Canadian NGOs and labour unions have sent an amicus curiae submission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the eve of a second hearing tomorrow into Japan's and the European Union's joint attack on the Ontario Green Energy Act. The groups address Canada's failure to properly defend Ontario's actions and call upon the WTO to respect the priority of Canada's international climate change obligations.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- “Today’s federal budget moves us closer to a meaner, leaner, lesser country that will soon be unrecognizable,” says Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
“It causes needless hardship for seniors who can least afford it, cuts public sector jobs that our struggling economy badly needs, and fast tracks good jobs out of Canada, while smoothing the way for multinationals to increase profits.”
One of the criticisms levelled at Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline
to the West Coast is the export of energy to China. Why, critics argue,
should we be shipping oil to China rather than supplying domestic crude
to Eastern Canada?
A prominent Canadian economist is raising concerns about the future of Burnaby's Chevron refinery as oil companies try to meet rising demand for Canadian crude in Asia. Chevron's North Burnaby refinery is one of two remaining in B.C., but it could be in peril if the company can't secure a steady supply of oil. "It does appear that the Burnaby refinery is not getting adequate feedstock. That's because oil companies can get higher prices in Asian markets," said Robyn Allan, former CEO of the Insurance Corporation of
When many thousands of Canadians indicate they are not comfortable with their governments build-a-pipeline-anywhere policies because of job-related economic concerns, energy security, and fears about environmental damage, they are ignored and belittled.
The Harper government has labeled unions, environmentalists and First Nations groups -- and anyone else who has voiced opposition to the Keystone XL and the Northern Gateway pipelines -- as radical and anti-Canadian.
Top of the agenda for Stephen Harper when he visits Beijing next week will be the sale of Canada's crude oil to China. The Conservative government's enthusiasm for exporting this country's raw resources has come under fire for perpetuating our reputation as hewers of wood and drawers of water.
New Democrats, such as leadership candidate Brian Topp, have called for raw bitumen from Canada's oil sands to be processed at home before being sent south to the United States or to Asia.
OTTAWA -- In its submission to the National Energy Board, Canada's largest energy union says the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline is being built to export more bitumen than we could even produce by 2025.
In the process, the pipeline will cause profound damage to the environment, cost more than 26,000 Canadian jobs, and put Canada's own energy needs at risk, says the brief submitted today by the the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP).
OTTAWA – “U.S. President Barack Obama’s reported decision to deny a permit for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline is the right decision for Canada,” says Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada President Dave Coles.
“This is an opportunity for stakeholders – including the oil industry, governments, environmentalists, First Nations groups and labour unions -- to come together and create a sustainable energy policy.”
“We need a policy based on economic stability, job creation,
