‘People’s MOU’ called on feds to change course on climate policy ahead of pipeline announcement

Climate scientists reported record-breaking ocean surface temperatures in June amid a deadly heatwave in Europe, while Canadians experienced record heat in B.C., flooding in Manitoba, and heat warnings across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.

Even with all of that heat, climate activists received a chilly reception at the Shediac office of federal cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc last week, as they called on Ottawa to prevent the construction of fossil fuel-burning power plant in the nearby Tantramar area.

It was part of a Canada-wide day of action coordinated by 350.org, with activists urging their MPs to sign a “People’s MOU” to address the intensifying climate crisis. Campaigners described that text as a deal between constituents and their elected officials.

It calls, in part, for an end to the construction of “climate-burning pipelines.” That’s a reference to a proposed million-barrel-a-day pipeline from Alberta’s tar sands to the West Coast.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced details for the crude oil pipeline on Thursday evening, saying the plans will now be referred to the federal Major Projects Office, which will consider listing it as a “national interest project.”

The announcement came just days after Carney released a video in which he stated that “emissions will be higher in the next few years than they were projected to be under the previous government’s plan,” as Ottawa scraps Trudeau-era climate policies.

Chilly reception

In Shediac last Thursday, activists had a placard-sized copy of the so-called People’s MOU, and some of them attempted to deliver the document to Minister LeBlanc’s staff.

But when they reached the door of his office in the second-floor hallway of a commercial building in downtown Shediac, a staff member declined to accept it in person.

“Just leave it there,” the staff member said to climate activist Peter Higham, speaking to him through an intercom. “Just leave it at the door, Peter, and I’ll grab it.”

“I would prefer if I could bring it in to the office—” Higham said.

“I’m on a conference call right now,” the staffer replied. “Sorry. Just leave it at the door, Peter, and I’ll pick it up.”

“Can we bring it inside at least the door here?” Higham asked.

“Well, I prefer you basically leave it at the door, and I’ll pick it up,” the staffer replied.

Higham and the other two activists ultimately left the placard in the hallway leaning against a wall before returning to the rally outside.

One of the activists, Meredith Fisher of Seniors for Climate Tantramar, said she wasn’t surprised by the chilly reception.

“We had a feeling that we wouldn’t be received all that warmly,” she said, noting that Minister LeBlanc so far hasn’t met with her group. “He’s got other things on his mind, I guess.”

‘National interest project’

The People’s MOU also takes aim at legislation that Dominic LeBlanc sponsored.

It calls on Ottawa to “abandon the dangerous recent proposal that exempts mega-projects from safety and environmental regulations.”

That’s an apparent reference to Bill C-5 — An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act — which received royal assent last year.

The Act is meant to expedite projects deemed to be in the “national interest,” an initiative that has alarmed Indigenous leaders and environmentalists.

As for the proposed pipeline, the federal government stated on Thursday that the Major Projects Office will decide whether to list it as a national interest project under the Building Canada Act by Oct. 1.

Ottawa will “immediately commence consultations with Indigenous communities in order to inform its decision,” the federal government stated.

Power plant

In Shediac, the activists who spoke to the NB Media Co-op were focussed on their opposition to NB Power’s plans for a fossil fuel-powered generating station north of Sackville.

The demonstration was co-hosted by Seniors for Climate Tantramar, the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition, and Stop the Tantramar Gas Plant.

The activists received frequent honks of support from passing motorists on Shediac’s Main Street.

People in attendance included Jason Augustine of the Mi’kmaq Warriors Society, who previously vowed to oppose the project in an interview with the NB Media Co-op.

At the rally, Augustine said he was glad to see so many people expressing their opposition to the planned generating station. “It’s very good support that’s happening right now,” he said.

No comment from LeBlanc

The NB Media Co-op reached out to LeBlanc, asking if he had any message for the activists or for his constituents more generally about the People’s MOU or the Tantramar power plant.

His director of communications, Jean-Sébastien Comeau, responded with a terse email saying: “as this falls strictly under provincial jurisdiction, we won’t comment.”

He didn’t respond to follow-up questions pointing out that the People’s MOU deals specifically with federal policies.

As for the Tantramar power plant, conservationist Barry Rothfuss suggested that Ottawa could play an important role.

“The very issues that we’re dealing with from an environmental standpoint tend to be more regulated on the federal level than they do on the provincial level,” said Rothfuss, executive director of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute.

“Right now, we’re trying to force — politely — our federal government back to the table where they belong, accountable to what’s happening with this particular application.”

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, via the Local Journalism Initiative.