It's time to change the conversation about the economy and climate change
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Our climate is warming due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and Canadian families are now regularly paying the price: displacement, rising insurance costs, damage to property and, in extreme situations, loss of life. Yet, at the June G7 meeting, world leaders signed the Kananaskis Wildfire Charter without once mentioning climate change.
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Meanwhile, Canada has fallen behind in meeting emission-reduction targets under the Paris Agreement — an agreement ratified by 194 countries designed to slow climate change. While the oil and gas industry is a major contributor to Canada's economy, it accounts for approximately 30 per cent of Canada's total emissions and is the main reason it is missing its emission targets.
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Corporate and political leaders have failed to come together to create a serious plan to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector, while promoting stability in its workforce and economic prosperity more generally. Entrenched positions and political grandstanding have only resulted in ever-increasing emissions from this sector, while the climate change can gets kicked down the road.
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A recent analysis of public opinion data on climate change by Re.Climate (https://reclimate.ca/what-do-canadians-really-think-about-climate-change-in-2025/) finds that while there has been a decline in public prioritization of global warming in part due to economic and sovereignty threats, 'most Canadians are worried about climate change and want governments and industries to tackle the problem.'
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How do we move forward constructively?
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First, we must stop the rancorous way we debate the issues. People fleeing forest fires are not interested in the divisiveness and indignation that have characterized past interaction between oil and gas interests, environmental interests, and federal and provincial governments. Instead, honest dialogue and respectful debate will move us toward a shared vision faster than anything else. We need to bring together the best and brightest of all political stripes, Indigenous organizations, the for- and non-profit sectors, levels of government and civil society, all with the capacity to find common ground.
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Second, provincial, territorial and federal governments must actively recommit to the targets we set under the Paris Agreement, because without setting the bar for emissions and measuring results, there will be no progress on climate policy. While the political conversation has recently shifted away from climate policy, the context for fruitful dialogue is improving. The long shadow of the United States is fading, giving way to an internal will to diversify our economy in preparation for the global economy of 2050 and beyond.
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15 minutes ago
Canada's deportation of alleged Mafia boss hinges on foreign eavesdropping
A federal deportation appeal on Monday that will decide whether an alleged Mafia boss must return to his native Italy is raising questions about foreign interference and constitutional rights in Canada. At stake is the question of whether a foreign government should be able to arrange warrantless surveillance of a person on Canadian soil, and then use evidence obtained in a Canadian legal proceeding. Vincenzo Jimmy DeMaria was born in Siderno, Italy, but has resided in Canada for most of his life. Siderno is in the poor, southern region of Calabria — the toe on the boot of the Italian peninsula. The seaside town was home to a group of family clans of the Calabrian Mafia known as 'Ndrangheta that began to migrate to the Toronto area in the 1950s. The DeMaria family arrived in Canada in 1955 when Vincenzo DeMaria was just nine months old. Despite living in the country for all of his 71 years, he would never become a Canadian citizen. Both the Italian and Canadian governments declined to speak directly about the case. However, court filings provide a clearer picture of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)'s allegations against the alleged mob boss. 'Ndrangheta, a powerful Mafia in Canada The 'Ndrangheta surpassed the Sicilian Mafia to become Italy's most powerful organized crime group many years ago, and it has spread its operations across Europe and the world, most notably Canada (new window) . In Toronto the 'Ndrangheta has been targeted in some of the biggest police operations of recent years, such as Project Sindacato (new window) in 2019, which focused on its illegal gambling operations. Canadian police have identified the most prominent branch of the 'Ndrangheta operating in Canada as the Siderno Group, sometimes referred to in Italy as the Society of Siderno, because of its origins in DeMaria's hometown. A joint police operation in the Toronto area in 2019 targeted an illegal gambling ring connected to the 'Ndrangheta Mafia. Photo: York Regional Police/Twitter Members of the group have allegedly accumulated considerable wealth through drug-smuggling, loan-sharking and other illegal activities, and were even able to infiltrate Canadian banks (new window) . The Government of Canada has argued that DeMaria is a senior figure in that criminal underworld, which he denies. His lawyer Jessica Zita told CBC News that DeMaria is a property manager. He owns a number of properties and he manages all of them. Previously he was in the financial services business, she said. Italian police, however, have described him as one of the most senior leaders of the 'Ndrangheta in Canada, and a member of the group's Camera di Controllo, the equivalent of the Sicilian Mafia's Commission. DeMaria has denied those allegations. A murder in Little Italy In 1981, DeMaria shot a fellow Italian immigrant seven times in Toronto's Little Italy neighbourhood, and received a second-degree murder conviction for which he served eight years in prison. Because of that conviction he was never able to obtain Canadian citizenship and, like all convicted murderers, DeMaria is on parole for life, making him subject to re-arrest at any time. DeMaria has spent much of his life fighting to remain in Canada. His original deportation order, resulting from his murder conviction, was quashed in 1996. He was arrested again in 2009 and 2013 for associating with organized crime figures in violation of his parole conditions, which bar him from contact with even his own brother. In April 2018, he was ordered deported again on grounds of organized criminality, and placed in detention in the Collins Bay Institution in Ontario, pending appeal, only to be released into house arrest in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he had his own health complications. A visit from the old country While he was in prison in 2019, a murder in Siderno triggered a string of events that would become central to his case. A high-ranking mafioso called Carmelo Mino Muià was ambushed (new window) , and his brother Vincenzo Muià set off on a quest to find out who did it. Police have suggested he may also have been seeking the permission of the 'Ndrangheta's governing body to take revenge. His journey brought him to Canada, where he visited his second cousin DeMaria in prison at Collins Bay. What Muià didn't know was that the Italian Carabinieri — equivalent to Canada's RCMP — had installed spyware that effectively turned his phone into a microphone that was always on. In order to record his conversations on Canadian soil, however, they needed the co-operation of Canadian police. The Italians asked York Regional Police (YRP) for assistance both in intercepting communications and in maintaining surveillance on Muià while he was in Canada. But a Canadian Crown lawyer who was asked to review the request argued it should not be granted. Jeffery Pearson sent a letter to police in March 2019 stating that that he had found an insufficient basis to authorize surveillance under Part VI of the Criminal Code. He said there were no reasonable and probable grounds to believe that either Mr. Muià or [travelling companion] Mr. Gregoarci have committed, or are committing, an offence in Canada. 'Illegal' surveillance, lawyers argue DeMaria's lawyers argue in their petition that things should have stopped right there. Despite Pearson's clear denunciation and without the required judicial authorization, YRP moved ahead with the investigation and Mr. Muià's conversations during that time were illegally intercepted. They say the Muià was not only bugged but also placed under physical surveillance, without seeking judicial authorization and ignoring the legal advice given by Pearson. Enlarge image (new window) The joint investigation Project Sindacato resulted in major busts but the case later fell apart due to alleged illegal activity by police. Photo: CBC / Martin Trainor If they are successful, it would not be the first time that over-aggressive surveillance by York Regional Police may have sabotaged a case against alleged 'Ndrangheta members. Prosecutions arising from the Project Sindacato investigation, announced with great fanfare in 2019, ultimately fell apart (new window) in 2021 because YRP investigators were accused of eavesdropping on privileged conversations between the accused and their attorneys. Precedent for more snooping? DeMaria's lawyers dispute CBSA's arguments that the recordings made on Muià's phone support its contention that DeMaria is involved in organized crime. Only transcripts have been provided to Canadian courts and those appear to include lengthy sections that are paraphrased rather than verbatim. They also dispute whether references to a Jimmy in the recordings are really even about their client. And DeMaria's defence has poured scorn on the use of a police informant, Carmine Guido, who at times professed ignorance about the inner workings of the 'Ndrangheta, and who also made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling drugs while working with police. But their main argument against the CBSA's effort to remove DeMaria is that it relies on illegal recordings made at the instigation of a foreign government without regard for Canadian laws and civil liberties. If the precedent is allowed to stand, Zita says, what that's saying is any foreign government can listen to us. She argued that the admission of paraphrased discussions that aren't authenticated, that aren't tested, would also set a dangerous precedent. CBSA says all laws followed While declining to discuss DeMaria's case specifically, CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy told CBC News that officials follow the law. "CBSA has a legal obligation to remove all foreign nationals found to be inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (new window) ," she said. There are multiple steps built into the process to ensure procedural fairness and the CBSA only actions a removal order once all legal avenues of recourse have been exhausted. Zita says it's not that CBSA broke the law, but rather that it's relying partly on evidence collected illegally by York Regional Police. That, she said, must not be allowed to stand. [Officials could] find ways through other countries outside of our borders with lower standards for evidentiary rules, take whatever evidence they're able to get using our technology, without having to report to anyone about it, bring that evidence back into our country and rely on it without any sort of testing whatsoever, she said. That's as good as having no evidence at all. And it is demonstrably unfair for there's no way to reply to that. That's teetering very close to being an authoritarian regime. The virtual hearing begins on Monday at the Immigration Appeal Division in Toronto. The first witness is expected to be an investigator of the Carabinieri unit that made the original request for surveillance of Muià in Canada. Evan Dyer (new window) · CBC · Senior Reporter Evan Dyer has been a journalist with CBC for 25 years, after an early career as a freelancer in Argentina. He works in the Parliamentary Bureau and can be reached at
CTV News
41 minutes ago
- CTV News
Premiers to meet in Huntsville, Ont. with Indigenous groups on first day of 3-day gathering
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Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
Carney is meeting U.S. senators as trade war pressure mounts
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