Federal, provincial environment ministers 'take stock' of climate challenge

Canada's federal,provincial and territorialenvironment ministers used their first ministerial-level meeting in a decade to "take stock" of the challenge of reducing carbon emissions and bringing the country one step closer to a national strategy to combat climate change.

The closed-door meetingin Ottawa's Old City Hall was chaired by federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. After the meeting, McKenna said more needs to be done to close the gap between where the country is today and where it needs to be in terms of emissions.

"We see this as an opportunity," she said. "We all agree that in the 21stcentury Canada's prosperity must be built on the principle that the economy and the environment go hand in hand."

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Describing the meeting asan opportunityto lay the groundwork for a first ministers meeting in March, McKenna said a number of issues were discussed, including carbon pricing.

"We had crucial discussions on important issues andareas including economic opportunities, means of reducing emissions, carbon pricing and adapting to the effects of climate change," she said.

McKenna said the previous Conservative government had been absent from the climate change table for a decade and in the interimthe provinces had "done a lot" on the file, but it was time for the federal government to catchup.

Speaking in French, Quebec Environment Minister DavidHeurtelsaid he was delighted to see McKenna and Natural Resources Minister James Carr had introduced conditions for pipeline approvals earlier in the week that were similar to the ones Quebec introduced in 2014.

Speaking later on CBC News Network'sPower & Politics,Heurtelquestioned whetherTransCanada, the company seeking to build the Energy East pipeline from Alberta to New Brunswick, was going to be able to meet those conditions.

"TransCanadahas to prove, beyond any doubt, that these conditions that we haveare respected," he said."And right now, as it stands, we haven't seen proof [to]that effect."

"The environmental impacts are shown to be very dangerous," he added. "The security questions aren't answered fully. First Nations aren't involved. If those concerns aren't addressed properly, I don't see how that is in the interest, not only ofQuebecers, but of Canadians."

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Optimistic meeting

Going into the meetings, the mood was upbeat, with Ontario Environment Minister Glen Murray describing it as the most "enthusiastic meeting" hehas been a part of in his 20 years in politics.

"I've never seen such an enthusiastic group of people," Murray said."There was just a cathartic release. We were talking about problems together. We could use the word climate change. The previous governmentpulled the word climate change out of every discussion."

Heurtel said that all the ministers agree that they have no choice but to meet the challenge presented by climate change."In Quebec, we've given ourselves very ambitious targets," he said."Other provinces and territories have given themselves the tools to do it. Now it's time to see how we can together work collaboratively to meet those targets."

Green economy

The Canadian Climate Action Network, a coalition of environmental groups, says the federal and provincial ministers could create a million new jobs with an aggressive green agenda powered by almost $81 billion in government spending over the next five years. And even that staggering outlay doesn't address the wide regional differences presented by different economies within Canada.

"Significant challenges lie ahead for Canada as it works to meet its GHG emission targets and those challenges parallel the ones faced by the international community,"Bootheand co-author FelixBoudreaultsay in the conclusion to their report.

"Finding ways to equitably share the burden of GHG emission reductions and practical mechanisms to allow regional and national economies to transition to a low-carbon world will test the ingenuity and will of political leaders at home and abroad."

Before the meeting, the federal environment minister said there were economic opportunitiesto be found through investment in green technology.

"A Bloomberg report just came out [that]said there's a need for a $12.1-trillion investment in renewable, clean tech. I think Canadian companies want to be part of that solution," McKenna said.

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