Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz. (Government of Alberta)

By rdnewsNOW staff

Auditor General

Commissioner calls out federal failures: Minister Schulz

Nov 8, 2023 | 1:08 PM

Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz issued the following statement Wednesday in response to a report released by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada:

“The commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development – appointed by the auditor general of Canada – has released a scathing report that should serve as a great embarrassment to federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault.

“Chief among the findings, the commissioner found that the federal government will fail to reach its own 2030 emissions target. He went further, pointing out that the federal government uses poor modelling with faulty assumptions, little analysis and no peer review.

“The federal government has also set a target of making 80 per cent of the federal government’s fleet vehicles net zero by 2030. The commissioner found that if progress continues at the current rate, the federal government will reach only one per cent of its target by 2030.

“The report goes on to find that not only are there not enough electric vehicle chargers, but the federal government doesn’t even know where EV chargers are needed.

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“The bottom line is clear: this is a federal government that is setting itself and Canadians up for failure through bad and unserious policy, designed purely for international photo ops and grand announcements.

“And to whatever extent this federal government tries to implement these policies, it will end up hurting Canadians, destroying economic growth and worsening the affordability crisis in the process.

“The federal government should stay in its own lane and leave emissions reductions to the provinces that understand the industries we are constitutionally responsible for. Without top-down federal targets, Alberta has reduced methane emissions by 44 per cent and saved $600 million for industry, had we taken the federal route. We also reduced electricity emissions by 53 per cent, and per barrel emissions went down 21 per cent. The Alberta way is working, and we aren’t done yet.

“I’d like to reiterate our government’s invitation to Ottawa to work with us toward an achievable 2050 goal of carbon neutrality.”

Related: Canada’s emissions reduction plan falling short: environment commissioner