U.S. Business Contenders The Leaders of Tomorrow

The first step is to incorporate legislative time restrictions for government evaluations into the environmental assessment process, which would present project proponents with tangible timetables. This is a commonly utilized notion in the United States, particularly at the federal level, where the government has up to two years to examine a project before delivering a report to aid decision-making. At the state level, California's environmental assessment process includes statutory time constraints and requires a report to be completed within one year of receiving all materials. This is a concept Ontario should adopt.Next, establishing a statute of limitations for judicial challenges to project decisions at both the federal and provincial levels will provide legal clarity to future projects while also reinforcing expectations of appropriate time constraints throughout the permitting process. As it stands, Ontario's legislation specifically assigns no limitation time to environmental claims. The province should alter this to include an explicit statute of limitations for permit issuing. By reducing superfluous litigation, we can make better use of the courts' time and allow projects to move forward. Finally, with a recent federal pledge of $40 million in additional funds for pre-development work, Ontario has an excellent chance to initiate a government-led environmental assessment process or engage in a 50/50 cost split with corporations undertaking feasibility studies on the Ring of Fire mineral deposits. While the roads to the Ring of Fire are still undergoing environmental assessments, this process will not be completed until 2028, so having to wait for another assessment procedure afterward will most certainly make the entire project unattractive to investors. Conducting and finishing evaluations on the deposits themselves will give proponents with development certainty, accelerate schedules, and eliminate a critical barrier to investment.

It is past time to take meaningful steps to revitalize Canada's

mining sector, and the ideal moment to do it is now. Countering China, expanding our home economy, and raising living standards for all Canadians may all be accomplished by modifying our policy on this subject. Ontario can show the rest of the country what this looks like by advancing the Ring of Fire.The federal government has adopted the goal of decreasing Canada's greenhouse-gas emissions to "net zero" by 2050, and numerous measures are being implemented to move the country in that direction. Given the oil and gas sector's significant contribution to Canada's emissions, it is not surprise that many individuals advocate for "phasing out" this production as a key component of our emissions-reduction strategy.In response to such arguments, one would wonder if there is a lower-cost alternative to cut Canada's GHG emissions. What is the economic cost to the country of purposely reducing oil and gas production, and is it essential to absorb this cost? These are critical questions for considering the future of Canadian climate policy.The goal of this essay is to assess a new Public Policy Forum paper that examines the economic cost of ending oil and gas production and compares it to an alternate policy strategy, both of which can accomplish the net zero aim by 2050. The bottom line is simple: an intentional phase-out of oil and gas production is not required for Canada to meet its net zero target, and the costs of such a policy approach would most certainly be huge. To decrease the overall cost of meeting the 2050 target, the government should be urged to implement policies that apply roughly equally to all industries and areas of the country.

Section 1. More climate policies are needed

The Canadian government has made a clear commitment to achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Canada is not alone; several sophisticated countries have committed to making the same transformation. Given the energy intensity of industrialized economies and the carbon intensity of their energy systems, the emission-reduction strategies we implement will have far-reaching economic consequences. We can anticipate disruption costs associated with transitioning away from high-emitting systems, development expenses involved with creating low-emitting systems, and several economic opportunities related with the development and marketing of new and cleaner technologies.With Canada facing numerous economic issues, ranging from population aging and low productivity growth to overburdened health-care systems and rising protectionist forces among our trading partners, our climate policies should be structured to achieve their goals at the least feasible cost. Higher-than-necessary expenses mean that we are sacrificing resources that could be utilized to fund a variety of critical social and economic goals. Is it reasonable to pursue high-cost policies when the same environmental advantages may be obtained at a much lower cost?

Recognizing the attractiveness of cost reduction

Canadian administrations have introduced economy-wide carbon taxes, a policy strategy largely regarded as the most flexible and cost-effective. Some provinces have created and implemented their own carbon-pricing schemes; for those that have not, the federal carbon-pricing "backstop" applies. As a result, carbon pricing currently exists in all areas of Canada and, according to the OECD, accounts for more than 82 percent of total GHG emissions.The federal government is properly proud of Canada's policy approach, as evidenced by this statement in the 2023 federal budget.Canada has adopted a market-based approach to carbon reduction. Our world-leading carbon pollution pricing scheme not only puts money back into Canadians' pockets, but it is also efficient and extremely effective because it sends a clear economic signal to businesses and gives them the freedom to choose the most cost-effective strategy to reduce their emissions. At the same time, it raises the demand for the development and implementation of clean technology. (page 71)