Canadian Chamber of Commerce Comments on Climate Change

The Edmonton Journal reported this morning that the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has called on its members to sign and send a template letter charging that Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act is a threat to Canadian competitiveness. According to the article, the Chamber message advises its members that "Bill C-311 must die in the Senate...this will require significant lobbying by Canadian business".

Bill C-311 was introduced to Commons by NDP MP Bruce Hyer and requires the Canadian government to regularly make public reports that measure and review the effectiveness of its policies to reduce GHG emissions. The bill requires the Minister of Environment to implement measures to ensure that Canada reduces its absolute GHG emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. It also mandates that the National Roundtable on Environment and the Economy review the public reports and advise on the feasibility of the government's plan for reductions.

Minister Prentice has on many occasions indicated that Canada's target will be consistent with the targets established by the United States in respect of GHG reductions. He has confirmed that Canada's target is 17% below 2005 levels, by 2020, which is loosely aligned with the U.S.' 16% below 2006 levels. The Journal article asserts that "[c]limate scientists have estimated that developed countries need to collectively reduce emissions by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to ensure that average global temperatures do not rise beyond a tipping point of more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels".

While the Chamber of Commerce letter acknowledged that there is a need for action on climate change, it criticized Bill C-311 as potentially imposing "great costs on the Canadian economy", since the targets proposed by the bill do not align with those in the United States. And therein lies the problem. If Canada's targets are lower than those proposed by the U.S. and legislation is passed there which requires border tariffs on goods produced in Canada, Canadian exports will suffer as a result. If our targets are greater than those of the United States, which is, by the way, our largest trading partner, our goods could potentially become so expensive that the result would be crippling to our economy. The letter states:

"Globally, responding to climate change will take the biggest single investment in the history of humankind...It will be of monumental scale here in Canada as well. We cannot simply tweak our way to success. And we cannot deal with climate change by eliminating consumption. That is simply not practical. It would cripple the economy, make it impossible to pay for the changes that are needed and destroy public support for strong, environmental policies".

Predictably, NGOs like the Climate Action Network are "shocked" by the letter. They want GHG reductions no matter what the cost. Wonder who they think will fund them if our economy is crippled and companies and governments alike are out of money.