Latest news with #RebeccaSchulz
Calgary Herald
a day ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Program aimed at innovation, emissions reduction will create 1,600 jobs, province says
The province's latest injection into an industry-funded program promises to create hundreds of jobs while protecting the environment. Article content On Wednesday, the Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, Rebecca Schulz, unveiled Alberta's plans to invest up to $49 million from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction program. Article content The funding will support 18 new projects, create almost 1,600 jobs and add $233 million to Alberta's economy by 2027, according to the province. Article content Article content 'Alberta has the resources, the expertise and the entrepreneurs needed to create some of the most advanced materials in the world. This $49 million investment is incredibly important to accomplishing that,' said Justin Riemer, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta, at a press conference. Article content If successful, the 18 projects, which are scattered across Alberta, could reduce annual emissions by over 155,000 tons, or a cumulative 3.4 million tons by 2030, according to Riemer. Article content He noted that each project is unique, but there is a common theme. Article content 'Each support(s) the extraction, the production, the manufacturing and the circular life cycle of new and existing material products for Alberta,' said Riemer. Article content 'This funding supports technologies that make better use of our resources while cutting costs. It's a win for both the economy and the environment,' he said. Article content Article content Calgary-based Nova Chemicals was among the recipients, receiving $5 million to advance its $25 million plant. When complete, the facility will divert over 36,000 tons of single-use plastics annually from landfills and incineration. Article content 'We've been focused on creating value through Alberta's natural resources and driving innovations (to) reshape how plastics are designed, made, and incorporated into different structures,' said Rocky Vermani, Nova Chemicals' senior vice-president of innovation, sustainability and strategy. Article content Article content 'Nova is well-positioned to lead the transition to a circular economy,' said Vermani. Article content A circular economy refers to a system where materials never become waste and nature is 'regenerated'. Article content 'Nova is just one great example of the many incredible companies that put Alberta on the map as a global leader in manufacturing,' said Schulz.
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
New provincial park protects over 150K acres in northern Alberta
The province has allocated over 150,000 acres of land for Gipsy-Gordon Wildland Provincial Park southeast of Fort McMurray near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. The park includes the former 86,000-acre Gipsy Lake Wildland Provincial Park, changing the name to Gipsy-Gordon Wildland Provincial Park. 'This park will help protect our forests, preserve important habitat for wildlife and provide recreation opportunities for Albertans, all while supporting the exercise of Treaty rights by Indigenous peoples,' said Rebecca Schulz, minister of Environment and Protected Areas, in a statement Wednesday. New industrial and commercial land disturbances – including oil sands and mineral development – are prohibited in the park. Existing agreements will continue to operate. Forestry is also prohibited, except for management of wildfires, insects and disease. The park includes ranges for 28 provincially or federally designated species at risk, including 18 bird species, one fish and one amphibian species, five invertebrates and five mammals. The park was originally established as a conservation area under the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan, which guides future resource decisions while considering environmental, social and economic impacts.
National Observer
14-07-2025
- Business
- National Observer
Alberta won't increase oil sands monitoring funds to keep pace with industry expansion, inflation
Indigenous representatives of an oilsands monitoring program say Alberta won't increase funding to keep pace with oilsands expansion and inflation — and the shortfall risks compromising monitoring work, according to a letter obtained by Canada's National Observer. The joint oilsands monitoring group, composed of industry, provincial, federal and Indigenous representatives, was created in 2013 to monitor the environmental impacts of oilsands development in Alberta. The budget for 2025 is $54.5 million, paid for by industry, but the monitoring program received requests for roughly $76 million worth of monitoring work plans, leaving roughly $21.5 million of work requests unfunded. On March 20, Indigenous representatives on the oversight committee wrote a letter to the provincial and federal co-chairs warning that the budget is not keeping up with inflation or monitoring demands created by oilsands expansion, and this will negatively impact the quality of work. The funding formula that requires industry to pay up to $50 million annually for the program was developed in 2013 collaboratively by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the Alberta government. Accounting for inflation, what cost $50 million in 2013 should now cost about $66.5 million, the letter signatories write; 'Thus, the overall purchasing power of oilsands monitoring has shrunk roughly 25 per cent, while the oil sands industry has nearly doubled in size.' The signatories added that this runs contrary to the polluter-pays principle. This principle in Canadian law says companies or people that pollute are responsible to pay the costs they impose on society to protect the public from the cost of pollution, for example, oil spill cleanup and lasting impacts. In 2018, royalty revenues were $3.2 billion. In 2023, that number reached a staggering $16.9 billion, according to the letter. 'Arbitrary cuts to monitoring programs, such as the proposed major reductions in wetlands and biodiversity, put the effectiveness of the monitoring at risk,' according to the letter. Why the oilsands needs monitoring The Indigenous representatives pushed to prioritize fully funding community-based monitoring programs and core monitoring programs which meant cuts to other important programs. 'Arbitrary cuts to monitoring programs, such as the proposed major reductions in wetlands and biodiversity, put the effectiveness of the monitoring at risk,' according to the letter. 'For severely compromised programs, we would rather that no monitoring occur instead of poor monitoring. Poor monitoring does not provide any value to the communities, nor to the public, but instead provides a veneer of having addressed concerns in these areas.' Ryan Fournier, press secretary for Alberta Minister Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz, said it is 'misleading' to describe it as programming cuts because the request for $73 million in funding encompassed '53 different work plans, including requests that are duplicative, overlapping or even potentially conflicting.' Fournier did not provide specific examples of duplicative or conflicting work plans. There is a $3 million discrepancy between the amount of requested funding Alberta provided and the figure cited in the letter. When asked to respond to the fact that both inflation and oilsands expansion are outpacing the available funding, Fournier said the oil sands monitoring program 'is the biggest program of its kind in the world,' and said its budget 'has risen over $5 million since 2022, and has the funding needed to continue delivering for Albertans.' According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) spokesperson Hannah Boonstra, the funding was increased by $4.5 million this year "to utilize surplus funds accumulated from underspending in previous years.' The historic underspending is due to a range of factors, including COVID-19 and associated slowdowns on work plan approval, hiring and contracting delays, overestimating costs, consolidating work, approval delays and more, according to the annual reports. ECCC and Alberta Environment and Protected Areas co-chair the oil sands monitoring program but the federal government was in caretaker mode for the 2025 election and did not sign off on the final annual monitoring plan to avoid delays, Boonstra's statement noted. 'Since the Government of Alberta is financially accountable for the program, the province approves the financial elements of the monitoring plan,' Boonstra said. Last year, nearly $540,000 went to Cold Lake First Nation for community-based monitoring to examine how the oilsands industry is impacting a variety of factors, including water quality, berry abundance, fisheries health, muskrats and pitcher plants, to name a few. Interest in community-based monitoring like this is growing, the letter noted, and 'as new communities are onboarded, this forces us to choose between existing Western science initiatives and the needs of Indigenous communities.' This interest will likely keep growing while funding remains stagnant and 'we cannot offer a path forward for those programs and encourage communities to submit proposals, but then largely ignore the requests,' the letter reads.
Toronto Star
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
First Nations call for Ontario environment minister's resignation
TORONTO - Several dozen First Nations in Ontario called for the resignation of the province's environment minister Wednesday after he asked the federal government to not reintroduce a bill that would enshrine clean drinking water rights in law. Last month, Todd McCarthy and Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz wrote to federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin asking her to move away from legislation that they say would 'delay project development and undermine competitiveness.'
Global News
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Federal Minister planning to table First Nations water bill despite opposition from Alberta and Ontario
The federal minister of Indigenous services says her government plans to reintroduce legislation to ensure First Nations' rights to clean drinking water — despite calls from Alberta and Ontario for it to scrap the bill altogether. Two provincial environment ministers sent a letter to their federal counterpart this week calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney's government to abandon legislation they see as undermining competitiveness and delaying project development. 'Prime Minister Mark Carney has made a commitment to do things differently,' Alberta's Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz and her Ontario counterpart Todd McCarthy wrote in a June 30 letter to federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin. 'We are hopeful that this new federal government will move away from policies and legislation that undermine competitiveness, delay project development and disproportionately harm specific provinces and territories without any quantifiable benefits to the natural environment.' One of the bills they singled out is C-61, legislation introduced in the last Parliament that sought to ensure First Nations have access to clean drinking water and can protect fresh water sources on their territories. Story continues below advertisement 1:59 Progress slow on Alberta First Nation's water crisis That bill faced a lengthy committee process but was not passed into law before Parliament was prorogued. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said everyone in Canada should have access to clean water. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'That's why our new government has committed to introduce and pass legislation that affirms First Nations have a human right to clean drinking water. To be clear, we intend to introduce this legislation this fall to advance this important commitment,' said Livi McElrea. 'Provinces, territories, and the federal government have a shared responsibility of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples … We call on all parliamentarians, provinces, and territories to support this critical legislation to ensure that First Nations have access to clean drinking water.' View image in full screen A woman carries water jugs on the Neskantaga First Nation, in Ontario on Sept. 13, 2021. The Neskantaga First Nation hasn't had clean drinking water for over 30 years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward The Liberals under former prime minister Justin Trudeau vowed to end all long-term boil water advisories by 2021 — a self-imposed deadline they failed to meet. Story continues below advertisement Indigenous Services Canada data shows 37 long-term drinking water advisories are still in place across the country — most of them in Ontario. The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations has been vocal in her desire for the bill to be reintroduced, saying after the election parliamentarians will be playing 'political games' with the lives of First Nations children if it doesn't make its way back to the House of Commons. 'Every member of Parliament in Canada that's going to sit in that House has an obligation to think about all the children of this country, and shame on people that played games, pushing it down politically, kicking it to each other and blaming each other, even through the election,' Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in May. 1:19 Shamattawa First Nation calls on Feds to honour clean water commitment Schulz and McCarthy also pointed to the Species at Risk Act, the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, Clean Electricity Regulations and the Impact Assessment Act as pieces of legislation or policy that should be repealed. Story continues below advertisement Legislation to repeal the portion of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act that created the consumer carbon price was introduced in early June but is awaiting debate and votes in Parliament. The act will remain in place to maintain a carbon price for big industrial polluters. However the consumer carbon price was set to zero by regulation on April 1. Both provinces have been pushing the federal government to allow for developments of major projects, often finding themselves at odds with First Nations in their respective jurisdictions. One northern Ontario First Nation just completed a four-day demonstration that slowed down traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway to protest legislation designed to speed up mining and development, with leaders saying they feel heir rights are being violated and they are not being properly consulted in provincial and federal legislation. Bill C-5, which became law last week, gives Ottawa the power to fast-track projects meant to boost the national economy by sidestepping most of the environmental protections and legislation Alberta and Ontario want Canada to repeal.
