https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/04/01/news/canada-wants-you-help-public-servants-identify-fossil-fuel-subsidies
[Sadly, this is not an April Fool's joke despite the date on the
article. The Canadian federal government really cannot figure out all
the subsidies it provides to the mostly foreign-owned oil and gas
industry. That's despite the Environment Minister having had 2 years to
respond to a finding from the Auditor-General to do precisely this. Fee
free to submit your favourites, though I think there are other entities
better placed to supply this information - the ones who put the
subsidies in place. Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Revenue, Natural
Resources Canada (aka Oil&Gas Canada), Canadian Association of Petroleum
Producers (CAPP), Canadian Energy Pipelines Association (CEPA),
Government of Alberta, Government of Saskatchewan, Government of
Newfoundland and Labrador, Imperial Oil ... Also, the feds are
apparently not aware of work done by other organizations (e.g. the IMF)
which identify such subsidies. And in an interesting twist, it seems
that the federal government does not consider foregone revenue to be a
subsidy.
links in online artice]
Canada wants you to help public servants identify fossil fuel subsidies
By Carl Meyer in News, Energy, Politics | April 1st 2019
Canada wants you to help public servants identify subsidies to the oil
and gas industry.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna announced a
new public consultation on March 29 asking all Canadians what they
believe the definition of “fossil fuel subsidy” should be.
The announcement came four days before Environment Commissioner Julie
Gelfand is set to update the country on how the federal government is
doing in identifying those subsidies.
The consultation will focus on “non-tax” measures, which the minister
said in February that the government was still trying to identify. Two
years ago, the auditor general said the department “did not yet know”
their extent.
The consultation, which will run until June 30, 2019, is related to the
Trudeau government’s 2016 pledge to eliminate “inefficient fossil fuel
subsidies” by 2025, one of the priorities in McKenna’s mandate letter.
The public can also weigh in on what it believes the definition of
“inefficient” should be.
Non-tax oil and gas subsidies are things like government grants and
research funding, loans at favourable rates or actions by government
intervening in markets like selling resources below-market rates.
Economists say they distort the marketplace and tilt the playing field
against clean technology, slowing progress in cutting the carbon
pollution that leads to costly and destructive climate change.
Everyone is being invited to contribute to the new consultation,
although the government is specifically encouraging members of
environmental non-government organizations, industry, Indigenous
communities and academia to participate.
Argentina peer review now awaits public feedback
The new consultation process, the government said, will also be used in
a peer review process with Argentina that was launched in June 2018 to
“ensure both countries are on track” to phase out subsidies.
Environment and Climate Change Canada had previously said “public
reporting” on the subsidies issue will occur once both the non-tax
departmental review and the peer review with Argentina has been finalized.
Now it appears as though the earliest date for that to happen will be
Summer 2019.
"The results of the consultations will be used to inform Canada’s report
as a part of the peer review with Argentina, which will be made public
once the peer review is finalized," stated the press release.
Only ‘federal’ subsidies being considered
The announcement revealed some key details about how the government sees
its responsibility for reporting on oil and gas subsidies.
The former Harper government first joined G20 countries in 2009 in a
commitment to “rationalize and phase out over the medium term
inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption”
following a summit in Pittsburgh.
Even though that leaders’ statement refers to “national circumstances,”
it appears the government is now interpreting its G20 commitment as a
federal one only, and therefore excluding provincial fossil fuel subsidies.
“Fossil fuel subsidies in Canada may exist at the federal, provincial,
or territorial level. However, the G20 commitment was made at the
federal level, so the public consultation is focused on the federal
level,” the March 29 press release stated.
The release also refers to “eliminating inefficient fossil fuel
subsidies at the federal level by 2025.” The inclusion of the phrase “at
the federal level” was not in the minister’s mandate letter nor was it
in the Argentina peer review announcement.
Four subsidies get a preliminary pass
The announcement also hinted at how Ottawa's funding for natural gas
refueling stations and its funding for "clean technology" in the oil and
gas sector may be treated as part of a subsidies crackdown.
The press release stated that a “preliminary review” by ECCC had
determined that it didn't consider four non-tax subsidies it examined to
be “inefficient” and therefore subject to elimination.
One of those was “electric and alternative fuel vehicle infrastructure,”
which is the government’s term for electric car chargers, natural gas
and hydrogen fuel cell charging stations. Natural gas stations are set
to receive $22 million as part of a six-year, $182 million undertaking.
Another was "oil and gas clean technology research." The federal
government's Energy Innovation Program includes $50 million for the
"development of clean oil and gas technologies."
The other non-tax subsidies identified as "efficient" in the preliminary
review were support for electricity prices in Indigenous communities.
The preliminary review assessed “36 ongoing measures undertaken across
11 federal departments, six regional development agencies and seven
arm’s-length organizations," the release stated.
“The draft assessment framework used in the review did not find any of
the four to be inefficient."
As part of the consultation process, the government also announced a
“draft assessment framework.” The link to the PDF document did not
function as of publication, but was fixed Monday afternoon following a
National Observer inquiry.
[You can provide your thoughts via e-mail to ec.iffs-sicf.ec@xxxxxxxxx
before June 30, 2019 - about 2 months. That should take us into the
summer doldrums and active election campaign period, effectively killing
the matter for this session of Parliament.]
--
Darryl McMahon
Freelance Project Manager (sustainable systems)
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