Feds Fess Up to Flawed Northern Gateway Consultation
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- Published on Thursday, 30 April 2015 06:17
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Internal documents obtained by B.C.'s Haisla Nation show the federal government had concerns about the consultation approach proposed for Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline since at least 2009.
The documents, requested by the Haisla Nation nearly four years ago, were released through Access to Information legislation recently and show the federal government was warned it wasn’t fulfilling its duty to consult Aboriginal peoples as required under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Read More
Complaining About Taxes? Read This First

Open any newspaper and you’ll find umpteen stories about taxes — from Vancouver’s ongoing transit tax referendum to Alberta’s budget crisis to Toronto’s property tax increase.
Alex Himelfarb, who served as secretary to cabinet for three prime ministers and who is a member of DeSmog Canada’s board of directors, has spent a lot of time thinking about what ties all of these debates about taxes together. “What we’ve been missing in Canada is an honest conversation,” Himelfarb told DeSmog Canada. “So everybody talks about the cost of a new idea but nobody talks about the cost of a tax cut.” Since 2006, Canada has cut federal taxes by $332 billion, he says. Read More
Marilyn Baptiste Wins Prestigious Goldman Prize, Elevates Indigenous Struggle Against Mines

Marilyn Baptiste of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation in British Columbia has won the prestigious $175,000 Goldman Prize for her five-year effort to prevent construction of the Prosperity gold and copper mine 600 kilometres north of Vancouver.
“I hope the Goldman award will bring world recognition to help us protect our land,” Baptiste told DeSmog Canada. “We’d like to improve our lives, but our land and water comes first.”
That simple statement echoes the words of millions of indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world facing governments and industries intent on extracting minerals, oil, coal, gas and timber from their lands. Read More
What’s Stopping Canada from Putting a Price on Carbon?

For the first time in several years, carbon pricing in Canada is back on the national radar.
Recently a group of more than 60 Canadian experts published a report, Acting on Climate Change, that outlined Canada's path to a low-carbon future. Their first recommendation? Put a price on carbon. The idea seems to be gaining serious traction with Canadians, the majority of which support carbon pricing according to a recent Angus Reid poll. Read More
Most Canadians Support Carbon Pricing, See Climate as Election Issue: New Poll

A new poll released today by Angus Reid finds the majority of Canadians support carbon pricing programs and more than half the population would like to see a national climate policy instituted at the federal level.
Although Canadians say they’re ready for climate action, there’s a lot less certainty surrounding climate leadership at the federal level, according to poll results. r0
