeared to be a minor fall five minutes earlier in a loading dock.

Outside the courtroom, Crown prosecutor Alex Keaveny said part of the challenge in proving the link between the darkness and the fall is that The Brick didn't report the accident, which meant investigators weren't able to inspect the washroom before it was cleaned.

For instance, photos of the scene soon after would have shown whether there was water on the floor, which David wouldn't have seen in the dark and could have slipped on.

"I'm not suggesting that they intentionally destroyed evidence, but their negligence led to the destruction of evidence," Keaveny said. "The result, in terms of knowing what happened, is the same."

While The Brick had adequate lighting and investigation policies, Buckle said, none of the employees who testified at trial properly understood them.

In addition to the fines, which must be paid in 60 days, Buckle also ordered The Brick to do four safety presentations.

B.C. labour board to consider union votes at 2 Amazon warehouses

CBC
Wed, April 10, 2024 

Unifor says they believe a

The B.C. Labour Relations Board will consider certifying unions at two Amazon warehouses in a hearing Tuesday.

Unifor, Canada's largest private sector union, began a card-signing drive last summer citing labour laws favourable to unions in the province.

If certified, Unifor says, this would be the first successful unionization effort for Amazon workplaces in Canada.

Unifor western director Gavin McGarrigle said "hundreds and hundreds" of workers in Delta and New Westminster have signed since their campaign began. McGarrigle did not specify what percentage of workers signed, however.

Gavin McGarrigle with Unifor said "hundreds and hundreds" of Amazon workers at the two Lower Mainland warehouses expressed their desire for collective bargaining during the card drive.

Gavin McGarrigle with Unifor said "hundreds and hundreds" of Amazon workers at the two Lower Mainland warehouses expressed their desire for collective bargaining during the card drive. (Martin Diotte/CBC)

"We're not going to tip our hand to Amazon. We'll make those arguments to the labour board," McGarrigle said, explaining the board would contact Amazon to verify employee numbers and compare that to the number of signed cards.

"We believe we've got a strong majority," he said. "We know there are hundreds of workers in both of these warehouses that are just begging for the chance to get to the bargaining table."

Under B.C. labour rules, amended in 2022, if at least 55 per cent of workers in a workplace sign union cards, the union will be automatically certified.

But if the number of workers signing represents 45 to 55 per cent of the workforce, a secret ballot will be called in order to certify the union.

McGarrigle said workers in B.C. have complained of low pay, overwork and dangerous conditions at Amazon.

In Canada, some former Amazon employees have told CBC News that they were fired for trying to organize their colleagues.

In an email, Amazon said employees have always had the choice of whether or not they wish to join a union.

"The fact is, Amazon already offers what many unions are requesting: safe and inclusive workplaces, competitive pay, health benefits on day one, and opportunities for career growth," senior PR manager Barbara M. Agrait wrote.

"We look forward to working with our employees to continue making Amazon a great place to work."

In 2022, workers in New York formed the first American Amazon union.

Unifor applies to represent two Amazon fulfilment centres in Metro Vancouver

The Canadian Press
Wed, April 10, 2024 



VANCOUVER — Unifor has filed two applications to represent Vancouver-area Amazon workers with the B.C. Labour Relations Board.

The union said in a press release Wednesday that it has filed applications for an Amazon fulfilment centre in New Westminster and one in Delta.

"Workers at Amazon are seeking job security, health and safety, and fair wages,” Lana Payne, the union's national president, said in the release.

Unifor first announced a union drive for Amazon workers in Metro Vancouver last July, and says workers began signing cards in October.

When the union drive was announced, Payne said Amazon workers put themselves at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, and joining a union would help them push their employer to improve working conditions.

The drive is part of a wider movement that has been facing an uphill battle.

Two years ago, Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York, voted to unionize, a historic moment for a brand-new Amazon Labor Union.

But today, that warehouse remains the only U.S. site that has voted to unionize, and it doesn’t have a contract yet as the retail giant is resisting efforts to bargain.

“We call on Amazon to respect the wishes of workers and avoid using the legal tricks and games it has played in the past to block unionization,” Unifor western regional director Gavin McGarrigle said in the press release.

Unifor said that the labour relations board will determine whether a vote is needed to certify the applications.

Under B.C. law, if the signed cards represent more than 55 per cent of the eligible workforce at a facility, union certification is granted and the union and employer can begin bargaining a collective agreement.

If the cards represent at least 45 per cent of the eligible workforce, a vote may be called instead.

A spokeswoman for Amazon said the company looks forward to working with employees to "continue making Amazon a great place to work."

"The fact is, Amazon already offers what many unions are requesting: safe and inclusive workplaces, competitive pay, health benefits on day one, and opportunities for career growth," spokeswoman Barbara Agrait said in an email.

-- With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press

Municipal-federal deals to face provincial oversight under proposed Alberta law

UCP STATISM DESTROYS INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY WITH MORE AMERIKAN STYLE POLITICKS

CBC
Wed, April 10, 2024 

Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at a news conference Wednesday detailing the Provincial Priorities Act. (Emilio Avalos/Radio Canada - image credit)

Any agreement between the federal government and an Alberta town, school board, university or other provincial entity will need to be vetted by the provincial government, should the legislature pass a new bill.

The Provincial Priorities Act was tabled in the legislature Wednesday by Premier Danielle Smith. It is framed as a step to prevent federal interference with the Alberta government's priorities.

"We need to change the relationship with the federal government because they are doing an end run around us," Smith said at an embargoed news conference Wednesday.

Just how many agreements could be affected, how long it would take the province to review each agreement, and what kind of agreements would be exempted, provincial officials said they have not yet decided. They said the law is not intended to block minor agreements, such as a grant for festival fireworks, or leasing a tiny parcel of land for a Canada Post mailbox.

Smith said government officials have tallied about 14,000 existing agreements between the federal government and provincial entities. Around 800 of those were "flagged as problematic."

The Act, modelled after a similar law in Quebec, would mean the Alberta government be involved any time a provincial entity wants to create, amend, extend or renew an agreement with the feds.

School boards, post-secondary institutions, health authorities, municipalities, Crown corporations, and provincial management bodies would all have to follow a new provincial approval process, and failure to do that would make any agreement with the federal government void, the bill says.

Once the law is passed, the province would consult with these entities to decide the best way to organize the review process and set exemptions for funding agreements that would not require the province's approval. The government has ballparked early 2025 for the law to take effect.

Quebec's law does not apply to post-secondary institutions. Smith said those agreements also require provincial oversight in Alberta because the federal government is making political decisions about which research projects to fund.

"That they fund in a certain way, based on a certain ideology, and that's what we're going to be able to determine once that becomes a lot more transparent," Smith said.

The premier said she is most concerned with the federal government clashing with provincial priorities by imposing green standards on new housing construction, a 2035 goal for a net-zero electricity grid and the provision of a safe supply of opioids for people with profound addictions.

In a background briefing, Alberta officials said they have no consequences in mind for entities that would thwart such a provincial law, but hope that a law would deter the federal government from proposing agreements without provincial involvement.

Smith and Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said if passed, the law would help the province's municipalities get a "fair share" of federal funding by participating in negotiations, and distributing money equitably across Alberta.

Smith pointed to federal housing funding agreements she alleges are being disproportionately spent across Canada. She said the federal government is politically meddling with communities by requiring them to change zoning bylaws as a condition for the provincial government to receive new federal infrastructure funding.

Smith also took aim at federal dental care and pharmacare programs, saying they were launched without checking what programs the provinces already offered.

Edmonton mayor worries bill could hinder partnerships

Edmonton MP and federal Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault said in Ottawa Wednesday that Quebec's provincial involvement law slows down agreements, adds bureaucracy and keeps money out of communities.

"Roadblocks and obstacles getting in the way of that funding is only going to hurt Albertans," Boissonnault said.

He said the federal government won't wait for provincial governments to tackle pressing issues Canadians want addressed.

Commenting hours before the bill was tabled, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said such legislation could hinder federal-civic partnerships like a rapid housing initiative that enabled the construction of nearly 600 supportive housing units in the city.

Sohi said he is baffled by laws that treat cities as the province's children that "need to be controlled or managed," when big cities have become critical to economic development and vibrancy.

Critics say bill is politics, not advocacy for Albertans

NDP leader Rachel Notley said the bill, if passed, would wrap municipalities, health authorities and post-secondary institutions in "a spool of red tape" as they seek federal grants to make up for shortfalls in provincial funding.

"This is really nothing more than a partisan, petulant temper tantrum on the part of this premier," Notley said, pointing to the looming spectre of a federal election.

"It will not secure any change to funding arrangements or how they're done."

Nathan Gross/CBC

Notley said the United Conservative Party government's record of reaching deals that benefit Alberta is abysmal because Smith refuses to advocate and negotiate. The legislation will hurt Albertans when they pay more municipal taxes to make up federal funding snared by this new bureaucratic wrangling, she said.

Eric Adams, a University of Alberta constitutional law professor, said the federal government is under increasing political pressure to address Canadians' affordability challenges, and making funding deals with cities has become an easier way to do it.

"Right now we've got provinces that aren't interested in helping the Trudeau Liberals get any more political victories," Adams said.

The legislation could give rise to a new legal challenge about whether provinces have the right to stand in the way of funding agreements between federal and municipal governments, Adams said.

Lisa Young, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, says the bill goes further than the government was suggesting, by including entities beyond municipalities.

She says there is "bluster" in the province's claim it can drive harder bargains with the federal government than a university or a city government.

It's an "open question" whether Quebec is perceived to get better federal deals because of its funding involvement law, or because of the province's political importance to federal governments, she said.

Smith's suggestion of the province potentially meddling in peer-reviewed research grant decisions from federal agencies will greatly concern Alberta academics and granting agencies, Young said.

"If it did get actively involved in determining what could or could not be funded, it would be a devastating blow to the research institutions in the province," Young said.

Health minister compares dentists' 'fears' on dental-care program to Medicare rollout


The Canadian Press
Wed, April 10, 2024 

OTTAWA — Dentists cannot participate in a national dental-care plan unless they know exactly how it will work, Heather Carr, president of the Canadian Dental Association, said Wednesday.

The federal health minister compared their fears to those prompted by the launch of national medicare in the 1960s.

Carr, whose organization represents provincial and territorial dental associations, said the federal program needs to get it right before registered seniors can start using it next month.

"We need to know what we're agreeing to and what we'll be able to do for the patients in order to care for them," said Carr.

"I feel that we need to get it right from the beginning."

The program, a key pledge in the Liberals' political pact with the NDP, is expected to provide dental coverage to uninsured families who earn a household income of under $90,000.

Registration has been rolled out in phases, and eligible seniors 65 and older are expected to begin receiving coverage.

The Liberals are facing criticism for the program, expected to cost $13 billion over five years, in part because of the slow uptake of oral care providers.

Health Minister Mark Holland insisted on Wednesday that the government is working to address dentists' concerns by making it easier to participate without having to officially enrol, and expects to see "huge participation."

"We're making it a lot easier for them (to) participate and we're having ongoing conversation and there's a negotiation, obviously," he told reporters on Parliament Hill, adding "thousands" have already signed up.

He likened this period of negotiation to the growing pains of setting up national medicare decades ago.

"It's reminiscent of some of the struggles that you had at the beginning of ensuring that everybody had medical care," Holland said.

"If you remember back in the 1960s, there were a lot of questions and concerns and fears that doctors had about expanding that coverage. And so anytime you're expanding coverage and creating something new, there's going to be some challenges."

Many dentists do not feel they have enough information at this point to sign up, said Carr, a practising dentist for 36 years.

The fact that they need to sign up in the first place is something oral care providers are not used to, she added, as dentists are used to dealing directly with patients.

If a dentist wants to wait for more information before signing up, they could lose patients, said Carr.

"Your existing patient may not be able to see you anymore because there is no provision," she said, calling the overall design of the program "much more complicated than necessary."

Groups representing dentists and hygienists have raised concerns about Ottawa's pay structure, saying the proposed fees are lower than what patients are currently being billed.

Dental associations have warned that some of their members are hesitant to participate in the program, citing billing concerns.

And in the meantime, patients are being told the dental-care program is completely free, Carr said, even though there could be "out-of-pocket expenses" in some cases.

"But we're not able to be clear about it," she said.

Holland has characterized the proposed fees as "fair," but Dr. Carl Tremblay, president of Quebec's association of dental surgeons, sees it differently.

The minister is essentially asking his members to "subsidize" the federal program by offering reduced rates to people who are eligible, Tremblay said.

Ottawa is "basically asking us for charity," he said, vowing to "continue to charge our regular rates" and rejecting the notion they are trying to negotiate their rates with the federal government.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has not yet taken a public position on the program; his office has not yet responded to a media inquiry.

Holland said Nova Scotia MP and Conservative health critic Stephen Ellis has so far refused to meet to discuss the program.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2024.

Stephanie Taylor and Michel Saba, The Canadian Press

B.C.'s spring snowpack is the lowest on record


CBC
Wed, April 10, 2024 

Extended drought has resulted in extremely low water levels at the confluence of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers near Prince George, B.C. (Andrew Kurjata/CBC - image credit) British Columbia's snowpack is the lowest it's been at this time of year since records started being kept in 1970, and those conditions could exacerbate a provincewide drought, according to the latest bulletin from the B.C. River Forecast Centre (BCRFC).

As of April 1, the provincial snowpack was 63 per cent of normal, with warming seasonal temperatures slowing snow accumulation. At this time last year, the snowpack measured 88 per cent of normal.

"Low snowpack and seasonal runoff forecasts, combined with warm seasonal weather forecasts and lingering impacts from ongoing drought, are creating significantly elevated drought hazards for this upcoming spring and summer," the snow and water supply report said.

The areas of biggest concern are the Chilcotin, Skeena-Nass, Upper Fraser East and Quesnel regions.

Approximately 95 per cent of the annual snowpack is typically already on the ground at this time of year.

The report said dry conditions continued across most of the province through March, including several locations in the northern and Interior regions of the province that measured near-record low precipitation.

Vancouver Island was the only area that saw a normal amount of precipitation in March, it said.

Increased risk of wildfire

Lori Daniels, a University of B.C. forestry professor and chair of the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, said the report is pointing to a long, dry fire season ahead.

"We know that we're in a multi-year drought so these are places that already had low precipitation last summer, where we had big fires as a result," said Daniels.

"We went right through the fall with low rainfall, not enough snow through the winter, which means that our forests are already dry and are going to be vulnerable to fire this summer."

Lori Daniels, UBC professor of forest ecology, is pictured in her back yard in North Vancouver on Monday, August 30, 2021. UBC forestry professor Lori Daniels says that the snowpack report points to a long, dry summer ahead. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

BCRFC hydrologist Jonathon Boyd said it is possible the snowpack could increase into May if it is a cold or wet spring, adding that the "silver lining" is that flooding risk is lower for areas that consistently flood.

However, he says it is still possible for sudden or extreme rainfall or persistent heavy rain to cause flooding "especially in smaller- or medium-sized rivers in the Interior."

"We'll see what happens over the next maybe three to four weeks in terms of temperatures," he said during a news conference Wednesday. "Ideally, what we'd like ... is seasonal temperatures with a little bit of precipitation."

B.C. doesn't know where all its groundwater is going. Experts worry as drought looms

The Canadian Press
Wed, April 10, 2024 


VANCOUVER — Growing up on a ranch in the Columbia River Valley, water has always been part of Kat Hartwig's life, and over the years, she's noticed changes.

Marshy areas her family used for irrigation or watering cattle are dry, wetlands are becoming "crunchy" rather than spongy underfoot, and snowmelt is disappearing more quickly each spring, ushering in the dry summer months, Hartwig says.

Climate science supports her observations, showing that global heating is causing warmer temperatures and increasingly severe droughts in British Columbia.

Hartwig, who advocates for better water policy, and others say drought is exposing cracks in how the province manages water.

Officials don't always know who is using groundwater, how much they're using, or where they're drawing it from, experts say. There are gaps in mapping and other data that officials need to effectively manage water during times of scarcity.

The province doesn't keep track of exact usage by most groundwater licence holders, the Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship confirmed. Rather, the licence sets the maximum amount of water each user can extract.

That's the case for both domestic and some commercial users,including companies in the forestry, mining, and agricultural sectors, the ministry says.

At the same time, about two-thirds of pre-existing users have yet to even apply for licences since B.C. first began regulating groundwater in 2016.

The B.C. Energy Regulator publishes quarterly water-use reports for the oil and gas sector, and some other licensees may be required to report how much they use. Groundwater users may also be asked to complete a "beneficial use" declaration to show they're meeting licence terms.

But it's an incomplete picture of water use throughout the province at a time when signs point to deepening drought.

Hartwig, as well as Oliver Brandes, a water policy expert at the University of Victoria, and hydrogeologist Mike Wei, who retired from working for the province in 2018, say B.C. lacks sufficient mapping and details on groundwater sources.

B.C.'s minister for land, water and resource stewardship, Nathan Cullen, says drought wasn't always front of mind for B.C. governments and the public.

"If there were worries (about) water, historically, there was often too much, right?"

Cullen's fledgling ministry is now tasked with catching up to today's climate reality and delivering the province's watershed security strategy, expected sometime this year.

An intentions paper shows priority areas include enhancing monitoring and addressing data gaps.

The B.C.-First Nations Water Table is co-developing the strategy, and Cullen says the province is working to establish additional community-based groups this spring.

Many of those tables involve members of the agricultural sector, he says, pointing to the recent announcement of $80 million in additional funding for the province's agricultural water infrastructure program to help farmers weather times of drought.

"The scope and scale of the challenges is real to my mind," Cullen says.

But "standing up what may be dozens and dozens of these community water tables in short order ... is very much in the government's interest," he says.

"This costs us one way or the other," the minister adds. "Better water management is a lot cheaper than the management of crisis, similar to forest fire mitigation."

As executive director of Living Lakes Canada, Hartwig works to build capacity for community-based water monitoring and fill the gaps in provincial data.

"We're also helping to educate and build a water-literate constituency, so people understand that groundwater is a treasure and not to be wasted," she says.

There were just two groundwater observation wells in the Columbia Basin when Living Lakes began monitoring in 2017, she says. Today, there are more than 30. Last year they registered some of the lowest water levels, Hartwig adds.

In 2021, Living Lakes launched an open-access hub to bring water-related data from the Columbia region together in one place from sources including local governments, First Nations, community groups and the private sector.

But the experts say it's just scratching the surface of what's needed.

'HALF A CENTURY OF NEGLECT'

B.C. has regulated surface water for more than a century, but before the Water Sustainability Act came into force in 2016, that wasn't the case for groundwater, says Wei, who helped the province develop the legislation.

Before 2016, he says, landowners could drill next to a stream and pump groundwater, potentially depleting surface water, without provincial knowledge.

That's changing, but Wei says B.C. is "dealing with half a century of neglect."

He says B.C. has mapped 1,200 aquifers with about 240 observation wells, most on the South Coast and in the southern Interior.

But much of the mapping is "rudimentary" and monitoring infrastructure inadequate, Wei says. It often doesn't tell officials how much water is being used, which direction it's flowing, and what the sustainable supply from an aquifer might be.

Cullen says he "always (wants) more data," and the province is expanding monitoring sites.

"I think increasingly, there's an understanding from water users and the general public that we're into an era where we're going to have to be a lot more precise and inclusive when we make decisions around water, especially groundwater use."

B.C. has been working to bring people who use groundwater into the licensing system introduced with the 2016 legislation. The province offered existing users a six-year transition period to obtain a licence with the date recognizing their first use of the groundwater.

The date is crucial because licences showing newer usage are the first to be cut off during water scarcity under the "first in time, first in right" system, says Brandes,who leads the POLIS Water Sustainability Project at the University of Victoria.

Yet the province received just 7,700 applications from some 20,000 existing non-domestic users by the time the transition ended.

Those who didn't register may face a "rude awakening," Brandes says.

"In a few places, there is basically not enough water," he says. "The people who ... weren't signed up in the transition period are going to be in a tough spot."

They can still apply for a licence moving forward, but it would no longer reflect when they first began using groundwater, Brandes says.

Cullen says sign-ups came in "dramatically" below what officials had hoped for and what the province needs to manage water.

"It's difficult to manage if you're not properly measuring," the minister says.

"We're trying to broadly understand the resistance to people getting licensed and to lower (it)," he says, adding things are "trending in the right direction."

"We're understanding the full actual nature of it in a much better way than we did, say, five years ago," he says.

But Brandes says the slow progress and general lack of "vital signs" about water in B.C. led to a "disaster" last summer, when critically low flows in several waterways prompted the province to issue fish protection orders that restricted the irrigation of forage crops in parts of the southern Interior.

The orders cut off several hundred surface and groundwater users and some ranchers resorted to selling livestock as they grappled with the shortage of feed.

Brandes says the province's handling of the situation contributed to uncertainty, social conflict, and a loss of public trust.

Wei, too, says the orders lacked transparency. "People didn't know why they were being shut off. Science wasn't necessarily getting out there."

He says a lack of proactive investment in understanding water and building capacity to respond to drought leads to "scrambling" in the face of urgent situations, and scrambling is costly, financially and democratically.

"When you don't have information, it's not transparent, you erode public confidence in what you, the administrator for the resource, can do." he says.

"And when you start eroding it, you're eroding your democratic foundation."

The conversation in the Interior last summer "went badly," Cullen says, adding that restrictions are "the last thing" the government wants.

"Coming together is the path forward, and that's what we're doing. That's why we're having those conversations in 20-plus communities already."

Hartwig says the work in the Columbia Basin serves as a template and underscores the importance of community-led water monitoring and governance.

The project has uncovered streams that were "over-allocated" with licences, she says, as well as dry areas where government maps indicated high-elevation wetlands.

Yet she says three dozen community-based groups in the Columbia region have been forced to stop their work due to funding cuts in recent years.

"We have a huge amount of attrition of these small, volunteer-based water monitoring groups who are very concerned about their own watersheds," she says.

"We need those boots on the ground. We need that level of water literacy, and we need them to participate in civil society, right? We can't have that eroded.

"And that's not being fortified by the province."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2024.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

Canada at risk of another devastating wildfire season, federal government warns

Officials say forecast of dry, warm weather increases likelihood of fires in coming months


CBC
Wed, April 10, 2024 

The federal government says Canada is at risk of another devastating wildfire season, after an unusually warm winter, widespread drought conditions and a forecast of above-normal temperatures in the months ahead.

Officials said during a technical briefing Wednesday that more dry, hot weather is expected this spring and summer, putting much of the country at greater risk of wildfires.

Much of the country, including southern Quebec, eastern Ontario and western Canada, faces early and higher than usual fire risk in April. Risks extend into May and through the summer, though officials stressed much depends on the level of precipitation during this period.

"It is impossible to predict the summer that lies ahead of us, but what is clear is that wildfires will represent a significant challenge for Canada into the future as the impacts of climate change continue to intensify. And the costs to Canadians are growing every single year," said Harjit Sajjan, the federal government's minister of emergency preparedness.

Source: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. (Graeme Bruce/CBC)

Drought conditions, lower than usual snowpack

Last year was Canada's worst wildfire season on record, based on a number of metrics, including the total area burned.

The winter months did not bring much relief.

Already, more than 70 fires are burning, primarily in northern British Columbia, northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories, officials said.

What we can learn from Canada's record wildfire season, as a new one approaches


Spring is here — after Canada's warmest winter on record

Many of those are holdover fires that have been smouldering since last season.

Dry conditions and unusually low levels of snowpack across much of the country have made the landscape more susceptible to wildfire, officials said.

A map of the current drought situation from Agriculture Canada shows that much of the country is experiencing "abnormally dry" conditions.


The worst conditions — exceptional and extreme drought conditions — are in parts of southern Alberta, central and northern B.C. and southern N.W.T.

Canada experienced its warmest winter on record — with the three months of December to February being 5.2 C warmer than the norm since Canada began keeping records in 1948, according to David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Resources under strain

Last year's wildfires put a strain on resources. In total, 5,500 firefighters from outside Canada were brought in to help with the fires.

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he is in talks with other countries to better share resources to fight wildfires.

The federal government also announced it plans to double the tax credit available to volunteer firefighters and search-and-rescue volunteers in the upcoming budget. The government said the move targets rural communities, where firefighters are most often volunteers and they are confronting increasingly more frequent wildfires due to climate change.

The tax credit will increase from $3,000 to $6,000 for 2024 and subsequent tax years, saving volunteer firefighters up to $900 per year.

Review of Yellowhead County wildfire response calls for more planning, provincial support


CBC
Wed, April 10, 2024

An out-of-control wildfire burned near the hamlet of Evansburg, in west-central Alberta in May 2023. Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes.

 (Name withheld by request - image credit)

If every firefighter in Alberta had been working in Yellowhead County during the height of the 2023 wildfires, it still wouldn't have been enough to manage the threat to homes and communities.

That's one of the observations reported as part of a third-party independent review of the emergency response to flooding and unprecedented wildfires that plagued the west-central Alberta county last spring.

The 79-page report by consultancy company 9Zero Solutions was published by the county last month.

It makes dozens of recommendations related to everything from the operational and emergency management and response to social services, the role of the province and Alberta Wildfire to mental health and community education and communication.

The county, composed of hundreds of farms and rural communities, has a population of about 10,400 spread across more than 22,000 square kilometres.

Of the 719 county residents who responded to the report authors' survey, 678 were under an evacuation order at least once during spring 2023. Of those, 220 chose not to evacuate.

"[The county] is philosophically inclined to less government and more grass roots initiatives. Many residents expressed their choice to live in the community was based on this freedom. This created a situation where many felt resentment towards officials for being told what to do," the report states.

Yellowhead County Fire Department has set up large sprinklers, drawing water from the Lobstick River. The sprinklers are being placed around the community of Wildwood, Alta. to create a humidity bubble as protection if the fire nears the hamlet

As wildfires burned in west central Alberta in May 2023, Yellowhead County Fire Department set up large sprinklers around the community of Wildwood, Alta., to create a humidity bubble as protection. (Kory Siegers/CBC)

The report found that in addition to many residents being unwilling to abandon their livestock, evacuation efforts were also stymied by unclear information about evacuation boundaries and where people were supposed to go, as well as time challenges and a lack of trust that properties would be adequately protected.

As the wildfires raged on, the report found that county staff and local fire crews were overwhelmed and unable to keep up.

"We were stretched so thin throughout the fires, and then we went right on into the flooding . . . we were under state and local emergency for I think 63 or 64 days," Yellowhead County Mayor Wade Williams said in an interview late last month.

The report recommends the county train all staff to take on emergency response roles, that they recruit more volunteers to the county fire department, and that emergency plans and strategies be developed.

Williams said county council and staff are still reviewing the report and considering what changes do and don't make sense to implement.

Still, he believes county staff went above and beyond in the midst of a challenging and evolving emergency.

"You don't know where fires are going to start and what areas are going to be jeopardized. So it's really tough to be proactive," he said.

A person stands on top of truck surrounded by floodwaters. Yellowhead County has declared a state of local emergency following days of heavy rain.

A person stands on top of truck surrounded by floodwaters in June 2023. At the time, Yellowhead County had declared a state of local emergency following days of heavy rain. (Yellowhead County/Facebook)

As of late March, Williams said the county had already held 13 FireSmart sessions for residents so far this year, and has developed a system for farmers to register equipment that can be used to help with firefighting efforts in the future, such as using farm equipment to create fire breaks in fields.

Other issues, including how to manage evacuations of potentially thousands of cattle have yet to be tackled, Williams said.

Call for provincial action

Many of the report's findings dealt with provincial responsibilities.

Among the many recommendations related to Alberta Wildfire was a call for the agency to act more like an emergency response organization and to modernize and start sharing fire maps with the public so that residents can have better, more accurate information.

There was also a call for Alberta Wildfire to offer more leadership and resources to local authorities.

The report notes that Yellowhead County Fire Department (YCFD) was unable to deal with demands in areas that are designated as the county's responsibility – known as white zones – because they fall outside provincial forested protection areas – known as green zones.

Further complicating the division of responsibility is that local authorities are also responsible for protecting structures within green zones.

Meanwhile, Alberta Wildfire's resources were also strained as the agency was responding to competing demands as other fires burned across the province.

"With the number, size and complexity of the 2023 wildfire incidents, YCFD coverage was naturally spread unbearably thin," the report states.

"In a disaster that inherently overwhelms local systems and resources, there is a pressing need for comprehensive local, regional, provincial, and national strategies plus resources to support local disasters."

A school bus in Yellowhead County, near the hamlet of Wildwood, was completely destroyed by fire.

A school bus in Yellowhead County, near the hamlet of Wildwood, was completely destroyed by fire in May 2023. (Danielle Benard/Radio-Canada)

In an emailed statement, Pam Davidson, spokesperson for Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen, declined to comment on the report, and instead pointed to investments in wildfire resources in the 2024 budget.

"Alberta's government provides aid through many mutual aid agreements in place, allowing us to support wildfire operations with specialized equipment, but it's crucial that municipalities ensure they have the capacity to protect structures and measure to fight wildfires in the white area," Davidson said.

The report also recommends that the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) loosen the reins it has on its Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) program – specialized training for dealing with fires where urban areas intersect with natural areas – making it more accessible to both Alberta Wildfire and local authorities.

The authors recommend WUI training opportunities be offered aggressively and widely across the province.

"The program has been criticized as being exclusive, with training only available to a small, select group of individuals, which does not allow the local responders or community members to take advantage of the education," the report states.

Arthur Green, spokesperson for Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis, says the AEMA is aware of the report and is considering its feedback.

He said they are adding additional WUI instructors and improving access to training.

"We are committed to making sure the WUI program is responsive to the needs of municipalities and are collaborating with our partners to administer the program in a way that is transparent, evidence-based, and follows best practices."

Wildland firefighters' respiratory health to be studied by UBC


CBC
Thu, April 11, 2024

BC Wildfire Service firefighters in Pemberton B.C. undergoing physical testing for researchers to collect pre-season data related to health and physiology. (Gian Paolo Mendoza/CBC - image credit)

After more than a decade of combating smoky wildfires in British Columbia, Kyler Gaulin says being on the front line has taken a toll on his body.

"It's a job we love ... but I notice, at the end of the season, my lungs are definitely not nearly as strong as at the start," the Pemberton, B.C., wildfire fighter said.

"We're working in a lot of very fine dust, a lot of smoke, a lot of ash."

In recent years devastating fires have burned in all corners of the province as thousands of firefighters inhale wildfire smoke with little protection. But new research aims to shed light on how those conditions are impacting firefighters' respiratory health.

A recruit works as part of an initial attack team tasked with containing and extinguishing an intentionally lit fire in a forest near Merrit on Thursday during a training exercise.

A recruit works to contain and put out a fire near Merritt, B.C., during a training exercise. Though hard hats and other gear are standard for wildfire fighters, respiratory protection is not. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

The B.C. Wildfire Services (BCWS), in collaboration with the University of British Columbia, is embarking on what they're considering "groundbreaking" research, looking at the respiratory health of wildland firefighters.

"We don't know a lot about how their vessels are reacting or not reacting to wildfire smoke," said Madden Brewster, postdoctoral research fellow at UBC's Okanagan campus.

Researchers will track firefighters' cardiorespiratory systems over the next two years collecting data before, during and after the fire season — something Brewster says "hasn't really been done before."

Many use nothing except bandanas to cover their noses and mouths, according to occupational hygienist Drew Lichty.

He says wildfire smoke contains a hazardous mixture of gases, pollutants and pieces of debris that are invisible to the naked eye.

"[Some] refer to it as a toxic soup of chemicals."

Such microscopic particles — which can be narrower than a strand of human hair — can find their way into the lungs and bloodstream, Lichty says.

WATCH | Researchers monitoring firefighter health through fire season:

In June 2022, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified firefighting as a known human carcinogen, stating firefighters have a 14 per cent higher risk of dying from cancer than the general public. In Canada, more than 85 per cent of firefighter fatality claims are attributed to cancer.

Even amid mounting evidence that breathing smoke can cause deadly diseases, Lichty says right now, there's little to no research of the effects of wildfire smoke on the long-term health of wildland firefighters.

As the 2024 fire season begins, researchers are taking firefighters' blood samples and carrying out lung function tests to determine baseline measurements.

Wildland firefighter Emily Bennington wears an assortment of devices that will be used to collect data related to firefighter health and physiology this upcoming fire season in B.C.

Wildland firefighter Emily Bennington wears an assortment of devices that will be used to collect data related to firefighter health and physiology this upcoming fire season in B.C. (Gian Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

As the season progresses, Pemberton's wildland firefighters will be sent out into the fray equipped with air quality monitoring devices like gas detectors, which will measure carbon monoxide and air sampling pumps to detect particulates.

Gaulin, who is one of the research participants, says an in-depth look into the health of wildland firefighters is long overdue.

"These studies are super important obviously ... unfortunately, it's taken a couple busy years to get recognition of how serious the wildfires are becoming," he said.

Respiratory masks

As part of UBC's research, BCWS is also testing some masks, including multiple models of half-face dual cartridge respirators, which would enhance breathability and filter harmful particulates and gases.

Emily Bennington, a second-year initial attack firefighter, said the masks were "constrictive.

"I see the benefit of it, but I think practically, I would find it hard to work with."

Mike McCulley, procurement officer at BCWS, says finding the perfect mask for a wildland firefighter is tricky.

"If you picture a firefighter fighting a structure fire in a house, they have the luxury of being able to [carry] large masks, oxygen tanks. That's not the reality for wildland firefighters," he said, noting that they often work in difficult terrain.

"We are trying to make sure we're using the best [equipment]."

He says BCWS is procuring enough masks to outfit more than 1,600 firefighters it has employed this year, but they aren't mandatory.


The federal government says Canada is at risk of another devastating wildfire season, after an unusually warm winter. More than 70 fires are already burning across the country, primarily in northern B.C., northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories, officials said.

In the meantime, wildland firefighters Gaulin and Bennington hope the ongoing research will soon provide them with necessary insights to confront the unseen enemy threatening their heath and livelihood.

"I'm definitely excited to see how my health changes over a season, and my coworkers as well," Bennington said. "That would be very useful information to have."

‘Very, very bullish’: Trans Mountain to shift pricing power to Canada's oil and gas producers


Jeff Lagerquist
Updated Thu, April 11, 2024 

Workers place pipe during construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck (The Canadian Press)

Whether it’s the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion set to begin commercial service on May 1, or the large-scale LNG export facility nearing completion on the West Coast, Canada's oil and gas executives are eyeing higher prices spurred by the first new major take-away capacity in over a decade. That has stock analysts calling for shares to push higher as producers look to new foreign markets.

The improving egress picture in Western Canada was a hot topic at this week’s BMO Capital Markets CAPP (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers) Energy Symposium in Toronto. Randy Ollenberger, one of the bank’s top oil and gas equity analysts, called the long-awaited projects “very, very bullish for the sector.”

“We’re in the midst of something we haven’t seen for a long time in Canada, and that’s the expansion of pipeline capacity. This includes LNG capacity off the West Coast. We haven’t had that for over a decade,” he told conference attendees on Tuesday.

“[Companies are] on the cusp of delivering significant amounts of surplus cash flow to shareholders. When it arrives in shareholders' pockets, it will start to positively influence the valuation of the sector,” he added. “We don’t think it’s being fully appreciated by investors in the space.”

Moving oil and gas out of Western Canada via pipeline to overseas markets has been an elusive goal for the industry, which relies on exports to the United States.

Canadian crude trades at a discount to the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) due to its heavier grade and transportation costs. In 2018, Alberta’s government temporarily limited oil production in the province when that price gap fell to more than US$40 per barrel due to scarce takeaway capacity.

Flash forward to 2024, when TD Bank says Canada could set a global record for production increases. Ollenberger forecasts international demand for oil is growing at the fastest clip in 13 years.

“If we don’t have that excess capacity going, we’d be putting stuff on rails. We’d be back to that circus we had a few years back where we just couldn’t move product,” Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO) CEO Brian Schmidt told Yahoo Finance Canada on the sidelines of the conference. “You have to think, what would it be like without it.”

NuVista Energy (NVA.TO) CEO Jonathan Wright says two-thirds of his company’s cash flows come from producing condensate, a light oil used to blend with heavy crude so it can be pumped down pipelines. NuVista’s surging stock has ranked the Calgary-based company among the top performers in the TSX 30 over three years.

“Seeing these projects coming to fruition is starting to have a sentiment change for U.S. investors,” Wright told Yahoo Finance Canada. “More heavy oil production going down TMX, and other pipelines, means more demand for our product.”

Chris Carlsen, CEO of natural gas-weighted producer Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), is eagerly anticipating the startup of the LNG Canada export project in Kitimat, B.C., which he says will begin taking gas later this year. An unhedged strategy recently left his company exposed to plunging prices, prompting a dividend cut, which recently drove Toronto-listed shares lower.

Carlsen says LNG Canada will absorb a “quite substantial” chunk of natural gas production in Canada. For Birchcliff, he says that means accessing higher “world pricing” for its product.

On the oil side, Ollenberger says more pipeline capacity shifts pricing power from refiners to producers.

“Producers are competing against one another to sell their oil,” he said. “We think that’s going to change to an environment where refiners are competing to buy Canadian heavy oil.”

Space startups see funding surge as government spending remains high, report says


Akash Sriram and Jaspreet Singh
Thu, April 11, 2024 

(Reuters) -Funding for space startups more than doubled in the first quarter as government spending remained robust setting the stage for the space economy to grow stronger, venture capital firm Space Capital said on Thursday.

Geopolitical uncertainties have largely driven the surge in funding, as geospatial data and images collected by satellites are used by government agencies for everything from analyzing weather patterns and agriculture to changes and movements along international borders.

"While we still have some consolidation to get through, the overall space economy is rebounding and it is now replete with a number of rising stars," said Chad Anderson, the venture capital firm's managing partner.

Funding for space startups rose to $6.5 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, from $2.9 billion a year earlier, and inflows were up 33% from the fourth quarter, as investment in geospatial intelligence overtook satellite communications for the first time, showing the growing demand for such data.

Meanwhile, pricing for satellite capacity has also fallen helping attract companies to use assets in space for commercial purposes.

The first quarter saw many milestones including SpaceX's successful Starship flight test to United Launch Alliance's launch of Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines' mission, which was the first touchdown on the lunar surface by a U.S. spacecraft in more than half a century.

The space economy's size is set to triple to $1.8 trillion by 2035 and roughly rival the size and reach of the global semiconductor industry, according to a World Economic Forum report released earlier this week.

This underscores the potential impact on investors, businesses, and government entities, who stand to gain significantly from the growth of the space sector.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)