Nova Scotia ministers silent on environmental racism report, to meet with authors
Twila Grosse, MLA for Preston, is sworn in as Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs and Minister of the Public Service Commission, becoming the first female African Nova Scotian member of the Nova Scotia Executive Council, in Halifax on Thursday, Sept.14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Government of Nova Scotia (Mandatory Credit)
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia government ministers say they will meet with a panel tasked with examining environmental racism in the province, although they remain tight-lipped on the panel's findings, which were submitted a year ago.
Following a cabinet meeting Thursday, Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs Twila Grosse confirmed the meeting, adding she will attend.
'We want to ensure that we collaborate and that we move forward,' she said on the report by the eight-member panel appointed in June 2023 to look at how racism affects a community's natural environment. It was delivered to the province about a year ago.
The panel's members included community leaders with expertise in subjects such as Mi'kmaw and African Nova Scotian history, law, health and environmental sciences. Environmental racism can occur in instances where landfills, trash incinerators, coal plants, toxic waste facilities and other environmentally hazardous activities are located near communities of colour, Indigenous territories and the working poor.
Last month, Becky Druhan, justice minister and minister response for the office of equity and anti-racism, refused to give any details about the report and wouldn't confirm whether she had read it.
On Thursday, Grosse said she has read the report but refused under repeated questioning to discuss the panel's recommendations. 'I am not prepared to comment on the content of that report,' she said, adding that its findings are the responsibility of the anti-racism office.
Nor would Grosse discuss whether as minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs she was comfortable with keeping the findings under wraps, saying she would continue to be the government voice for her community. She added that she is well aware of the environmental effects of racism from 'lived experience.'
Environment Minister Tim Halman told reporters he had been briefed on the report, but he too wouldn't release any details on what he had learned. Halman said he would be one of the ministers meeting with the panel.
'The path forward is that appropriate ministers will reach out to the panel and offer a meeting for a discussion and that will take place in the weeks ahead,' Halman said.
Meanwhile, two other ministers asked whether they had read the report — Public Works Minister Fred Tilley and Health Minister Michelle Thompson — said they had not.
The idea for the panel came from the opposition New Democrats, who proposed it in an amendment to climate change legislation that was passed in the fall of 2023.
'It is extremely distressing that many of the ministers haven't read the report,' NDP caucus chair Susan Leblanc told reporters. 'The report should be public, full stop.'
Liberal house leader Iain Rankin, who created the anti-racism office when he was premier in 2021, said the government needs to get its priorities straight and release the report.
'It's revealing that there are elements of the report they don't want public, it could be a cost implication, but certainly it's not a priority for the government,' Rankin said.
In a statement released later Thursday, Druhan said a public report wasn't part of the environmental panel's mandate, adding that it was tasked with providing advice to the government.
'It is understandable that this work is of interest to Nova Scotians and we want to be transparent,' Druhan said. 'We want to meet with members of the panel before sharing any further details publicly.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025.
By Keith Doucette
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Debate rages at city hall over Oilers event-park funding in hearing on future of tax levy
Edmonton city council is divided over a directive from the province to use money from a special tax levy on projects on land owned by the Oilers. It was the Edmonton Oilers arena debate all over again at city hall on Thursday with a slightly different flavour. Most city councillors and business leaders agree a special tax program in the core is vital for the future prosperity of downtown. The sticking point is a directive from the provincial government to spend tens of millions of public dollars to build projects on land owned by the Oilers. City councillor and mayoral candidate Andrew Knack wants to halt a $250-million event park beside Rogers Place, the home of the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), which owns the site, is using it as their outdoor Fan Park. The event park is listed as one of the so-called catalyst projects city money would help fund through the downtown Community Revitalization Levy (CRL). 'I do support downtown revitalization, but I will not support a bad deal,' Knack, who represents the west-end Ward Nakota Isga, told media on Thursday morning. 'We don't even know if we need an event park yet ... there's just this assumption that something new and shiny will solve everything.' Event park rendering Conceptual rendering of the event park in downtown Edmonton. (Oilers Entertainment Group) The CRL was introduced in 2014 as part of the deal to build Rogers Place, which opened two years later with a final price tag of $613.7 million. The city paid $312 million of it in cash and through the levy, the team paid $165.5 million and the rest came via a ticket surcharge, the federal government and MacEwan University. The home arena of the Oilers opened in 2016, replacing Rexall Place, following years of debate and negotiation after Daryl Katz bought the National Hockey League team in 2008 from the Edmonton Investors Group for a reported $200 million. As the area within its boundary is redeveloped, the CRL is meant to reinvest that extra tax revenue into downtown. City staff have crunched the numbers and say extending the 20-year levy by an extra decade is worthwhile. Event park site The site of the proposed downtown Edmonton event park, right, that's currently being used by the Oilers Entertainment Group as its Fan Park, with Rogers Place in the background on June 26, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton) 'It is a comprehensive approach to developing downtown Edmonton, encompassing underground utilities, beautification of our streets and parks, creation and expansion of event spaces, improvement to transit stations and incentives for attainable housing,' Brett Latchford, the city's director of strategy and emerging economy, said at Thursday's public hearing. Kris Sims, the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, drove to Edmonton from Lethbridge to express her concerns about the deal along with those from several others. 'That's fine, go ahead and revitalize the downtown … but why are you tying it to one element of corporate welfare?' Sims said. 'That is not fair, and it's not right.' The provincial government has final say over the CRL. Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams says it won't be approved unless it includes the event park and site servicing for the housing planned north of Rogers Place. The province said it would contribute more than $100 million for those projects. CRL hearing People in attendance for a public hearing at Edmonton city hall about the future of the downtown Community Revitalization Levy on June 26, 2025. (Jeremy Thompson/CTV News Edmonton) Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he understands why Edmontonians are upset but believes the deal would fall apart without the event park, which he says would be a major missed opportunity for downtown. '(The province is) a major funder of this, a major enabler of this plan, so they're definitely going to have a say in this,' Sohi told media between hearing sessions. 'Anyone who believes that we can find $175 million of new revenue or $103 million of grant funding I think is not living in reality.' A representative of the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), which operates Rogers Place and the Ice District plaza as well as the NHL team among other sports and entertainment enterprises, said the corporation is proud of its contributions to the CRL. Edmonton Rogers Place downtown skyline spring/summer overcast An aerial image of Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton on June 17, 2025. (Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton) 'It has been a powerful tool for revitalizing Edmonton's downtown core and helping to strengthen our education, arts, housing, and business districts,' Tim Shipton, OEG's executive vice-president of external affairs, said in a statement to CTV News Edmonton. 'The CRL has supported critical public infrastructure, attracted billions in private investment and created safer, more vibrant spaces for all Edmontonians. The MOU (memorandum of understanding) signed with the city and province represents a transformational city building opportunity, focused on additional housing when it's needed most, and a one-of-a-kind community event facility with vibrant public realm spaces — developments that will not just benefit downtown, but the city as a whole.' The public hearing is expected to be held all day Thursday and Friday. Edmonton city council Edmonton city council on June 26, 2025. (Jeremy Thompson/CTV News Edmonton) Michael Janz, the city councillor for south-side Ward papastew, told CTV News Edmonton he believes the deal isn't really about downtown, rather how a 'provincial tax grab' is going to be distributed, asking would it 'go back to Edmontonians, or is it going to go to one private business?' 'We don't even know the other options, because this was decided behind closed doors in a private negotiation between one business and our premier with the city of Edmonton along for the ride,' Janz said. 'When you can't walk away, when you're being told you have to accept this deal on terms acceptable to the OEG, that's not a negotiation.'
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
U.S. Republicans agree to drop retaliatory tax from Trump's big budget bill, citing G7 agreement
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday that he had asked Republicans to pull what has been called the 'revenge tax' from President Donald Trump's signature tax bill, after an agreement among G7 countries. Republican Senators quickly agreed to remove the revenge tax, Section 899 of the legislation. The proposed tax measure was a major concern for a broad range of Canadian investors and had caused some on Wall Street to speculate that it could chase away foreign investment in the United States. The original version of the bill would have allowed the U.S. to impose levies in response to what it calls 'discriminatory or unfair taxes' in foreign countries, including Canada's digital services tax, which was introduced in 2024. The first DST payment is due just days from now, on June 30. It also took aim at a global minimum tax deal reached in 2021, in which many countries, including the U.S. under then-president Joe Biden, backed a push by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to tax companies at a rate of at least 15 per cent no matter where they were headquartered. But the U.S. never implemented such a tax, and the idea was opposed by Republicans. 'After months of productive dialogue with other countries on the OECD Global Tax Deal, we will announce a joint understanding among G7 countries that defends American interests,' Mr. Bessent said Thursday in a post on X, as he announced the decision to remove the revenge tax. Mr. Bessent did not make specific reference to the DST. He said G7 countries will work with countries in the G20 and the OECD to implement the agreement over the coming weeks and months. 'This understanding with our G7 partners provides greater certainty and stability for the global economy and will enhance growth and investment in the United States and beyond,' he said. The Associated Press reported that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith said they would remove Section 899 from the bill. Canada's Finance Minister, François-Philippe Champagne, responded positively to Mr. Bessent's statement on X, but did not provide further detail as to what the change would mean for Canada. 'At our last G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting we agreed to work together to restore greater stability and predictability for the world economy. We welcome Sec. Bessent's work to have Section 899 removed from consideration in the bill before Congress,' he said. The G7 did not release a statement Thursday. Mr. Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, the sprawling piece of legislation that would extend his 2017 tax cuts and implement much of his domestic agenda, continues to be debated in Washington. What's in Trump's big budget bill? From cuts to taxes and Medicaid, here's what to know Mr. Trump has said that he wants the bill finalized for his approval by the fourth of July, a timeline that his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, repeated Thursday. In recent weeks, Canadian wealth managers have warned of potential U.S. tax hikes on foreign investors based on the provisions of Section 899. As originally worded, the provision would have increased the U.S. tax rate for Canadian companies and other international investors. It could have cost Canadian investors who own U.S. securities up to $81-billion in additional taxes over seven years, according to an estimate by the Securities and Investment Management Association. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce also warned that the bill could result in Canadians' retirement savings being withheld to pay U.S. taxes, as retaliation for Canada's digital services tax or other provisions related to undertaxed profits or a global minimum tax. That's because Section 899 could have imposed withholding taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars of U.S. investments held by government-sponsored pension-fund managers in Canada. David Pierce, the Chamber's vice-president of government relations, said it in a statement that the U.S. move was a positive one. 'Section 899 was bound to escalate the consequences of this trade war for consumers, investors, pensioners, and businesses. We are glad to see the U.S. administration de-escalating, and we hope this leads to further co-operation at the international level,' he said, adding that the chamber still believes Canada should drop its DST in response to the 'olive branch' from the U.S. Canada refuses to pause digital sales tax as trade talks with U.S. continue Friday Canadian tax experts say Mr. Bessent's comments leave many questions unanswered as to what exactly has been proposed. Canada and other members of the OECD have been negotiating for years about acting together on tax reform related to multinational corporations. The talks have been divided into two pillars. Pillar one has generally focused on issues such as digital services taxes, where a country would collect taxes on the profits of services provided by a multinational in that country. This would affect businesses such as Netflix, Disney and other streaming services. Pillar two has focused on the idea of a global minimum corporate tax in an effort to address concerns that countries are in a race to the bottom to compete with each other through lower taxes. Mr. Bessent's statement only referred to pillar two and did not mention pillar one. Canadian tax experts say it's unclear what this latest development means for the continuing tension between the U.S. and Canada over its DST. It is possible that the DST could be an issue for negotiation in the planned summer negotiations between the two countries on trade. Allison Christians, the H. Heward Stikeman Chair in Tax Law at McGill University, said more details need to emerge before the full implications can be understood. 'The original bill could have increased taxes Canadians pay on certain U.S. investments every year until Canada relinquished its digital services tax and its application of global minimum corporate taxes to U.S. companies,' she said. 'All I know is that they're saying that we've agreed to something that seems to exempt the U.S. companies from a global minimum corporate tax, and I don't understand whether that also means U.S. companies won't have to pay digital services taxes.' Prof. Christians said it was debatable whether the U.S. bill's provisions would have applied in Canada anyway. 'We're in such a state of flux,' she said. Brian Ernewein, a senior adviser at KPMG and a former senior tax official with the federal Finance Department, said many clients have been concerned about the potential implications of the revenge tax. 'It's a very positive result that 899 has come off,' he said in an interview. 'There was high anxiety about it.' Mr. Ernewein reviewed Mr. Bessent's statements, but said it is unclear what exactly the G7 agreement involves. 'There are a lot of questions as to what that means,' he said. With a report from Clare O'Hara in Toronto
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Premier Smith says Albertans' desire for leaving Canada has never been higher
Social Sharing Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the public desire in her province to quit Canada has never been higher. Speaking Thursday to reporters in Calgary, Smith said Albertans feel deeply frustrated and angry with Ottawa. She cited a separatist candidate who garnered almost 18 per cent of the vote in a byelection in the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills riding earlier this week. "I've never seen such a high level of separatist sentiment," she said. Smith said the byelection result was record-breaking in terms of separatist support, but a 1982 byelection in the same Alberta riding saw a separatist candidate win with more than 40 per cent of the vote. She said the fact that her United Conservative Party candidate won Monday's byelection means the public wants her to work with Prime Minister Mark Carney's government. Asked what her government could do to quell separatist desire, Smith said it was Ottawa's responsibility — as it was following that 1982 byelection. "A couple of years later, after (then-prime minister) Brian Mulroney got rid of the National Energy Program, the sentiment evaporated," she said. "This is really in Ottawa's hands." The present-day equivalent to that program — which introduced price controls and hiked the federal share of tax revenue from oil production — is several laws that Smith said stifle energy production and investment in Alberta. In recent months, she has called for Carney to abolish several federal policies and programs, including a proposed emissions cap, net-zero electricity grid regulations and the West Coast tanker ban. "If Ottawa wants to work with me to cause that [separatist] sentiment to subside, then we need to materially address the nine bad laws that have created that negative investment climate," she said. "If they make the changes that we're requesting, then I suspect they can take the air out of that movement." Speaking alongside Smith was federal Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland. Asked what she thought of Smith's assessment, Freeland said she hopes Albertans will see recently passed legislation to speed up the approval process of major projects as a sign that Canada has reached a "turning point." "I think we are on a really good path recognizing we need to be united," Freeland said. "We need to find ways to build Canada. "With that approach of positive intent — a shared recognition of the challenges Canada is facing, Alberta is facing — I really think that we are at the beginning of a new chapter where we're going to get a lot more done a lot faster." Smith said Ottawa's legislation, which passed in the Senate Thursday, gave her hope that change was happening. Earlier this week, Smith announced a 15-member panel that would tour the province this summer to gather ideas on how Alberta can fight federal overreach. It's an endeavour that former premier Jason Kenney did in 2019. Smith has said her panel is using Kenney's as a jumping-off point. Smith's panel will discuss creating a provincial pension plan, police force and tax collection agency. The panel is also polling Albertans on creating its own immigration permit system that would cut off non-approved immigrants from accessing provincially funded services like health care and education.
