Environment

Report attacks Canada for failed green projects

by Amy Judd | February 6, 2009 at 03:22 pm

318 views | 13 Recommendations | 8 comments

A new report by Canada's Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development suggest that the Canadian federal government has not got a clue if the amount of money it is spending on green projects are working at all or doing any good.

This report says the government is failing to manage or do anything about air pollution.

“I have been surprised that there haven’t been clear reporting systems,” said Commissioner Scott Vaughan. “You need to know whether the problem you have identified is getting worse, better or remaining the same and there are not systems in place to give the government information back to know how they are doing.”

An example used is the Public Transit Tax Credit that was supposed to reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 220,000 tonnes a year, by giving people a tax credit if they buy bus passes, however the plan is only reducing emissions by 35,000 tonnes a year and at this current rate will cost over $3,000 to eliminate a tonnne of carbon, which is not very good.
The government also has not followed up with the rules to enforce how gas is pumped at stations, even though they planend to put them in place in 2001.

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mikeygottawa

at 16:08 on February 6th, 2009

Happy to contribute a photo! Buses have been an issue here in Ottawa lately. Don't get me started. Many Thanks & Best Wishes! Peace.

Amy Judd

at 16:25 on February 6th, 2009

Thanks so much!

coldacid

at 17:18 on February 6th, 2009

(This comment is in regards to the shared photo of mine.)

Durham Region Transit: A failed attempt at public transit amalgamation. Since the merger of the various public transit companies in Durham Region, service has diminished outside of Oshawa, while costs to commuters have risen to the point where DRT is the second-most municipal transit company in the GTA, beat only by York Region Transit. (GO Transit, being run by the province for the entire GTA, doesn't qualify as a municipal transit provider.)

coldacid has contributed a photo to this story.

Fripouille

at 11:36 on February 7th, 2009

I very much appreciate the title of this post.

"Report attacks ****** for failed green projects".

I took out the name "Canada" here because, let's be honest, this headline could apply to most countries in the world, unfortunately.

For all the lofty promises and public declarations of coming change, the international community seems to be much more efficient in adopting resolutions and using them for domestic political gain than actually implementing them.

An example? Sure.

France, one of the fiercest critics of the USA's non-ratification of Kyoto, is one of the European countries which least respects European legislation concerning industrial pollution.

The sad fact is that governments are not putting their money where their mouths are..

eastvanray

at 17:40 on February 7th, 2009

This comes as no surprise to me. During my stint in government (Province of BC) the public sector had no effective way to analyze and determine if any of their programs were actually effective. Just look at Health Care. We keep shovelling money out of the back of a pick-up truck and HOPE people will somehow benefit. If waiting lines are too long what is the solution? More money! And don't even get me started on Education. Here in BC our teachers are fighting against the ONLY way we have of determining if our sizable investments in our children's education is resulting in superior outcomes or not. The problem is not THIS federal government or THAT federal government.....it is GOVERNMENT period. They are not set up to produce efficient outcomes. They exist mostly to serve the agendas of various interest groups.

Fripouille

at 17:48 on February 7th, 2009

Very pertinent comment that, eastvanray..

If I may just add something, not only is what you say true, but politicians also have to perform the impossible balancing act between promising all these well-thinking citizens that they'll do something, and not asking them to pay for it!!!

It's a bit like agriculltural subsidies. We all want to help poorer countries, but not if taking subsidies away means that their products are as competitive as ours....

We get the Governments we deserve.

Barry Artiste

at 21:43 on February 7th, 2009

But on the other hand, Ontario says its green initiatives will create 50,000 jobs, HMMMM, somehow I think we are getting a snowjob!

The economy and getting people back to work should be a number 1 priority, environmentalism which is near and dear to me, may have to wait, since taxpayers may not have the money to foot further environmental projects.