Description
Book SynopsisWhy has Canada been unable to achieve any of its climate-change targets? Part of the reason is that emissions in two provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan already about half the Canadian total when taken together have been steadily increasing as a result of expanding oil and gas production. Declining emissions in other provinces, such as Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, have been cancelled out by those western increases. The ultimate explanation for Canadian failure lies in the differing energy interests of the western and eastern provinces, overlaid on the confederation fault-line of western alienation. Climate, energy, and national unity form a toxic mix.
How can Ottawa possibly get all the provinces moving in the same direction of decreasing emissions? To answer this question, Douglas Macdonald explores the five attempts to date to put in place coordinated national policy in the fields of energy and climate change from Pierre Trudeau’s ill-fated Nat
Trade Review
"Macdonald has written a book of transcendent importance for the development of a genuinely effective climate change plan. His formulation of negotiating scenarios, in particular, offers a constructive path forward, one that moves away from federal-provincial stalemates and the easy agreements that avoid actual solutions. And his masterful grasp of Canada's so far lame efforts in this arena is a major contribution to understanding where we have been and where we must go." -- Geoff White * Literary Review of Canada *
Table of Contents
A Parable of West and East 1. Introduction 1.1 Subject 1.2 Purpose 1.3 Methodology 1.4 Theoretical approach 1.5 Format 2. Energy and climate change intergovernmental relations 2.1 Historical evolution of Canadian intergovernmental relations 2.2 Mechanisms of Canadian intergovernmental relations 2.3 A flawed policy making process 2.4 Intergovernmental policy co-ordination 2.5 Energy and climate change jurisdiction 2.6 Energy and climate-change policy co-ordination 2.7 Federal government energy and climate-change strategy 3. Historical overview: Canadian energy and climate politics 3.1 Energy policy 1867 to 1989 3.2 National climate change policy in the 1990s 3.3 The Martin government 3.4 Public opinion on climate change 3.5 The Harper government 3.6 Provincial climate change policies 3.7 Energy policy 1989 to 2019 3.8 The Justin Trudeau government 3.9 Summary 4. Three underlying challenges 4.1 The West-East divide . Differing fossil fuel energy interests . Differing interests respecting climate change policy . Alberta's planned emission increases undercut reductions elsewhere . Western alienation 4.2 The inherent need to allocate greenhouse gas emission reductions 4.3 The weak intergovernmental process 5. Canadian national energy policy, 1973 - 1981 5.1 Narrative 5.2 Analysis 6. The first national climate change process 1990-1997 6.1 Narrative 6.2 Analysis 7. The second national climate change process 1998 - 2002 7.1 Narrative 7.2 Analysis 8. The Canadian Energy Strategy 2005-2015 8.1 Narrative 8.2 Analysis 9. The Pan-Canadian Framework 2015-2019 9.1 Narrative 9.2 Analysis 10. Drawing lessons 10.1 The three challenges and federal strategy 10.2 Factors affecting case outcomes 11. Putting in place an effective national climate change program
