Prime minister must excise terrible energy policies

From the Fraser Institute

Prime Minister Mark Carney recently unveiled his new cabinet. And there’s quite a lot of work to do.

Before his election victory, the prime minister exorcised a widely-despised element of Canada’s climate policy, the “consumer” carbon tax, which was imposed directly on Canadians for their consumption of energy (electricity, heating fuel, gasoline). At the same time, in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff war, the prime minister made grand proclamations of future energy glory. “Canada has a tremendous opportunity to be the world’s leading energy superpower, in both clean and conventional energy,” he said. “We are going to aggressively develop projects that are in the national interest in order to protect Canada’s energy security, diversify our trade, and enhance our long-term competitiveness—all while reducing emissions.”

Great plan. So what’s next?

Again, quite a lot. If Prime Minister Carney is serious about reforming Canadian energy policy so Canada can compete against a likely resurgent Trump-driven U.S. energy sector, he must follow this latest bit of tax reform and vocal boosterism with genuine regulatory reform. In other words, the Carney government must repeal the anti-energy regulations implemented by the Trudeau government.

First on the chopping block—Bill C-69, colloquially known as the “No More Pipelines Act,” which created massive uncertainty by introducing vague assessment criteria including “gender implications” for major energy projects including pipelines and LNG export facilities. If Ottawa simplified the project review process, it could help Canada access more lucrative markets for energy products outside the United States.

Then there’s Bill C-48 (colloquially known as the “Tanker Ban Bill”), which changed regulations for large vessels transporting oil to and from ports on British Columbia’s northern coast, effectively banning such shipments and limiting the ability of Canadian firms to export to non-U.S. markets. Tanking the tanker ban should be an obvious sail forward.

Next up, the Trudeau plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector (at 35 per cent below 2019 levels by 2030), alongside major new regulations for methane emissions in the sector. These regulations will likely raise costs and curtail production. By removing them, Ottawa can increase the ability of Canada’s energy sector to compete against a rising U.S. energy sector.

Finally, the Trudeau government’s Clean Electricity Regulations will likely drive electricity rates through the roof while ushering in an age of less reliable electricity supply—a two-handed slap to Canadian energy consumers. Ending these misguided regulations is a no-brainer for the new government in Ottawa.

Prime Minister Carney’s first acts on the Canadian energy file look good. The carbon tax is half-dead (the industrial tax remains in place). And a new pro-energy rhetoric has displaced Trudeau’s “phase it out” framing of Canadian energy policy. But if Carney and his new cabinet are serious about unleashing Canada’s energy potential, reducing dependence on the U.S. market, reaching more lucrative foreign markets, increasing production, and so on, they better get cracking on a regulatory reform agenda lest they find themselves hamstrung by their predecessor’s regulatory legacy.

Kenneth P. Green

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

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Canadian airline WestJet ordered to compensate employee who refused the COVID jab

Published on May 15, 2025

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta Justice Also Argento concluded that the major airline WestJet must pay Duong Yee, an accountant based in Calgary, $65,587.72 in damages.

Canada’s second-largest airline has been ordered by a judge to compensate one of its employees who refused to take the COVID shot and was “wrongfully terminated.”

In a ruling, Alberta Justice Also Argento concluded that the major airline WestJet must pay Duong Yee, an accountant based in Calgary, $65,587.72 in damages.

Court documents show that Yee, who worked for the company for 11 years, was put on unpaid leave on November 1, 2021, and was then fired from her job. Her termination came shortly after the federal government of now former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had mandated that all workers of federally regulated industries receive the COVID shots.

Yee had tried to avoid getting the COVID shot through a religious exemption, which was denied by WestJet.

Justice Argento ruled that WestJet could have allowed Yee to work from home to avoid having to get the jab instead of firing her outright.

“The regulations only required the defendant’s employees who were physically accessing ‘aerodrome property’ to be vaccinated,” wrote Argento.

“They would not have applied to the plaintiff while she continued to work from home. The defendant was aware of the regulations, but did not consider whether the plaintiff could continue working from home as an alternative to dismissal.”

Justice Argento also observed in his ruling that the plaintiff’s “refusal” to get the COVID jab and comply with WestJet’s jab policy “did not impact her job performance,” and it did not “endanger the defendant’s employees or the public as the plaintiff was working from home.”

“While the plaintiff was wrongfully terminated, the surrounding circumstances do not attract aggravated damages,” noted the justice.

Yee’s claims for both moral and aggravated damages were dismissed by the court.

In October 2021, Trudeau announced unprecedented COVID-19 jab mandates for all federal workers and those in the transportation sector and said the unjabbed will no longer be able to travel by air, boat, or train, both domestically and internationally.

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Rogue Devices Capable Of Triggering Blackouts Reportedly Found In Chinese Solar Panels

Published on May 15, 2025

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Audrey Streb

“That effectively means there is a built-in way to physically destroy the grid”

Officials are reportedly reassessing the risk posed by Chinese-made devices found in solar panels that are capable of damaging the energy infrastructure, destabilizing the power grid and triggering widespread blackouts.

Over the past nine months, “rogue communication devices” not listed in product documents were found in solar power inverters and batteries from several Chinese suppliers, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke with Reuters. The undocumented devices were found after U.S. experts disassembled the renewable energy equipment to check for security issues, prompting officials to review the potential dangers of the Chinese-made devices, according to the publication.

“We know that China believes there is value in placing at least some elements of our core infrastructure at risk of destruction or disruption,” Mike Rogers, a former director of the U.S. National Security Agency, told Reuters. “I think that the Chinese are, in part, hoping that the widespread use of inverters limits the options that the West has to deal with the security issue.”

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The communication devices were reportedly found in power inverters, which are used to connect solar panels and wind turbines to the power grid and are often produced in China. They are also found in electric vehicle chargers, batteries and heat pumps. Undocumented cellular radios were also found in Chinese-manufactured batteries, according to the publication.

If the rogue communication devices found in the inverters are used to circumnavigate firewalls and change the settings or turn off inverters remotely, this could destabilize power grids, damage energy technology and prompt blackouts, according to experts who spoke with Reuters.

“That effectively means there is a built-in way to physically destroy the grid,” one of the sources told the publication.

For years, energy and security experts have cautioned that reliance on Chinese products for green energy could expose the U.S. to espionage and security risks.

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy (DOE) told Reuters that it continually evaluates risks involving new technology and that “while this functionality may not have malicious intent, it is critical for those procuring to have a full understanding of the capabilities of the products received.”

“As more domestic manufacturing takes hold, DOE is working across the federal government to strengthen U.S. supply chains, providing additional opportunities to integrate trusted equipment into the power grid,” the spokesperson continued, noting that the department is working to address any missing disclosure information through “Software Bill of Materials” or inventories of all the parts that make up a software application, in addition to other contract requirements.

“We oppose the generalisation [sic] of the concept of national security, distorting and smearing China’s infrastructure achievements,” a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington told Reuters.

Republican officials sent a letter advising an American energy company to stop using Chinese-manufactured batteries due to the security risks in December 2023, according to a February 2024 statement.

“We approached Duke Energy regarding its use of Chinese-manufactured CATL batteries and network-equipped systems, which posed an unacceptable surveillance risk at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina — the largest Marine Base in the United States. Directly following our inquiry, Duke disconnected the Chinese-manufactured systems from the grid,” former Republican Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator for the state of Florida at the time, wrote in the press release. “Others that continue to work with CATL, and other companies under the control of the CCP, should take note,” they continued.