Canada.

Context and considerations for a Unions4Climate campaign

Despite the fact that Canada played a supporting role for the climate agenda during the
nineties, the country has emerged in recent decades, and through conservative
government leadership, as a leader of blockage to the international agenda on climate
action.
These international positions, which are both irresponsible and very vocal, also reflect
the nature of the policies promoted at a national level: based on environmental
deregulation, the preponderance of the extractive sectors in the economy and the
complete support of the uncontrolled boom of tar sands.
Emissions in Canada are growing and most of the increase in the country's emissions
is produced by the tar sands boom. This sector is also the centre of a broader national
debate which includes other angles, such as sectoral balances in the economy, justice
and taxation, and land planning and development. Recent changes to Alberta's
government might provide an opportunity to regulate the exploitation of this resource.
Historically Canadian trade unions' commitment towards climate action has been very
strong. Their joint call with other social movements for a march for climate action on the
5th of July is new proof of this commitment.
They are calling for greater ambition in international commitments to reduce emissions
by 37% for 2025, and for more and better funding for developing countries (4 Billion
CAD). This international position is combined with commitment to concrete measures
at the national level, such as their support for a national carbon tax, national targets for
renewables and investments in green infrastructure. For the CLC, trade union climate
action must be an opportunity to re-activate an industrial fabric that has been dwarfed
by the weight of extractive industries in the country in recent years. In addition, unions
support a tax change to facilitate the transformation, increasing taxes for polluting
industries and subsidizing the clean ones.

Canada emissions trends and pledges to UNFCCC

Canada ranks 7th among OECD countries for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, both
per capita and per unit of GDPi.

Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in December 2011, where its target for CP1
(2008-2012) was a reduction of 6% below 1990 emission levels. By 2012, and after its
withdrawal, Canada's emissions had risen by up to 18% above 1990 levels.

Canada’s Kyoto target has progressively weakened compared to commitments given

under the Convention. The Convention's target is to reduce emissions by 17% below
2005 levels by 2020, which, however, translates to a 7% increase in emissions from
1990 levels.In May an INDC target of 30% aggregate emission reduction below 2005
by 2030 was announcedii.

Additional to the fact that objectives are less ambitious, trends in greenhouse gas
emissions in Canada are not actually decreasing. In these last few years, Canada's
Conservative government has announced a decline in GHG production since 2005.
However, this is mostly due to 2008-09's recession. In fact, Canada's production of
greenhouse gases rose by 27 megatonnes between 2009 and 2013iii.

Since 1990, tar sands (also known as oil sands or the technical name bituminous
sands) were Canada's fastest-growing emissions source and this trend continued
between 2005 and 2013. During that period, emissions from tar sands have climbed by
30 megatonnes (MTs) to 62 MTs, while the electricity sector reduced its GHGs by 36
MTs in that same period to 85MTs.iv
 Canada. Context and considerations for a Unions4Climate campaign

Against this backdrop, Canada is expected to reach emissions of 762 MtCO2e in 2020
(excluding emissions from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry – LULUCF).
Projections show that by 2030 emissions will increase to 815 MtCO2e. The Climate
Action Tracker’s projections based on Canada’s current policies shows Canada will
miss its 2020 pledge and 2030 INDC by a wide marginv.

A pledge for a fair share

Canada's commitment is far from what could be considered fair; it sits below its
capabilities and responsibilities. Its attitude, in addition to unilaterally breaching
agreements, sets a poor example for all countries and it also serves to increase the
whole system's inequality. Rather than promoting a worldwide endeavor to reduce
emissions, Canada’s actions have undermined it.

According to the Climate Equity Reference Calculator of EcoEquity, and given a Strong
2 pathway target, the global mitigation requirement in 2020 is 19.8 gigatonnesvi.

Canada’s fair share of this 2020 global mitigation requirement is 2.9%, which is 566
million tonnes. Canada’s 2020 unconditional mitigation pledge (218 tonnes) falls short
of its fair share of the global effort by 348 million tonnesvii.

In per-capita terms, Canada’s fair share of the 2020 global mitigation requirement
comes to 15.0 tonnes. Its reduction pledge, however, is only 5.8 tonnes per person,
which falls short of its fair share by 9.2 tonnes per person. Its score is therefore -9.2viii.

Recent trends in the Canadian Economy: all bets on tar sands

The oil and gas sector accounts for two-thirds of the total GHG increase since 1990ix.
This growth stems almost entirely from the expansion of Alberta’s oil sands. Over the
last decade, conventional oil production declined while oil sands production increased
by over 250 per cent.

The influence of the oil industry's lobby on the current administration has entailed an
uncontrolled development of this highly contaminating industry, both in terms of CO2
emissions and land destruction; intensively using and contaminating key resources
such as water. Remediation efforts pale in comparison to the immense scale of the
pollution. Every day, 250 million litres of toxic tailings flow into unlined pitsx.

Canada's economy has increasingly centered growth almost exclusively on the

exportation and exploitation of natural resources. The consequences on aborigen
peoples liveilihoods and health have been painful. This tendency has come hand in
hand with the reduction of environmental requisites with Bill C-38xi. OCDE's 2014
points to land destruction and related conflicts as a fundamental weakness in Canada's
economy.

Furthermore oil sand extraction has given rise to other serious economical challenges
and imbalances:

- Sectoral imbalances: In line with the Dutch disease theory (the economic relationship
between an increase in the economic development of natural resources and a decline
in the manufacturing sector), other export-oriented sectors of the economy have
contracted in both relative and absolute terms. They have been “squeezed out” by the
 Canada. Context and considerations for a Unions4Climate campaign

macroeconomic side-effects of the resource boom. Manufacturing output and

employment has sharply declinedxii.

- Regional imbalances: there is a regional correlation - higher oil prices have mostly
benefited Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador; and in a less
pronounced manner, the economies of Ontario and Québecxiii.

- Fiscal imbalances: even though they constitute a growing source of funding for the
authorities, taxes in this sector are still low compared to other fossil fuel exporting
countries. Additionally, since 1980 the provinces have complete control over setting
resource specific taxation. Therefore, provincial authorities promote an irresponsible
growth of exports to increase revenue generated in a context of low taxes. Social
programs are financed with this revenue, because progressive taxes on capital and
activity are even lower. For instance, Alberta collects more in oil royalties than it does
in personal income taxes. All in all this is an unfair system, the share of income
inequality offset by the tax /transfer system has declined, taxes are not sufficient to
reduce environmental impacts and there are no saving gains from exploiting a finite
resource and sharing it with future generations.xiv

- Instability: Commodity prices, especially oil, are inherently volatile. If oil prices fall
substantially, as they have just recently done, and/or the world reduces its demand for
oil (as it is likely to occur, for both economic and environmental reasons) economic
instability can damage Canadian society. To make a greater portion of the economy
dependant on fuel's volatile prices seems to be a recipe for disaster.

Source: Stanford 2014

A low populated country with a high employment rate

Canada has always had a high employment rate, and historically has looked to expand
the labour force through immigration policies. Additionally, Canada’s labour market
has outperformed those of other Group of Seven (G-7) economies since 2006 with
close to 1.6 million net new jobs created across the countryxv Nontheless, in the last 5
years, 75% of jobs created in Canada were temporary or part time precarious jobs.
 Canada. Context and considerations for a Unions4Climate campaign

The growing importance of the oil industry for the Canadian economy doesn't seem to
be paying off poorly in terms of employment. However, this should be approached from
a sectoral point of view. As previously said, jobs have been lost in the manufacturing
sector. Some 600,000 Canadian manufacturing jobs have disappeared since the turn
of the century.xvi

Meanwhile, the number of oil industry employees is not that impressive. In 2011 54,000
Canadians were employed in the oil extraction industry, with a growth of 18,000 since
2000. Only 3 percent of the net jobs lost in the manufacturing sector were
compensated by the oil and gas sector's expansion in that periodxvii.

Constant calls to protect the oil sector due to its ability to generate jobs are unfounded
in the case of Alberta as well. There, oil sand companies claim to be generating 12.000
oil-sand jobs each year, but at a closer look, the Alberta Labour Federation suggests
growth is closer to 4.500 (almost ten times less than the growth in healthcare jobs).

Clean Energy Canada reports that the number of direct jobs created in 2013 in clean
technologies surpassed those generated by the oil sector by 6%. Under current policy
scenarios, renewable energy could create 63.000 full time equivalent jobs by 2030.xviii

Current emission reduction policies

Climate change policies at the federal level essentially consist of governing the
greenhouse gas intensity of the new light duty and heavy duty vehicle fleets,
greenhouse gas intensity of new coal-fired power plants, and renewable fuel content in
gasoline and diesel. Only a small amount of emissions in the economy are covered by
these policies, which hence allows the unabated increase of emissions in the rest of
the economyxix.

Although some provinces have more ambitious policies, like Quebec’s cap on
emissions, B.C’s carbon tax and Ontario phasing out coal fired power plants; work
undertaken by oil producing provinces is clearly insufficient. The recent election
outcome in Alberta has brought changes to this reality.
 Canada. Context and considerations for a Unions4Climate campaign

Source: Environment Canada 2012

Given generally low taxes on energy use nationwide, Canada effectively taxes carbon
at one of the lowest rates in the OECD.xx

In order to radically change this lack of compliance with its fair share, proposals should
go along the lines of carbon taxing and firm policies regarding energy efficiency and
green energy (solar, wind, small hydro, biomass, land fill and biogas).

Historic trade union push for climate ambition

Through the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Canadian unions were pioneers in
defending climatic action. In fact, Canadian social and union movements keyed the
term a just transition in order to support the commitments made in Kyoto.

After this, the CLC began its support for the ‘Climate Change Accountability Act’, a
private member’s Bill which proposed a more ambitious goal, a reduction of emissions
by 80% compared to 1990 levels, and which has been submitted to the Canadian
Parliament four times, most recently in June 2014.

Unions in the manufacturing sector, such as Steelworkers, have formed an important

part of the pressure groups for the development of wind power. Together with the Blue
Green Alliance and the federation, the CLC is an important part of the Green Economy
Network.

Even a group in such a difficult position as the Alberta Labour Federation opposes a
"Wild West" expansion model that puts corporate profits ahead of workers and the
environment. They call for a more regulated pace of development that would be good
for both workers and the environment. The federation also complains that the “jobs”
argument seems to be mostly used by those who refuse to take action.

The Blue Green Alliance has demonstrated the power other sectors have to create jobs
in comparison with the extractive sector, and they’ve drawn out the following scenarios
based on a 1.3 billion investment from CAD.
 Canada. Context and considerations for a Unions4Climate campaign

The CLC also works with Adapting Canadian Work Workplaces (ACW) formerly Work
in a Warming World as well as Trade unions for Energy Democracy.

Proposals for a union campaign: Advancing towards a fairer share

The CLC is calling for a legally binding commitment to cut GHG in Canada by at least
one third within the next 10 years (equivalent to 37% below 2005 levels by 2025) which
is a greater goal than the 30% proposed by its government for 2030.

Its call to a fairer share also includes contributing to climate finance by 2020. They are
calling on Canada to commit 0.2% of GDP (4 Billion CAD) to publicly fund climate
finance divided equally between mitigation and adaptation projects. Oxfam estimates
that Canada's fair share for climate finance adaptation should be 4.2% of the total
global effort, which amounts to about 5 billion CAD. It's important that there should be
new and additional resources available to United Nations' institutions, such as the
Green Climate Fund, to be disbursed as grants instead of loans, in order to prevent
further growth in the debt burden of developing countries.

Proposals for a union campaign: The policies needed for the change

- Unions support a floor price for carbon that would be applied across the country
but they do not mention a figure. An analysis for the National Roundtable on the
Environment and Economy suggests that reducing greenhouse gas emissions
by 70 percent by 2050 would require a carbon price between $200 and $350/t
CO2. To spur those changes on, Canada would need to aim for a national
carbon price of 75 - 100 per tonne by 2020. That's much higher than the $30 of
the carbon tax both in B.C and the recently approved in Alberta by the new
government. An open debate on this difficult issue has to take place.

- For this transition, investments in infrastructure are key in order to create an

infrastructure for mitigation, such as mass transit and green energy projects,
and to improve its overall resilience. For mass transit, municipal public transit
and high speed rails would be the prioritized areas.

- Unions believe in sectoral green development policies. Targeted investments in

high value-added production along with green jobs and green skills initiatives
would enhance innovation and labour productivity. Unions call for active
government strategies on trade, sectoral development, and domestic
procurement measures. Bearing in mind the low oil prices and a struggling
 Canada. Context and considerations for a Unions4Climate campaign

manufacturing sector, the CLC also urges the federal government to take steps
to foster a culture of training and skills development in Canadian workplaces.

- The energy shift has to come together with the establishment of positive
national objectives for renewable energy generation (wind, solar, biomass,
small-scale hydro) and low or zero-emissions vehicles. Despite there is not will
from the current government to undertake national targets, unions will have to
have complete proposals ready.

- Energy efficiency can be achieved through retrofitting old buildings and

establishing stringent energy and efficiency, and conservation improvement
standards for all new homes and buildings, appliances, equipment and vehicles.
Union reps have to be more active promoting these solutions at company level
and for that the union should have a team to mobilize these “green reps”.

- Unions already are supporting the phasing out of subsidies to the oil, gas and
gold sector, which encourage exploration, development, refining, and export of
these sources of energy, and redirect those subsidies towards low-impact
renewable energy generation, conservation and efficiency. Maintain the
pressure on this proposal is fundamental for the transition.

- Collective bargaining is an important tool. Unions with Adapting Canadian Work

Workplaces (ACW) are looking on how to implement mandatory green
initiatives into collective agreements for all sectors of the economy. This work
could to be strengthened and translated into targets.

- Unions seek to stimulate sustainable transportation by investing in accessible

urban and intercity public transit, active transportation like cycling and walking,
discouraging single-occupancy automobile use, and shift freight movement from
road to rail. Municipal and transport workers unions will have to developed
concrete plans in each city, taking profit of the big alliance they are building
together with NGOs.

- All policies will have an impact on employment. In order to facilitate the success
of these policies and keep social justice as a guiding principle unions are calling
for a labour-market adjustment and income support measures to help displaced
workers retrain, relocate, and accomplish a rapid, smooth and fair transition
from fossil-fuel intensive industries to green economy industries. They will have
to devote union resources to monitor trends.

i
OECD (2104) Economic Surveys CANADA June 2014 OVERVIEW
http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Overview%20_CANADA_2014.pdf
ii
Government of Canada (2015) http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=974949
iii
Environment Canada (2014) Canada’s Sixth National Report on Climate Change 2014
http://www.ec.gc.ca/cc/0BA54AAB-6E8E-4D48-B42C-DCBB09B27D10/6458_EC_ID1180-
MainBook_high_min%20FINAL-s.pdf
iv
Environment Canada (2014) Canada’s Sixth National Report on Climate Change 2014
http://www.ec.gc.ca/cc/0BA54AAB-6E8E-4D48-B42C-DCBB09B27D10/6458_EC_ID1180-
MainBook_high_min%20FINAL-s.pdf
v
Climate Action Tracker (2015). http://climateactiontracker.org/countries/canada.html
vi
Climate Equity Calculator (2015) http://www.gdrights.org/calculator/
vii
Climate Equity Calculator (2015) http://www.gdrights.org/calculator/
viii
Climate Equity Calculator (2015) http://www.gdrights.org/calculator/
ix
OECD (2104) Economic Surveys CANADA June 2014 OVERVIEW
http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Overview%20_CANADA_2014.pdf
 Canada. Context and considerations for a Unions4Climate campaign

x
BlueGreen Alliance (2012). MORE BANG FOR OUR BUCK How Canada Can Create More
Energy Jobs and Less Pollution
http://bluegreencanada.ca/sites/default/files/resources/More%20Bang%20for%20Buck%20Nov%202012
%20FINAL%20WEB.pdf
xi
David Suzuki (2012) Foundation Bill C-38: What you need to know
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/downloads/2012/C-38%20factsheet.pdf
xii
Standford (2012) A Cure for Dutch Disease: Active Sector Strategies for Canada’s Economy
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2012/04/Cur
e%20For%20Dutch%20Disease.pdf
xiii
OECD (2104) Economic Surveys CANADA June 2014 OVERVIEW
http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Overview%20_CANADA_2014.pdf
xiv
OECD (2104) Economic Surveys CANADA June 2014 OVERVIEW
http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Overview%20_CANADA_2014.pdf
xv
Department of Finance (2014). Jobs report: The state of the Canadian labour market
http://www.budget.gc.ca/2014/docs/jobs-emplois/pdf/jobs-emplois-eng.pdf
xvi
Standford (2012) A Cure for Dutch Disease: Active Sector Strategies for Canada’s Economy
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2012/04/Cur
e%20For%20Dutch%20Disease.pdf
xvii
Standford (2012) A Cure for Dutch Disease: Active Sector Strategies for Canada’s Economy
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2012/04/Cure%20For%2
0Dutch%20Disease.pdf
xviii New Climate Institute (2015) Co-benefits of climate change contributions
http://newclimate.org/portfolio/co-benefits-of-climate-change-contributions/
xix
Nicholas Rivers (2014) The Case for a Carbon Tax in Canada http://canada2020.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2014/11/The-Case-for-a-Carbon-Tax-in-Canada.pdf
xx
Nicholas Rivers (2014) The Case for a Carbon Tax in Canada http://canada2020.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2014/11/The-Case-for-a-Carbon-Tax-in-Canada.pdf