Ministry of Environment: What went down? What went wrong? What are some future plans?

2024-02-22 11:30 AM

Fresh Reporting: Hania Fawad

The Ministry of Environment had quite an eventful day, to say the least! To start, the meeting was moved from the second floor of the Wilfrid Laurier University’s Bricker Academic Building to all the way across the campus in the Science Buildings Atrium.

Immediately after everyone had introduced themselves and what their roles were, Alberta brought up the lack of acknowledgment from the Federal Government regarding their position paper after the Federal Government stated that Alberta could not comment on the carbon tax exemptions. This became a stream of constant back and forth between Alberta’s Minister of Environment and the representative speaking on behalf of the Federal Government - also for the environment. The Federal Government stated that they never received Alberta’s position paper, to which a member of the Assembly Of First Nations contradicted and stated that they themselves had indeed seen the paper but, for some reason, could not any longer. The Federal Government, adamant on their stance, steered the conversation from position papers to topics that needed to be discussed. Alberta’s Minister of Environment, after thanking the Assembly of First Nations member who spoke up in defense of Alberta, quietly stood up and left the room. Later, when questioned about what he did upon leaving the building, he stated that he “attempted to fix the situation on [my] own.”

Once the meeting ensued officially, the topic moved on to carbon tax exemptions, where Prince Edward Island stated they would like to be permanently exempt from the carbon tax, which the Federal Government denied. They believe the future is not certain, and they would like to see numbers from Prince Edward Island to prove how their exemption may be beneficial.

The Assembly of First Nations proposed a carbon incentive rather than a carbon tax, which the federal government agreed with greatly. The incentives would have different levels in which, if under a certain amount of emissions, a certain amount of benefits would be granted, and if slightly over that amount, limited benefits would be granted. Any exemptions from this carbon incentive would be limited.

Quebec suggested a cap and trade system, in which they would provide credits to a company and if a company wishes, they can buy more credits on top of the ones allocated to them from the Government. The question of which companies qualify as “well off” and do not need to buy credits was brought up, as well as what a credit being “used” refers to.

Proposal for the Expansion of the Lithium Ion Industry Takes Over First Ministers’ Meeting, But Is It Worth While?

2024-02-21 11:00 PM

Analysis: Faryal Ansari

Despite it not being present on the federal government’s agenda, the discussion of a proposal put forth by British Columbia on the expansion of the lithium-ion industry created a spiral of chaos and heated disagreement in the First Ministers’ room.

As the presence of this proposal was unforeseen in the midst of many topics the federal government had intended to discuss, it was met with immediate contention by some delegations. This included Newfoundland and Labrador, who felt it unfair that the proposal was to be discussed while the federal government’s budget allocation was no longer on the table for negotiation.

Nonetheless, deliberations began as British Columbia explained its proposal and plan in more detail. Included in this explanation was the development of a national lithium corporation with the involvement of all provinces and territories, in order to facilitate the extraction, processing, and recycling of lithium in Canada. This has particular relevance to the growing electric vehicle industry, which the federal government and British Columbia are eager to join.

Almost immediately following the exploration of the proposal, Manitoba was rife with criticism and a strong opposition to the idea that investing in this industry is an example of “renewable sector production,” as is written in the proposal. Premier Jammu cited the lack of widely available technology that can be used to recycle lithium batteries, and the quantity of carbon dioxide emissions released in the process of extracting lithium ore. She was supported in turn by the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, who was concerned with the construction of extraction sites on Indigenous lands.

British Columbia defended its position with a reference to current research into the recycling of lithium batteries, and suggesting a cooperation with Indigenous peoples living near potential extraction sites, which, with its vagueness, was not well received by the Assembly of First Nations or Manitoba.

What followed was an unmoderated discussion as premiers made the rounds to argue over the potential environmental impacts of the proposal, and attempt to persuade others to either support or oppose the motion. In the several minutes of intense discussion and disarray, Manitoba was not able to garner enough support to eliminate the implementation of the proposal. As the voting began - with quibbles between leaders still taking place until the last second - only one delegation opposed the proposal, nine were in favor of its execution, and three abstained from the vote. In the press conference at the end of the first day, Manitoba expressed their disappointment in the proposal and it being passed by the First Ministers Committee.

With the proposal coming to fruition as an actual economic plan, it is time to evaluate its potential effectiveness and whether it was truly worthy of such intense deliberation.

The global lithium market is one of the most lucrative emerging industries, as it is currently valued at almost 8 billion dollars. However, its potentially severe negative environmental impacts are widely known in the scientific community. Though the extraction of lithium reduces emissions through electric vehicles and both solar and wind power, its extraction can use resources and add back emissions that make the process detrimental to the environment. For example, to extract one tonne of lithium, 500,000 gallons of water is required. As well, studies show that the production of a lithium car battery produces over 70% more carbon dioxide emissions than are emitted in the production of an equivalent gas-fuelled car. On the other hand, the recycling of lithium batteries has the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the industry. In further opposition, however, Manitoba was correct in their assertion that these technologies are still new and not commercially used as of yet, so utilizing them on such a large scale is an unlikely possibility.

Overall, there are certainly environmental and economic advantages to the exploration of the lithium-ion industry in Canada. However, in order for this to be a viable climate change solution, extraction and production need to be highly regulated and balanced, which does not seem to be the approach of the “full lithium supply chain” outlined in British Columbia’s proposal. As lithium is a new tool with the potential for both harm and good for Canada’s ecosystems, it can certainly be understood why this created such chaos amongst the First Ministers.

The Albertan Crisis: Oil and Asthma

2024-02-21 11:30 AM

Analysis: Deserae Gracie

Asthma is the most common chronic disease and a leading cause of hospitalization for many others. It is most common in males and children, although women are just as affected. Asthma patients, if the illness is treated and monitored, will only suffer light symptoms and effects on their daily life such as fatigue/exhaustion, poor sleep, less efficiency during work or studies, difficulties staying physically active, and poor mental health. However, if not treated, asthma patients can go as far as hospitalization or even face risk of death.

Around 3.8 million Canadians were diagnosed with asthma in 2021. Out of that 3.8 million, only 250 Canadians end up dying from this illness each year. In the west of Canada, Alberta’s asthma numbers have dramatically increased. 12% of Albertan’s suffered from asthma in 2021; a study from Alberta University believes that in the span of 12 years, asthma diagnoses have gone up 50%. However, this is not the biggest issue, the problem with these numbers is that the amount of prescriptions being filled cannot meet the demand of this new surge in asthma medication fills and refills. This problem needs to be addressed. A pulmonary specialist, Mohit Bhutani informs us that “on average, the number of dispersions was at or below one three-month prescription per year,” indicating that for three whole quarters of the year, medical facilities do not have enough asthma medication to meet this high demand.

Why is asthma medication a large concern? Why is this issue urgent and must be addressed? According to Canadian Thoracic Society treatment guides, they recommend that a Canadian should be using their asthma medication at least once per day. This quota is especially difficult for Albertans who do not have enough medication refills to last them a couple of weeks without their supply running out. In fact, first responder’s have collected data and predict that 21,000 Albertans are brought into hospitals each year from severe cases of asthma.

It is not only the lack of resources that is a problem for asthma care in Alberta, many Albertans are also not properly educated on how to use an inhaler. In the past, close to 70% of asthma patients were aware of how to use their medication, however in more recent years, it has been discovered that only 25% of asthma patients know how to use their medication. Bhutani claims that “this is a bigger problem than we realized.” “Our guidelines tell us that every patient with asthma should get asthma education and have access to an asthma educator, but we just don’t have the resources here in the province,” says Bhutani. Not only is there not enough medication to go around, Alberta does not even have enough resources to even educate asthma patients to take care of their own condition properly. This is increasing these patients' risks of severe asthma symptoms, drastically lowering quality of life. Many more issues surrounding asthma health-care include prices of asthma medication being too expensive for patients to fully restock their medication, and the 30% misdiagnosis of asthma, eating away at the already limited resources placed for actual asthma patients.

The cause of this rise of asthma in Alberta is clear: the air pollution within the province from the province's dependence on heavy oil industries. It is clear that the oil is the main source of asthma and other illnesses. The toxins in the air are extremely unhealthy and with the information that Alberta released 256 metric tons of carbon dioxide in just 2021, which has been found to be a culprit in developing asthma, and continually pumping even more pollutants into the atmosphere, it is clear that it is at fault for some of the diseases Albertans suffer. Thus, Alberta is in dire need of attention on their asthma crisis.

Will the government provide the proper and efficient funding towards Alberta to correct their asthma issues, or will this crisis be left by the wayside, like countless other issues affecting the lives of the everyday person in Western Canada?