Canada should not end its Arctic drilling ban, warns former environment minister
Mark Carney says he's consulting with northern communities about whether to keep the moratorium
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he → end → moratorium
As the federal government opens the door to lifting Canada's moratorium on Arctic oil-and-gas drilling, a former environment minister says it's not worth the risk.
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it → open → drilling
Prime Minister Mark Carney has confirmed news reports that he's consulting with northern governments and Indigenous communities about whether to keep the ban in place.
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he → confirm → place
Finance Department spokesperson Marie-France Faucher told the Toronto Star that $11 million earmarked in the federal budget for Arctic offshore oil-and-gas governance is, in part, for "consideration of potentially lifting the current moratorium.
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million → tell → moratorium
But at this point, Carney says, it's "absolutely not in any way, shape or form a decision about lifting the moratorium.
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it → say → moratorium
Steven Guilbeault, who served as Canada's environment minister between 2021 and 2025, says Arctic drilling is a bad idea.
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drilling → serve → 2021
Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
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It → happen → Köksal
Mark Carney says this is all just about consultation with northern communities to find out what they think about potentially lifting this moratorium, this drilling ban.
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they → say → moratorium
Unfortunately, in the Toronto Star article … there is a finance official who says, on record, that it is potentially to open up oil-and-gas exploration and exploitation in the Arctic.
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it → be → Arctic
We hardly have acceptable technologies to clean up oil spills in normal water conditions….
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We → have → conditions
We have no technologies to clean up oil spills where sea ice is involved.
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ice → have → spills
There are a lot of oil spills happening all around the world at just about any given day of the week … so the question is not: Will there be an oil spill in the Arctic if we start doing that?
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we → be → that
And it's a very fragile ecosystem, an ecosystem that we're still learning so much about.
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we → learn → much
And there's so many things we don't understand yet about the fragility of the Arctic ecosystem.
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we → be → ecosystem
Then there's the issue of whether or not, five years, 10 years down the road — because, really, this is what we're talking about in terms of timeline, if something like that would happen — will there still be a growing demand for oil around the world?
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something → be → world
In 2025, one in four vehicles sold in the world was an electric vehicle.
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vehicles → sell → world
By the end of this year, 2026, they will likely be one in three vehicles now that just about everywhere in the world, solar and wind are cheaper to produce electricity than coal or even natural gas.
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solar → produce → coal
So I think it begs the question: Why would we do that?
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we → think → that
Why risk compromising the ecosystem of one of the most pristine places on Earth for something that, if there is an economic case for it, might be very short-lived?
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that → risk → it
56 top Canadian scientists push for changes to Carney's new major projects bill
Canada can 'definitely' transition to renewables by 2050, expert tells youth climate trial
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expert → push → trial
When you say you're hopeful that what Prime Minister Carney is saying, that this is about discussion at this stage and just discussion, that you would be pleased with that, I mean, are you suggesting that you're not sure that he's representing his plans accurately?
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he → say → plans
I'm saying we have two contradictory statements here.
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we → say → statements
We have, obviously, the prime minister saying this is just for consultation.
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this → have → consultation
And we have someone from the finance department on record saying, well, actually, no, the goal of what we're doing is to exploit oil and gas in the Arctic.
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we → have → Arctic
I'm hoping that, in the meantime, the prime minister and the government came to realize that this will be hugely controversial.
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this → hop → meantime
It's going to be hugely controversial in Canada.
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It → go → Canada
It's going to be controversial in the North.
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It → go → North
It's going to be controversial internationally.
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It → go → ?
I am heading to the UN conference on climate change in Turkey.
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I → head → Turkey
I've been talking to people from all around the world who just can't believe that Canada would even think about doing that.
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Canada → talk → that
And I think that the international public outcry would be something we haven't seen very often in Canada.
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we → think → Canada
The Aporia
