Leave it in the Ground

From: Dianne Varga
Sent: August 10, 2015 6:50 PM
To: thomas.mulcair@parl.gc.ca
Cc: linda@lindamcquaig.ca; elizabeth.may@parl.gc.ca
Subject: RE: leaving it in the ground
Importance: High

Dear Mr. Mulcair:

Further to my letter that I sent yesterday, I note the Canadian Press has reported your response to the Leave it in the Ground controversy. “It's possible" to increase tar sands production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, you said. “You have to put in place that sustainable development legislation and enforce it."

I know we can agree that the current government has not been on track to manage anything close to this. Back in 2014, Harper admitted in his submission to the U.N. that mainly due to expanding tar sands projects, Canada's carbon emissions were projected to soar by 38 per cent by 2030. Referring to the government’s inevitable failure to meet its emissions reduction target of 17 per cent of 2005 levels by 2020, Mark Jaccard, an energy economist at Canada's Simon Frasier University and former Harper government appointee, said at the time: "Now it's too late. The government is not telling the truth to Canadians about the climate impacts of its energy policies. We in Canada are living an Orwellian nightmare when it comes to our government and climate."

Mr. Mulcair, I call upon you to tell me and to tell all Canadians what kind of sustainable development legislation could result in reduced emissions while production increases? In this have-the-cake-and-eat-it-too scenario, how much increased tar sands production could we have if we wanted to meet necessarily ambitious carbon cuts similar to those of the E.U. or California – 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050?

I look forward to your response.

Dianne Varga
Kelowna, B.C.