The fine print of Canada's new climate change deal
It's called the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, but after a day of negotiations the Liberal government's national plan to fight climate change and meet the country's 2030 emissions reduction targets doesn't have pan-Canadian agreement.
The glaring discord:Saskatchewan and Manitoba both left their signatures off, citing different reasons.
But there are even disagreements amongst the provinces who signed on to the framework.
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, who at one point on Friday resisted thedeal, said B.C. signed on only after receiving assurancesthe provinces' various carbon-pricing plans were equitable.
Clark also said the framework includes a mechanism allowing her province to forgo a $10 increase in carbon pricing once the rest of the country catches up with B.C. in 2020.
"Maybe it's an increase but we're not going to have that forced on us by the federal government," she said.
But Environment Minister Catherine McKenna disputes that.
"In 2020 there will be a review to look at comparability to make sure that everyone is doing their fair share... But we have been very clear, the prime minister has been very clear, that we have a system where the price increases," she said.
"Maybe what she's trying to say is that the federal government can do whatever it wants," Clark added. "There will be arguments on either side of the constitutional court around that..But it's irrelevant for British Columbia, we are going to stay in the lead."
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne supports the federal government's plan, but disagreed with Clark's assessment that British Columbians will pay more under the climate change plan than Ontarians.
The EcoFiscal Commission, a group of Canadian economists who study carbon pricing, estimates Ontario's plan will have a price of roughly $19.40 per tonne by 2020 lower than B.C.'s existing $30-a-tonne carbon tax.
Wynne said it's a "red herring" to focus solely on the dollar amount of a province's carbon price.
"You know, you might have heard about this: electricity prices are higher because we have shut down the coal-fired plants, because we jump-started a renewable energy. There are inherent costs in a capping of emissions from businesses," she told host Chris Hall.
At the meeting's closing press conference Friday, Saskatchewan'sBrad Wall said it would be foolish to impose a levy with thearrival of president-elect Donald Trump.
Wynne, whose province's cap-and-trade system is linking to California in the new year, disagrees.
"We have a responsibility to work with the rest of the globe. I mean there are jurisdictions all over the world who are tackling climate change," she said. "Subnationals, so states, provinces, have taken the lead on tackling climate change. That's not going to change no matter who the president of the United States is."
While Wall has steadfastly opposed any sort of carbon pricing, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister refused to sign the framework for other reasons.
The Progressive Conservative premier said his first priority is convincing Ottawa to increase the health escalator.
"I've used my opportunity here to make sure that we make progress on this file because we are in the midst of budget preparations all over the country and of course health care is the major part of our budget," he explained.
"I'm discouraged I must say by the relative intransigence of the federal government on this front. We've had months and months of requests and they've been sitting there."
The premiers did talk about health over a working dinner with the prime minister on Friday.
The rate at which health transfers increase is set to decline next year to three per cent a year, from six per cent. But the Liberals have been promising to spend $3 billion over four years on home care and have said that better mental health care is a priority.
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said his province is open to targeted money, especially in fields like mental health.
"I don't think we should just step back because there's been a simple protocol in the country that the federal government just hands over money and the provinces spend it," he said.
"Mental health is an issue in every province and the fact that the federal government is now actually talking about mental health in a way that we're going to target a certain amount of funding for it should be good news for Canadians."
John McCallum says government continueto convince Canadians to embrace refugees
The man tasked with bringing thousands of Syrian refugees to Canada says that while most Canadians were quick to embrace them, his government still "has to work very hard" to convince some people to embrace these new arrivals.
"Canadians are not 100 per cent different from Americans, from British. We have to understand these concerns," said Immigration Minister John McCallum.
He made the comment while answering a questionabout the anti-globalizationsentiments that surfaced during the U.K.'s Brexitvote in June and the campaign for the U.S. election in November.
Saturday marks the one-year anniversary ofthe first planeload of Syrian refugees landing in Canada.
The scene of Syrians of all ages arriving in Canada garnered international attention when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went to Toronto's Pearson airport to welcome them himself.
But not everyone is ready to embrace refugee families a quick peruse of the online comment section of any refugee-related story will illustrate that.
"That is why, for example, I was always absolutely determined not to treat refugees better than Canadians, not to put them in the front of a queue for social housing. We have to convince Canadians, I think we can, that it's for the good of the Canadian economy," McCallum toldCBC host ChrisHall onThe House.
"Given the global context, we have to work very hard to ensure that that is true and to ensure that message gets out clearly."
What's next for electoral reform?
The two vice-chairs of the House of Commons special committee on electoral reform are pushing the Liberal government to consult them before introducing any legislation this spring.
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Despite recent controversies around the committee's report and the Mydemocracy.ca survey, Minister of Democratic Institutions Mayam Monsefhas said the government's goal is still to implement a new voting system for 2019 if broad support is found.
"If you want to work on a bill, let's do it together," NDP MP Nathan Cullen told Mark Holland, parliamentary secretary to the minister ofdemocratic institutions, onThe House mid-week podcast.
"But don't craft legislation based on some vague survey that has been discredited and then say, 'Here it is House of Commons. This is what we decided based on our interpretation.' Which I think is the point."
The special committee's majority report proposed that the current first-past-the-post system be pitted against a proportional representation option, though the New Democrats and Greens suggested a referendum might not be necessary and no agreement was reached on a specific proposal for a new system.
Holland says he'll willing to meet with the committee, but Cullen pushed for more than just that.
"We've had meetings where nothing happens. I want to have a meeting where you actually sit down with paper and start to say, 'Here are the elements of a legislative bill to fulfil the prime minister's commitment. Let's work together on it. Don't tell me about meetings and cups of coffee," he said.
Conservative MP Scott Reid says the Opposition will be upset if the government brings them anything that doesn't include what their committee recommended.
"That's what we're interested in hearing about. If you've got something else in mind then you're not working with us," he said in a heated panel discussion. "In the end it's either a yes or a no."
"The government has this absurd position where they say things like, the prime minister has a preferred system, the minister has a preferred system. We're not going to share it with you, it's a big secret. How on earth can we guess what happens now?"
Holland says the Liberals will disclose their preferred system once the survey period ends at the end of December.
"But for us to proclaim ourselves in the middle of a public engagement would negate the public engagement," he said.
Rona Ambrose to Justin Trudeau:'Park' electoral reform
The interim leader of the Conservative Party has two simple words for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when it comes to electoral reform: park it.
"He's made an absolute mess of this file. It's so chaotic, disorganized, and now we have a situation with this website. It's been mocked. It's a joke," Rona Ambrose told CBC radio'sThe Housein a year-ender interview.
"I actually think they need to park this. They need to park it and set this issue aside and start to focus on other issues like job creation and the fact that we have high unemployment."
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