The deadline to have your say about how Canada should drastically reduce its climate emissions has been extended after environmental groups spoke out against the lack of awareness of the public consultations.
With little fanfare, on December 10, the federal government opened public submissions on how the country could reduce emissions by 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The window of opportunity to participate was set to close on January 14 at midnight.
“It was launched over the holiday season and it’s ending mid-January so the timing is certainly not ideal,” said Gideon Forman, climate change and transportation policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation. “We’d like Canadians to have some more time to weigh in. There really aren’t many issues as pressing as this.”
Ottawa is planning to present its 2030 emissions reduction plan by the end of March – a major policy that will change the course of one of the biggest threats facing this generation. Under Canadian climate change law, the government should have presented its plan by the end of 2021. However, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change opted to extend the deadline by 90 days.
“The questions are difficult, demanding questions. People need some time to think about their answers. That suggests that people needed more time and it should have been launched at a time when people could focus on it and a better job just advertising that it’s out there,” said Forman.
The Ministry of the Environment and Climate said it has so far received about 20,000 public submissions on the issue. They also launched a weekly social media campaign during the weeks-long submission period.
In an online questionnaire, the ministry is asking Canadians which sectors the government should pursue to reduce emissions, and what Canadians see as barriers and challenges to reducing emissions, among other questions.
The government is also consulting with provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples, industry partners, members of Parliament, and the Net-Zero Advisory Body to inform the 2030 plan.
Forman said that in the foundation’s submission, the group is planning to include a push for stronger targets for greenhouse gases.
“The government is talking about a 40 to 45 per cent reduction by the end of the decade, we think it has to be more ambitious [more like] 60 per cent of greenhouse gases,” he explained.
The federal government has committed to net-zero emissions no later than 2050.
The transportation sector accounts for a quarter of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions, more than half of which come from cars, SUVs and pickup trucks.
The Canadian government has also committed to mandating that all new light-duty vehicles sold make zero emissions by 2035. Forman said even more can be done.
“We’d like to see more money from the feds for public transit,” said Forman. “We’ve got to make it easier for people to leave the car at home or not have a gas burning car and public transit is a big piece of that.”
Forman would also like to see an end to highway building, such as Highway 413 being proposed in Ontario.
“This is an example of really terrible transportation planning in our view, 413 would go through the greenbelt, [which is] so bad for biodiversity and protection of nature so this is an example of the wrong thing to do, mega highways are the wrong way to go.”
If you would like to have your say, the climate change questionnaire will now be available online until January 21 at midnight.