Prime Minister Mark Carney promoted his plan for a new Alberta pipeline on social media Wednesday while dozens of wildfires burned across northern Ontario, creating dangerously poor air quality across much of the province.
“The world wants to do more with Canada. Our MOU with Alberta will unlock those opportunities in energy — and create lasting benefits for Canadians,” Carney said in a video caption on X.
The pipeline, he said in the video, will make Canada “more independent” by reducing the proportion of oil exports going to the United States.
Carney was promoting the proposal he announced with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on July 3. The pair want to build a new pipeline to the south-western coast of British Columbia, with the majority of financing likely to be provided by public tax dollars.
‘It Took Our Town’
Meanwhile, in northern Ontario, 180 wildfires were burning as of Wednesday evening, including 72 that were “not under control.”
At least five First Nations and the rural community of Armstrong, Ont. were under evacuation orders Wednesday.
Residents of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation said their community was being engulfed by flames as they escaped on boats. “We literally had minutes to get on the boats and flee before it took our town,” one resident told APTN News.
Human activities like burning fossil fuels create pollutants which trap heat in the atmosphere, according to the Clean Air Fund philanthropic organization.
This process increases the frequency of wildfires, which then create even more of these climate-warming pollutants.
Alex Cosh
“The relationship between air pollution, climate change and wildfires is a vicious cycle that threatens people, animals and planet,” Clean Air Fund says.
‘Incredibly Brazen’
NDP Leader Avi Lewis criticized Carney’s pipeline boosting in his own post on X, while Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre posted a video Tuesday celebrating that climate change hadn’t “ended the world” after all.
“Incredibly brazen for the Prime Minister to boast about the ‘lasting benefits’ of expanding fossil fuel production on a day like today,” said Lewis.
“Record-breaking heatwaves. Toxic smoke engulfing cities and towns. Out of control wildfires forcing entire communities to evacuate.
“This government is spending billions of dollars in public money to expand the very industry that’s causing climate breakdown — at a moment when renewables are cheaper and more available than ever before.”
Poilievre, on the other hand, criticized Carney for previously promoting carbon taxes and net-zero emissions policies, and now saying that it is OK for Canada’s emissions to increase.
“Good news, everyone! The world is not coming to an end after all,” Poilievre said.
