Environment

Environmental stewardship is a key component of Canadians’ identity, but we have not always lived up to our own self-image as champions of a sustainable environment. Our professed convictions will be put to the test in coming years as all countries are asked to confront climate change. Ontario, steward of the Great Lakes, and Canada more generally, home to a significant share of the world’s renewable water resources, will face our own unique policy challenges.

Dealing with these challenges will come at a cost, and the federal government will need to ensure that those costs are borne by those who can afford them and are distributed equitably across regions. Climate change policies that put a price on carbon, for example, could easily exacerbate regional tensions because of the differing regional economies in Canada.

Responding to the environmental challenge will require goodwill, and a sense of common citizenship and mutual obligation. Efforts to safeguard our environment and to support our country’s transformation to a more sustainable economic model will need to be undertaken by the federal government in a manner that is regionally equitable.

The Mowat Centre is looking into how Canada’s governments can implement climate change and stewardship policies that are equitable across regions.