Alberta
Ottawa’s emissions policies will impose huge costs on Albertans
From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill and Elmira Aliakbari
The path Trudeau is forcing us down leads to a much poorer economy (completely cratering Canada’s energy industry while making everything more expensive) and negative environmental benefit (that’s right, it’s worse as developing nations use the energy that’s cheapest). So maybe it’s time to scrap the tax.
The federal NDP recently ended its support for the consumer carbon tax citing its significant cost to everyday Canadians. But Canada’s costly climate change policies extend beyond the carbon tax. Indeed, the Trudeau government has introduced numerous policies in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which impose major costs on Albertans.
The consumer carbon tax is perhaps the most widely known GHG reduction policy, which places a price on carbon (currently at $80 per tonne) and is set to rise to $170 per tonne by 2030. However, the Trudeau government has also imposed other regulations and mandates, including clean fuel regulations, electric vehicle mandates, the phase-out of coal-based electrical generation and building efficiency mandates.
The costs? According to a recent study, these GHG policies will shrink the Alberta economy (as measured by GDP) by an estimated 6.0 per cent by 2030. And employment in the province is expected to decline by 0.9 per cent. To put these figures into perspective, a 6.0 per cent contraction in 2024 would have shrunk the provincial economy by $27.7 billion, while a 0.9 per cent decrease in employment would have meant a loss of approximately 22,837 jobs (based on data for August 2024).
While these policies are expected to reduce GHG emissions, they fall short of meeting the government’s national GHG reduction targets. As a result, further economic pain will be required if the federal government implements additional measures to further reduce GHGs emissions.
These findings echo other studies that measure the effects of various climate change policies. According to a report by Deloitte, for instance, Trudeau’s policy to cap GHG emissions in the oil and gas sector (to 35 to 38 per cent below 2019 levels by 2030) will lead to less investment, nearly 70,000 fewer jobs, and a 4.5 per cent decrease in economic output (i.e. GDP) among the provinces by 2040. Unsurprisingly, Alberta is projected to be the hardest hit province.
And here’s the kicker—these huge economic costs come with little to no actual environmental benefit. Even if Canada shut down its entire oil and gas sector by 2030, thus eliminating all GHG emissions from the sector, the resulting reduction would equal four-tenths of 1 per cent of global emissions, which would have an undetectable impact on the climate. Meanwhile, as demand for fossil fuels continues to increase, constraining oil and gas production and exports in Canada merely shifts production to other countries, which have lower environmental and human rights standards such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela.
The Trudeau government’s climate change regulations are imposing huge costs on Albertans with little to no actual environmental benefit. While support for some of these policies—particularly the consumer carbon tax—is waning, federal policymakers should seriously rethink numerous other regulations.
Authors:
Alberta
Province “rewiring” Alberta’s electricity grid for growth
Rewiring Alberta’s electricity market
Alberta’s government is making changes to the province’s electricity market rules to restore the balance between affordability, reliability and sustainability.
Alberta’s government is modernizing the province’s electricity system to put Albertans first, restoring the balance between affordability, reliability and sustainability. To achieve this, Alberta’s government continues to work with its partners on power market reforms. Alberta’s transmission policies are also being updated to improve reliability, increase efficiency, protect ratepayers, and align Alberta with other jurisdictions. Alberta’s government is committed to the province’s unique competitive electricity market, which provides consumers with choice and makes the province a premier destination for investors.
Alberta’s electricity system was designed for a small number of baseload power plants generating reliable electricity. In 2016, Alberta’s accelerated coal phase out was rushed through without proper due diligence. With a growing supply of intermittent renewables instead of natural gas, the province’s power grid and prices can become as volatile as the weather.
The thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines that were required to connect renewables added costs for Albertans, and back-up sources are required to keep the lights on. As demand for electricity only continues to increase, it’s expected that Alberta’s need for electricity could more than quadruple in the coming decades. It is critical that Alberta’s government make changes now to ensure the affordability, reliability, and sustainability of the provincial grid in the decades to come as demand surges.
“Albertans deserve a modern electricity system that prioritizes affordability and reliability. As our electricity supply mix evolves so should our policies, and these updates to transmission policies are essential to ensuring Albertans are well-served by our electricity system for years to come.”
Following three years of engagement with industry, Alberta’s government is making changes to ensure the province’s ratepayers are no longer burdened with the full costs of building new transmission lines. Instead, costs for new transmission infrastructure will be assigned on a cost-causation basis going forward. This will incentivise new power plants to be built in optimal locations that take advantage of existing infrastructure, saving costs for both Alberta ratepayers and job creators. As a result of engagement with industry, Alberta’s government is aligning the province with other jurisdictions by giving the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) more market-based tools to increase the efficiency of the province’s grid, prioritizing the use of pre-existing infrastructure.
Updating Alberta’s Transmission Regulation is a significant and necessary step in modernizing the province’s electricity system. To enhance grid reliability, Alberta’s government is also making changes to streamline the process to build and maintain connections between our electricity grid and other jurisdictions. This will reduce red tape and enable critical improvements to happen more quickly. This will also help improve reliability by restoring the electricity grid connections between Alberta and British Columbia, as well as expanding the connections between Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“This is a positive milestone borne out of significant engagement and consultation with industry stakeholders, our partner agencies and the Government of Alberta. We appreciate the tremendous investment of time and effort that everyone has put into this process to reach this point, and we look forward to additional engagement in 2025 to further the detailed market design.”
Over the past year, the AESO has engaged extensively with industry on the technical design of a Restructured Energy Market with direction from Alberta’s government. A key aspect of these market reforms includes moving to a day-ahead market, where power generators will be required to commit their power on the previous day, rather than a couple of hours beforehand, making the system better positioned to respond to power fluctuations. This will increase reliability and stability, helping reduce the risk of potential grid alerts. With these changes, Alberta’s government is ensuring that reliability is prioritized, strengthening the grid so that Albertans can get the power they need regardless of the weather.
“Market design features like a day ahead market can help significantly reduce the likelihood of future grid alerts and will ensure that all necessary generators needed to meet electricity demand are online to provide power.”
Minister of Affordability and Utilities Nathan Neudorf has sent a letter to inform the AESO of the government’s latest decisions on changes to the Transmission Regulation and further guide the ongoing technical design of a Restructured Energy Market. Alberta’s government intends to bring forward legislation to support these changes in the new year. In the meantime, the temporary measures enacted by Alberta’s government on July 1, 2024 will continue to protect Albertans, ensuring reliable power and predictable utility bills.
Quick facts
- The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) manages and operates the provincial power grid on behalf of Albertans.
- The Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) is a public agency that protects and promotes the fair, efficient and openly competitive operation of Alberta’s electricity and retail natural gas markets.
Alberta
Edmonton Murder Shows Trudeau Has Lost Control Of Crime
Harshanedeep Singh from rozanaspokesman.com
News release from the Conservative Party of Canada
After nine years, the NDP-Liberal government has lost control of crime. Violent crime has skyrocketed by 50 percent since Trudeau became Prime Minister and 256 people were killed by a criminal who was out on bail or another form of release in 2022, the latest year available with full data.
On Saturday, Canadians witnessed the shocking, heinous murder of Harshandeep Singh, a 20-year-old security guard in Edmonton, Alberta. Singh was shot in the back while thanklessly doing his job as a nighttime security guard at a central Edmonton apartment building. A promising young life was snuffed out by a cold-blooded monster.
“One cannot imagine how Harshandeep’s family and friends feel,” said Tim Uppal, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this incredibly difficult time.”
Edmonton Police have since arrested two individuals and charged them with first degree murder: “Evan Rain, 30, and Judith Saulteaux, 30, were arrested and charged with 1st degree murder in relation to Singh’s death.”
Early indications suggest that Rain has a known prior violent history, with media reports aligning with Rain’s current age. In 2018, an “Evan Chase Francis Rain”, then age 24, was charged for a violent kidnapping in Wetaskiwin, one hour south of Edmonton. A woman was forced into the trunk of a car at gunpoint. It is not clear from media reports how this case was concluded.
In 2022, “Evan Rain, 28, of Paul First Nation” (45 minutes west of Edmonton) faced twenty-nine charges for a violent robbery in northern Saskatchewan involving firearms.
This is from the 2022 RCMP news release at the time:
Evan Rain, 28, of Paul First Nation, is charged with:
-one count, robbery, Section 344, Criminal Code;
-one count, have face masked with intent to commit an indictable offence, Section 351(2), Criminal Code;
-eight counts, possess a firearm knowing it was obtained by the commission of an offence, Section 96(2), Criminal Code;
-one count, possession of property obtained by the commission of an offence, Section 354(1)(a), Criminal Code;
-one count, mischief under $5,000, Section 430(4), Criminal Code;
-sixteen counts, possess a firearm while prohibited, Section 117-01(3), Criminal Code; and
-one count, point a firearm, Section 87(2), Criminal Code.
The status of these charges is not readily apparent. The RCMP’s 2022 news release does make clear that Rain was already prohibited from possessing firearms: “sixteen counts, possess a firearm while prohibited, Section 117-01(3).”
“It appears that our so-called ‘justice’ system terribly failed Harshandeep Singh – just as it has outrageously failed so many others,” said Uppal. “Harshandeep Singh’s murder cannot be accepted as just an unfortunate, unavoidable reality in our society. Authorities should answer to Rain’s prior police interactions and potential criminal history, including whether he was out on bail or some other form of release order.”
Life wasn’t like this before Justin Trudeau. Since the NDP-Liberal government passed Bill C-75 and Bill C-5, which gave high priority to releasing repeat violent offenders and took away mandatory jail time for certain violent crimes, a crime wave has been unleashed across the country. This was evident in a report from the Fraser Institute which showed that Canada’s violent crime rate is 14 percent higher than that of the United States’.
Trudeau’s only response to this has been to crack down on law-abiding firearms owners and Indigenous hunters which has done nothing to improve Canada’s public safety. Instead, violent gun crime is up by a staggering 116 percent since the Liberals formed government.
Enough is Enough. Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities. Only Common Sense Conservatives will bring home safe streets by ending Justin Trudeau’s catch-and-release justice system and bringing jail, not bail, for repeat violent offenders.
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