Latest news with #Values
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FIRST READING: What Carney's inner circle really thinks about oil and gas
First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post's own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here. After 10 years of the extremely anti-fossil fuel Trudeau government, the Canadian energy sector is suddenly optimistic that their future need not be one of managed decline. The government of Prime Minister Mark Carney keeps referring to Canada as an 'energy superpower' and is even raising the once-taboo subject of building new pipelines. As former Conservative resources minister Joe Oliver put it in a recent column for the Financial Post, the Liberals have been 'mugged by reality.' But Carney's inner circle contains more than a few figures who have been quite vocal about their distaste for oil and gas development, sometimes as little as a few months ago. Below, a quick summary of what Carney's team was saying before all the 'energy superpower' talk got started. Marc-Andre Blanchard Incoming chief of staff When Blanchard's appointment was announced this week, critics quickly seized on a 2023 interview in which he endorsed the end of any new Canadian fossil fuel development. Conservative MP Larry Brock, for one, told the House of Commons that the 'new chief of staff is hell-bent on shutting down oil and gas.' The interview was published by Net Zero Investor, and details Blanchard's efforts to decarbonize the portfolio of the Quebec pension fund CDPQ, where he was head of global sustainability. 'CDPQ's conviction is: It is essential not to contribute to increased oil and coal production and to focus on renewable and transition energies,' Blanchard said at the time, framing the move as one that was ultimately profitable for the fund. 'Over five years in equity markets, we made almost $1 billion more than if we had an oil exposure,' he said. The article also noted that CDPQ had held onto its natural gas holdings, with the reasoning that 'although the supply of renewable energy is growing, it is unable to meet all the current demand for energy.' Mark Carney Prime minister It was only a few months that Carney was still chair of Brookfield Asset Management, a firm with massive oil and gas holdings (in addition to its much-touted green energy portfolio). In 2021, for instance, a Brookfield subsidiary finalized the acquisition of Inter Pipeline Ltd., Canada's fourth largest pipeline company. But, as is well-known, Carney was also one of the world's most visible proponents of the concept of 'net zero,' a view he espoused as the United Nation's Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance. Carney's 2021 book Values gets into detail of his vision for the Canadian energy sector. He wrote that 'there will continue to be a place' for Canadian fossil fuels, but within a framework where 'the carbon footprint of our energy sources' goes down. Four years later, this somewhat contradictory view is much the same. In the space of just 30 seconds this week, Carney told a press conference that his government saw an 'oil pipeline … to tidewater' as an 'opportunity' — before adding that 'decarbonized barrels' of oil should be the priority. Tim Hodgson Minister of natural resources If Blanchard is being accused of being a 'keep it in the ground' zealot, Hodgson is the Carney government's leading counterweight. A May 23 speech Hodgson delivered to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce spoke of 'cutting red tape,' and contained no mention of the terms 'net zero' or 'decarbonization.' And the only time he mentioned 'climate change' was in a section where he suggested Canadian energy should be employed to 'displace' dirtier fuels overseas. 'By working with the energy sector to make investments that fight climate change, we can get more barrels to market while cutting carbon emissions,' he said. Still, Hodgson's first statements to the House of Commons show him hedging his bets on the central issue of new export pipelines. 'We will support new pipelines if there is a national consensus in favour of them,' he said on May 29. Julie Dabrusin Minister of environment and climate change Carney's new environment minister, Dabrusin, has been the MP for Toronto—Danforth since 2015, and replaces Steven Guilbeault, whose tenure was marked by open hostility to the energy sector. As Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz said upon Guilbeault leaving the post, he had put 'an activist agenda ahead of the well being and economic health of Albertans and Canadians.' Nevertheless, Dabrusin is on record espousing many of Guilbeault's most controversial positions. This includes the 2024 boast that 'no other country' was placing an emissions cap on its petroleum sector — a statement that was quickly taken up by the Opposition as evidence that Canada was kneecapping its own energy production even as it continued unabated everywhere else. 'No other country has capped emissions from oil and gas production,' Dabrusin told the House of Commons in April, 2024. She's called carbon pricing the 'largest single tool we have to reduce emissions,' and in 2022 she said the future of the Canadian oil sector would be to lubricate windmills. 'Even in a net-zero world, we will always need oil for some things, and not just bike chain grease. We also need it to make lubricant for windmills. If members want to keep seeing latex gloves in our hospitals, we will always need oil,' she said. If parliamentary procedure is your thing, Monday was witness to an absolutely elite-tier operation by the Conservatives. After the Carney government swore repeatedly that they were too busy to prepare a budget until at least the fall, the House of Commons slipped through an amendment for them to do it anyway. On a routine House of Commons vote to accept the speech from the throne, the Conservatives threw in an amendment calling on the government 'to present to Parliament an economic update or budget this spring, before the House adjourns for the summer.' The NDP and the Bloc Québécois all voted yes on the amendment, causing it to pass 166 to the Liberals' 164 votes. The Liberals don't have to table a spring budget, but if they don't they'll technically be violating the terms of their own throne speech all of these insights and more into your inbox by signing up for the First Reading newsletter. Carney denounces 'unlawful and unjustified' doubling of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum Liberals downplay narrowly lost vote demanding spring budget
National Observer
23-05-2025
- Business
- National Observer
Climate buried among priorities in Carney's cabinet action plan
Prime Minister Mark Carney's mandate letter to his cabinet made one fleeting mention of climate change, but political experts and one MP say it's too soon to despair. The letter, published May 21, lays out seven priorities, including 'building one Canadian economy,' bringing down costs, tackling affordable housing, strengthening the armed forces, strengthening trade relationships and more. The second last paragraph stated: 'We will fight climate change.' The only other related reference is Carney's oft-repeated line about turning Canada into 'an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energies.' Fossil fuel energy, like oil and gas, is often referred to as 'conventional energy.' The letter says little about climate, 'but it's so vague that I don't want to jump to conclusions,' Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said in a phone interview with Canada's National Observer. May said she's waiting for more detail in next week's throne speech. 'If climate gets as short shrift in the speech from the throne as it's gotten in this mandate letter, I will be very worried,' May said. King Charles III is set to officially open Parliament with a throne speech on May 27 in Ottawa. Despite her worry, May said Carney's book, Values, does indicate that he understands the need to move quickly to address the climate crisis. 'If climate gets as short shrift in the speech from the throne as it's gotten in this mandate letter, I will be very worried,' said @ Two other political experts agree that it's too early to read into the scant mention of climate change. 'At this point, I wouldn't be too quick to judge the prime minister on the basis of the veiled reference and then, the direct reference to climate change, but rather to wait and see how he approaches this,' Kathy Brock, a professor of policy and politics at Queen's University, said in a phone interview with Canada's National Observer. 'It's consistent with his thinking in his book — as he laid out, when you address an economy, you have to consider the effects on climate change and the environment.' Michael Wernick, former clerk of the Privy Council, pointed out that climate change was also not a huge factor in the federal election. Mandate letters, generally speaking, are a relatively new development in the last couple of decades, and they weren't made public before then, Brock said. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau was the first federal leader to publicly publish mandate letters for each individual minister, complete with specific instructions and policy expectations. Having a written record of what the federal government said it would accomplish was a step forward for transparency and accountability, May said. She hopes Carney will make individual mandate letters public or release more information. Mandate letters are definitely a tool for communicating political and policy priorities, but more so, they are used for 'tasking and traffic control,' Wernick told Canada's National Observer in a phone interview. They help set clear expectations for ministers to prevent confusion 'or turf wars and ego issues about who's in charge,' he said. Publishing a single, blanket mandate letter for the whole government marks a significant departure from Trudeau — 'and that may be the whole point of it,' May said. Brock and Wernick agree it signals a different approach to managing the cabinet. Carney's letter said his ministers are 'expected and empowered to lead, and to bring new ideas, clear focus, and decisive action' to their work. Over the coming weeks, he will get cabinet members to 'identify the key goals and measures of success' to evaluate the results of their work. 'He has set the tone very clearly: ministers are going to be guiding the departments, but they will report to him, and he will be following what they're doing,' Brock said. 'It's much more along the line of a CEO for a corporation than some of the cabinets we've seen in the past.' For example, in a company, vice presidents are in charge of particular departments, but ultimately they respond to the central mandate and what the top is directing them to do, Brock said. Brock isn't convinced a lack of public, specific mandate letters is a huge loss to transparency, and said it may even help cabinet work together. One of the political problems with public, detailed mandate letters is that ministers have to respond to those priorities, and the media, public and opposition parties are all going to do their jobs of holding the government to account on those priorities, she said. 'But often, circumstances can change, and one priority can rise up, or one that you thought was going to be important isn't this important, and then it looks like you're walking things back, or ministers get very criticized for not making every priority count to the same level.' She said the strength of this approach is a certain efficiency, but also transparency in the sense that the prime minister is accepting accountability. Carney's list of seven priorities is fairly directional but 'set at a level of generality that they've got lots of room to fill in the detail, and that'll be the challenge for them,' Wernick said. 'They have a lot of work to do to turn this into laws, policies, regulations [and] specific action,' he said. The same day Carney released the mandate letter, the Conservative Party announced its shadow cabinet of 48 shadow ministers and 14 associate shadow ministers. 'We will work with the government to put an end to unfair American tariffs or to pass good laws — but we will fight hard when the government is wrong,' Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in the press release. The statement said new MPs will be shuffled into roles in the fall and winter.
Business Wire
13-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
CCC Wins 2025 Top Workplaces Culture Excellence Awards
BUSINESS WIRE)-- CCC, a leader in advancing copyright, accelerating knowledge, and powering innovation, announced today that it has earned numerous 2025 Top Workplaces Culture Excellence Awards from Energage LLC for Leadership, Work-Life Flexibility, Innovation, and Purpose & Values for the third consecutive year. The Top Workplaces Culture Excellence Awards recognize organizations that prioritize people-first cultures and exceptional workplace experiences, where employees feel genuinely valued for their contributions. These awards are based on employee feedback captured by the research-backed Energage Workplace Survey, which benchmarks participating companies against the most comprehensive data in the industry. The awards that CCC earned include: The Leadership Award - recognizes leaders who inspire confidence in their employees and listen to what matters most, utilizing that insight in their decision-making. The Work-Life Flexibility Award - recognizes firms that have fostered a culture that enables employees to balance the demands of their personal lives with high performance. The Innovation Award - recognizes companies that have fostered a culture where innovative ideas are encouraged, enabling employees to reach their full potential. The Purpose & Values Award - recognizes businesses that have effectively communicated their company mission and integrated those values into their culture. 'Putting people first is the foundation of our culture,' said Tracey Armstrong, President and CEO, CCC. 'Our talented team genuinely cares about our customers and partners and continuously innovates to improve our licenses and related offerings.' CCC has consistently earned accolades as an organization. USA Today honored CCC as a Top Workplace for the fourth consecutive year in 2025. The Women's Edge and The Boston Globe recently named it a Top Women-led Business in Massachusetts, and The Globe ranked CCC in the Top 20 for Top Places to Work in Massachusetts. CCC advocates for copyright worldwide by engaging governments, stakeholders, and individuals through educational programming and thought leadership resources. The organization also maintains an online hub, AI, Copyright & Licensing, which features informational resources for creators, publishers, rightsholders, technologists, media representatives, policymakers, intellectual property attorneys, and others. Since 1978, CCC has supported content users by providing efficient, harmonized licensing solutions for their internal content uses. CCC's non-exclusive voluntary collective licensing solutions include ACL for Business, Multinational Copyright License (MCL) for Business, ACL for Higher Education, ACL for Curriculum & Instruction, and ACL for Student Assessments. In addition to licensing solutions, CCC provides one-stop access for users to request, receive, and pay for full-text content and permissions to re-use content. To learn more about CCC and to view available job openings, visit About CCC A pioneer in voluntary collective licensing, CCC advances copyright, accelerates knowledge, and powers innovation. With expertise in copyright, data quality, data analytics, and FAIR data implementations, CCC and its subsidiary RightsDirect collaborate with stakeholders on innovative solutions to harness the power of data and AI.
Calgary Herald
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Bell: Albertans will get a vote on Alberta independence — bet on it, baby!
Article content No doubt they feel Smith should be afraid of how Albertans might vote, though the premier points to a poll saying right now Albertans would vote No to independence. Article content Article content Carney must have heard about this independence vote issue and can connect the dots, adding up to a royal pain in the neck he does not need. Article content Alas, Carney is already backing the cap on oil and gas emissions. Bad. Article content He does not want to deep-six the No More Pipelines law. Bad. Article content When in Calgary, he would not commit to an oil and gas pipeline or LNG projects. Bad. Article content Carney dismissed Smith's demands, how Ottawa should nix all the Liberal laws and regulations hurting Alberta. Bad. Article content And the prime minister is surrounded by the very people responsible for screwing Alberta over the past 10 years. Real bad. Article content How confident is Smith she can get through to Carney? Article content 'It depends on whether we have pragmatic, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney as prime minister or whether we have environmental extremist, keep it in the ground, phase out fossil fuels, author of the book Values Mark Carney as prime minister.' Article content Lots of folks are sending texts and emails, asking her to give Carney a chance, to see if he will change course, to try to make Canada work. Article content Smith says others are fed up. Done with Canada. Article content
AFP
14-04-2025
- Business
- AFP
Reviewer's quotes misrepresented as passage from Mark Carney's book
"Mark Carney is insane!" reads the text inside an April 8, 2025 X photo shared by Tamara Lich, an organizer of the Ottawa Trucker Convoy who is currently awaiting a verdict in the criminal trial over her role in the controversial 2022 protests. The rest of the text in the image is purportedly a quote from Carney's 2021 book, "Value(s): Building a Better World for All," (archived here) including supposed calls for "rigid controls of personal freedom" and a "world of severely constrained choice." A variation of the image was shared by former Canadian hockey player Theo Fleury, who has previously spread misinformation, while similar posts claiming the quote came from Carney's book appeared across Instagram, TikTok and Threads. Image Screenshot of an X post taken April 11, 2025 Image Screenshot of an Instagram post taken April 11, 2025 Carney became prime minister on March 14, 2025 after winning the ruling Liberal Party's leadership race. He quickly called for a snap election now scheduled for April 28. s an economist by training, with a career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before serving as governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. He has been the subject of manipulated media and false claims since entering the political scene during his campaign to head the Liberal Party, including a tenuous conspiracy theory targeting his history as a central banker. en about his support for "inclusive capitalism," and the 2021 book proposes changes to how governments approach finance. However, the quotes seen in the social media posts supposedly condemning capitalism and Western society are not pulled from the book. Searching for the exact leads to a review of the book on the website for the Canadian outlet National Post. The commentary by used almost identical word combinations to write about his opinion on Carney's book the year it came out. Image Screenshot of a National Post article taken April 11, 2025, highlights added by AFP Image Screenshot of a National Post article taken April 11, 2025, highlights added by AFP Further searches for the phrases in a digital version of the book did not yield any matching results. Image Screenshot of the Google e-book interface for "Values" taken April 11, 2025, highlight added by AFP Image Screenshot of the Google e-book interface for "Values" taken April 11, 2025, highlight added by AFP AFP consulted a recent edition of the physical book and did not find any appearance of the alleged quotation seen in the pictures circulating online. Foster appears to be quoting Carney's book in part of his review, but AFP was not able to find this exact quote in either the print or digital versions of the text. Foster's review is critical of prime minister's proposals in the book writing that Carney wants a "technocratic dictatorship justified by climate alarmism," while another summary of "Values" for The Guardian said the text "provides an original condemnation of today's economics as surrendering the quest for objective value grounded in the essence of our humanity." Carney has been a participant in the Council for Inclusive Capitalism, which includes business and labor leaders, and calls for a free-market system allowing for "opportunity, accountability, freedom, and innovation." Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation surrounding the Canadian election here.
