Matthew Bramley, Director of the Pembina Institute's Climate Change Program, made the statement below in response to the report tabled today by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.
Chapter 1, "Managing Air Emissions," presents the results of audits of two major federal programs in the government's climate change plan:
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Transit pass tax credits (over $200 million per year, announced in the 2006 Budget).
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Trust fund for clean air and climate change ($1.5 billion one-time allocation in the 2007 Budget).
Matthew Bramley responds:
"The government is spending billions of dollars on two major programs that it said were to address climate change and air pollution. Today's report shows that in one case the government knew the results would be minimal, and in the other case it made no effort to ensure there would be any results.
Despite being presented as programs to cut pollution, one can only conclude on the basis of the Commissioner's report that their main purpose was not environmental.
It's deplorable that Canadians were given the impression the federal government was taking significant action on global warming, when in reality Canada's action was and remains feeble by international standards.
To prevent this from happening again, the government should be required by law to state the expected emission reductions every time programs to cut pollution are announced in the budget. And funding for provincial or municipal initiatives must be accompanied by accountability mechanisms, to ensure both that expected emission reductions occur, and that they are in addition to what would have happened without the funding.
As a separate matter, it is regrettable that the Auditor General chose to publish her own report on the same day as that of the Environment Commissioner. The Environment Commissioner conducts critical work that deserves the undivided attention of Parliament and Canadians."
The Pembina Institute is a non-partisan sustainable energy think tank.