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The Niagara Independent, January 21, 2022 \u2013<\/em> The federal government has Canada (a.k.a. the Great White North) in fervid pursuit to meet international climate change commitments and to achieve a \u201cnet-zero emissions economy\u201d by 2050. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made it his singular mission to implement a \u201cbold\u201d green agenda that will position Canada as a global leader in reducing greenhouse carbon gas emissions.<\/p>\n To the applause of various United Nations audiences, the Canadian PM committed the country to cut its carbon emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below the 2005 levels by the year 2030, and to reach a net-zero emissions mark by 2050. At the recent Glasgow climate summit, he pledged to cap the emissions of Canadian oil and gas companies at today\u2019s levels and put regulatory measures in place that will have this energy sector meet a net-zero emissions target by 2050.<\/p>\n To make this happen, PM Trudeau selected \u201ca climate activist\u201d as the country\u2019s environment and climate change minister. Steven Guilbeault has been extended a free rein to take a hardline in realizing the government\u2019s green dream. He is unabashed, recently stating, \u201cMy timeline is two years. So, in the next two years, more stringent methane regulations, zero emission vehicle standards, net zero grid by 2035, cap on oil and gas and obviously phasing out fossil fuels \u2013 all of these things must be in place in the coming eighteen months.\u201d<\/p>\n The PM\u2019s political operatives are also on the move. Backroom maneuvers were exposed recently when U.S. Ambassador to Canada David L. Cohen posted on his Twitter feed of a policy meeting with the PM\u2019s BFF Gerald Butts, Catherine McKenna (former environment minister, now private citizen), and Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance (and celebrated Liberal leadership aspirant). The American ambassador described the meeting with the unelected friends of the PM as \u201ca discussion on how Canada and the United States can work together to achieve our shared goals toward a greener, cleaner future.\u201d<\/p>\n And so, all the PM\u2019s players may be fully engaged, but there is a glaring fallacy that Canada\u2019s pursuit and achievement of a net-zero emission target by 2050 will mean anything at all. In fact, it is meaningless in the reduction of the actual total amount of gas emissions. The reality is that if Canada were to eliminate all its carbon gas emissions tomorrow, the 184 coal plants currently being built in China would more than replace this accomplishment. In 2020, China built more than three times as much of new coal power capacity as all the other countries in the world combined \u2013 and China has repeatedly refused to sign onto any international agreement to reduce its coal use.<\/p>\n It is furthermore evident that the government\u2019s drive towards a net-zero emissions target is a quixotic pursuit when appreciating that Canada ranks tenth on the list of global polluters. It is but a miniscule 1.6 percent fraction of the world\u2019s greatest emitters. Now consider more than half (53 per cent) of the world\u2019s carbon emissions come from four countries: China \u2013 27.2 per cent, U.S. \u2013 14.6 per cent, India \u2013 6.8 per cent, and Russia \u2013 4.7 per cent.<\/p>\n It is another inconvenient fact that, at today\u2019s measurements, China emits in 20 days the carbon emissions Canadians pollute in an entire year.<\/p>\n That said, it is questionable whether Canada can substantially reduce its carbon emissions, let alone meet a net-zero target. Since 2015, Canada\u2019s emissions have actually risen<\/i>.\u00a0According to a recent U.N. Emissions Gap Report, Canada is set to miss its next emissions target in 2030 by 15 per cent. The country\u2019s vast geography, cold climate, and its citizens\u2019 suburban lifestyles requiring travel for work, all challenge the notion that in less than 30 years Canadians can significantly curtail their energy use and carbon emissions.<\/p>\n The Trudeau government\u2019s plan to finance its environmental agenda is also doubtful. The proposed green plan is currently costed at $109 billion of government investment in the next decade. The economic underpinning of this plan depends on considerable private sector investment. For every one taxpayer dollar the government will spend, the Trudeau government is looking to encourage six private sector dollars of investment. However, this is highly unlikely as the Canadian private sector is reluctant to partner with subsidized federal projects and Canada itself has become increasingly unattractive to foreign investors.<\/p>\n But the Trudeau government has a solution for the funding challenges posed by the drought of private sector equity that is torn directly from the pages of the World Economic Forum (WEF) playbook. Taking up the WEF recommendation for direct government intervention in corporate boardrooms, the Trudeau government will legislate and regulate to ensure sufficient private sector capital is redirected to underwrite its environmental programs.<\/p>\n To turn this trick WEF board member Chrystia Freeland (who is also Trudeau\u2019s finance minister) is working with the beforementioned UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance Mark Carney to secure adequate financing for Canada\u2019s green agenda. Recall, Carney was a feature speaker at the Glasgow summit to explain how corporate boardrooms and the private sector must<\/i> invest in countries\u2019 global climate change objectives. Carney\u2019s foreboding message was that the private sector will be expected to underwrite governments\u2019 subsidized development of renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n Is it only a coincidence that the Bank of Canada announced it is developing new models and data sources to monitor the effects of climate change on the economy? Or that Freeland has secured a much higher debt ceiling to allow for even more government spending in the years ahead?<\/p>\n Minister Freeland and her deputy minister Michael Sabia (a globalist who was parachuted into his position a year ago) are following helpful WEF suggestions regarding new tax revenues for green initiatives. The finance department has had a busy six months floating trial balloons: a wealth tax on high income earners, an increase on the capital gains rate, a variety of new capital gains taxes on the sale of primary residences, and an inheritance tax.\u00a0There has also been a suggestion to increase the scheduled hikes of carbon taxes on gasoline and home fuel.<\/p>\n Echoing the WEF presentation scripts, Canadians have already heard that the government\u2019s new economic policies are introduced \u201cto fight climate change.\u201d In that way, Trudeau\u2019s insistence that Canadians must \u201cpay for pollution\u201d becomes a Trojan Horse for the onslaught of new corporate and personal taxation.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s green plan may not make rational or economic sense, but why let the facts of the matter get in the way of a global mission. As it is, the federal government is actively implementing a green agenda with two core objectives to decarbonize Canada\u2019s economy: shut down Canada\u2019s oil and gas industry, and transition Canadians\u2019 energy use to renewables sources.<\/p>\n PM Justin Trudeau and his supporting cast \u2013 Guilbeault, Freeland, Carney, Butts, and others \u2013 are prepared to strike grand international commitments and then impose the government\u2019s heavy hand to achieve their ends, apparently, at any cost.<\/p>\n Chris George<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of\u00a0CG&A COMMUNICATIONS<\/a>. Contact:\u00a0ChrisG.George@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n