As the federal election looms, leaders of all political stripes are promising to increase the zero-emission transportation sector through incentives and investments as a key tool to tackle the climate crisis.

But there’s a catch. 

Positioning Canada as a leader in electrifying the transportation sector also means increasing mineral extraction to fuel that growth. Batteries that propel electric vehicles are powered by minerals like lithium, cobalt, graphite and nickel. 

The transition is necessary, given the implications of the alternative: continuing to burn fossil fuels as our means of getting around. The transportation sector in Canada currently accounts for around 25 per cent of national greenhouse gas emissions, around 180 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, according to Natural Resources Canada. As the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warned, “unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5 C or even 2 C will be beyond reach.” 

At the end of 2020, Canada had over 200,000 electric vehicles on the road and according to International Energy Association projections, that number could rise to over 2.5 million by 2030.

The question is: what does the growth of the electric vehicle sector look like on a landscape level?

In northern Québec, a new lithium-tantalum mine is set to start production in 2024 after receiving approval from the federal government in August, and several other Québec lithium mines are in various stages of exploration and investment. The new Critical Elements Corporation mine will emit an estimated 74,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, over its 20-year lifespan. In Northwest Territories, mining companies are eyeing cobalt reserves and across the country, mining activity is ramping up as demand increases for other minerals needed for the zero-emissions transportation sector, clean energy and other emerging industries.

Advocates for responsible mining practices caution that getting those minerals out of the ground also comes with its own environmental and social impacts.

“One of our concerns is that the transition to low-carbon energy sources and electric vehicles comes at the expense of negative legacies and mining impacts,” Nikki Skuce, co-founder of BC Mining Law Reform Network, told The Narwhal in an interview. 

For example, Skuce has pointed to the ongoing impact of B.C.’s Mount Polley mine disaster in 2014, after a tailings dam failure led to 24 million cubic metres of mining waste being spilled into an important salmon watershed.

Merran Smith, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, said the growth of the electric vehicle sector could be a catalyst for Canada to address some of these issues and prevent future disasters. 

“The opportunity for battery manufacturing, which is going to require an increase in metals and minerals, is an opportunity for us to really ensure we clean up mining from an environmental and a social perspective,” she said in an interview.

Liberals and Conservatives promise to support mineral extraction for clean energy

Not all political parties acknowledge the link between mineral extraction and widespread adoption of zero-emission vehicles, but each of the four largest parties vying for federal leadership promise to support the growth of the sector. 

For example, the Green Party’s election platform highlights Canada’s opportunity to “become a world leader in cleantech and renewable energy,” noting those sectors are “where the jobs of the future are, and how we will stay globally competitive and build a prosperous sustainable future.” The party also promised to ban the sale of internal combustion vehicles by 2030.

Jamie Kneen, co-founder and communications coordinator at MiningWatch Canada, said he agrees this is necessary and important. But he also believes it would be missing the point to only focus the conversation on increasing electric vehicle sales and infrastructure.

“I think that any commitment or any discussion of zero-emission vehicles has to be in the context of our commitment to not using private vehicles,” he said in an interview. “The bigger question is, how are we going to actually shift the transportation paradigm so that it’s more accessible and more equitable and less carbon intensive? Just putting people into public transit makes a much more immediate and bigger difference, even if they’re diesel buses.”

The Green Party acknowledged this by committing to “ensure access to zero-carbon public transportation, with high-speed rail networks between major cities, and spokes of light rail and electric bus connections across the country.”

While the NDP election platform does not address mining directly, the party has promised to establish a research and development centre to “move forward related technologies such as hydrogen, batteries and energy storage solutions.” The party also committed to the Liberal government’s plan to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2035 and said it would increase tax breaks to make it easier for people to purchase electric vehicles.

Both the NDP and the Green Party also promised to expand charging infrastructure, including in rural communities, and invest in public transportation.

The Conservative election platform digs into the projected demand for minerals, with a promise to “take advantage of Canada’s abundant resources of the minerals needed to power our clean energy future.” The platform noted this would include “adopting policies to facilitate the responsible exploitation and mining of lithium.”

The Liberal campaign zeroed in on battery manufacturing and the connection to mining. “As the market for batteries grows, the global race is on to attract new manufacturing facilities and jobs,” the platform notes. The party has promised to “double the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit for materials on the Canadian list of critical minerals which are essential to the manufacturing of vital clean technologies, such as batteries.” This proposed tax break would cut costs for mining companies exploring for minerals associated with battery production. 

“One of Canada’s advantages is we have all the metals and minerals needed for batteries.”

Merran Smith, Clean Energy Canada

Kneen said the public should be aware of potential consequences as a result of further subsidizing mineral exploration.

“What it does is support the exploration industry, which doesn’t necessarily lead to mining,” he said. “Something like one in 1,000 exploration projects turns into a mine. What it does is keep the helicopters flying in the Yukon.”

Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada, told The Narwhal more exploration is necessary if Canada wants to compete for a stake in the global battery market.

“We now have one rare earth mine in the Northwest Territories, that’s it. And it’s brand new,” he said in an interview. “There has been a dearth of base metal discoveries in the past 20 years, in Canada and around the world. We do need some new discoveries to come our way if we’re going to meet this challenge.”

He added that most of the domestic mines currently extracting the metals associated with batteries aren’t actually selling them to battery manufacturers.

“There’s very little of Canada’s current production that goes into batteries,” he said. “We are the fifth largest producer of nickel and a major producer of cobalt but it’s used for other purposes.”

Kneen said the truth of where Canadian minerals end up casts a shadow on a growing narrative that mining is vital for, and inextricably linked to, green technology.

“The extent to which [the mining industry] is actually being bolstered by renewable energy demands is, I wouldn’t say marginal, but it’s not as big as industry is trying to tell us.”  

Canada needs to live up to its commitments before expanding mining sector: expert

Gratton said that Canada has an opportunity to use existing laws and regulations to support and promote responsible mining activity associated with battery production. He said that compared to other countries, Canadian mines have a significantly lower carbon footprint, given the access to hydroelectric power. As an example, he said Canada’s nickel production is second only to Finland in terms of greenhouse gases emitted per tonne of saleable product and has a fraction of the emissions per tonne released in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines.

“In terms of fighting climate change, one of the issues is all this extra material that’s going to be needed consumes a lot of energy,” he explained. “If that energy comes from fossil fuels, then we may be, on a net basis, still reducing [emissions] but not as much as we could if we derive those materials from mines that don’t use fossil fuels, or use much less.”

“I’m sure Canadians wouldn’t want Canada to be the miner to the world for all of our electric cars but I think there would be pretty good support for Canada having a piece of it, knowing that if we didn’t it would be coming from other places where they wouldn’t be done as well,” he added. 

China, for example, is well-positioned to secure a monopoly on the market if other countries don’t step up, according to Gratton. The Chinese government has less stringent rules and regulations on mining activity, both in terms of environmental impacts and human rights.

Skuce said Canada does have an advantage, if it lives up to its federal and provincial commitments.

“Like British Columbia, the federal government has now passed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and needs to ensure that it is respecting that, which means mining companies should require free prior and informed consent on the ground,” she said.

Manufacturers are increasingly demanding assurances of responsible mining practices. Gratton said members of the Mining Association of Canada commit to a sustainable mining protocol framework, which include guidelines for climate change, biodiversity, water stewardship and more. 

“It’s an emerging global system that provides the kind of assurance that the Apples and the auto manufacturers are looking for.”

The framework, which is informed by an advisory panel that has included members of MiningWatch Canada and former Green leader Elizabeth May, has been adopted in countries like Finland, Australia, Argentina and Botswana, he said, though each is at a different stage in implementing the protocols.

Kneen agreed the association’s framework is an important part of helping the industry adopt better practices and described it as a “useful tool for companies,” but as a new BC Mining Law Reform Network and MiningWatch Canada report points out, the framework is voluntary and B.C. alone is home to dozens of mines either actively polluting watersheds or posing risk to downstream habitat and communities.

Critics warns recycling needs support as electric vehicle sector grows

While Kneen and Skuce admitted mining is likely to play a prominent role in the transition to clean energy and the zero-emission transportation sector, they both stressed the need for Canada to simultaneously focus on reduction and recycling as part of the solution.

“The easiest way to avoid mine waste problems is to make less mine waste,” Kneen said. He added current recycling facilities aren’t yet able to extract much lithium during the process.

“The cobalt or the nickel and other parts are kind of easier to separate out,” he said, suggesting that Canada could invest in research and development to reduce the amount of waste associated with batteries and support recycling facilities.

Skuce agreed.

“We need to look at reducing the waste [extracting] raw material produces and way more on recycling.”

B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy announced last week that it will include electric vehicle batteries in the province’s five-year recycling strategy. The strategy puts the onus on producers — manufacturers, distributors and retailers — to take responsibility for the full life-cycle of products, to encourage a circular economy.

Both the Conservatives and Liberals promised in their respective campaigns to support the growth of battery recycling in Canada.

Skuce noted there are still important outstanding issues in the mining industry that federal, provincial and territorial governments need to address before supporting industry growth.

“There’s all sorts of innovations that we need to make sure we’re looking at while at the same time making sure that we’re closing the gap on regulations, laws, compliance and enforcement so that we can be a part of [the transition] without putting watersheds and communities at risk.” 

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In his acceptance speech in the early hours of Monday morning, new federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole promised his party would be ready for an election as early as this fall. What he didn’t say is that the party’s fate in a federal contest could hinge at least in part on a plan to combat climate change. 

“If Conservatives want to win another national government they are going to have to find ways to win critical seats in the suburban belt around Toronto – the 905,” Ken Boessenkool, a former senior advisor to Stephen Harper, wrote in Maclean’s back in February.

Boessenkool pointed to a Leger poll sponsored by non-profit Clean Prosperity, which found climate change was the top issue for swing voters in the 905 considering the Conservative Party in the 2019 election. While the Conservatives have held O’Toole’s Durham riding since 2004, several other ridings in the Greater Toronto Area were key battlegrounds last year. 

The online survey of 3,013 respondents in the region surrounding Toronto found 28 per cent of voters who did not vote Conservative, but are either likely to or would consider voting Conservative, would be “more likely to support the party if it had a more credible climate plan, while only 11 per cent said they’d be less likely.”

“This suggests that one path for the Conservative Party in the 905: to make climate change a higher priority, and to present a plan to do so,” Boessenkool wrote.

While the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic crisis have since taken hold, climate change remains a top concern for many Canadians.

“Our data suggests even today that the same number of people say climate change is a crisis that did prior to the pandemic and I don’t think this issue is going away,” David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, said in an interview with The Narwhal.

The Conservative climate challenge

The challenge for the new Conservative leader is “how do you at once speak to the fears and anxieties of people living in oil-producing parts of the country, while at the same time, make appeals to Quebec and large parts of Ontario that don’t rely on that industry for their well-being and in fact believe we need to be moving faster away from it,” Coletto said. 

“In a way, the Conservative Party is probably the best able to do that if it really wants to because it has a level of trust and an affinity with Canadians who live in those regions,” he said.

O’Toole has been a member of Parliament since 2012 but as a new leader, and a relatively unknown entity outside of Ottawa, he has an opportunity to introduce himself to voters. On climate change, Coletto said it will be important for O’Toole to do what former leader Andrew Scheer couldn’t: convince Canadians it’s an issue he cares about.

“We can as a country debate which policies are going to best get us there, but if at the start people don’t feel he’s committed to solving the problem, then nothing he says, no policy he puts forward, is going to be taken seriously,” Coletto said.

Experts say Erin O’Toole will need to put forward a stronger climate plan than predecessor Andrew Scheer if he wants to win over swing voters. Photo: Andrew Scheer / Flickr

Erin O’Toole’s climate commitments

O’Toole, who framed himself as the “true blue” candidate in the leadership race, is so far toeing the party line of the last election and vowing to “fight the carbon tax with every last breath” — at least when it comes to the Liberals’ broad-based tax as it applies to individuals.

The tax has been a major source of contention between the federal government and several provinces, including Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, each of which went to court to argue that Ottawa is acting outside its jurisdiction. 

While O’Toole opposes a carbon tax, he does call for a price on industrial pollution.

O’Toole has promised to build a climate policy that uses market-based principles to incentivize economic change and invests in mitigation to protect communities while making industry — rather than individual Canadians — foot the bill for emissions. 

“If provinces want to use market mechanisms, other forms of carbon pricing, or regulatory measures, that is up to them. The federal government will be there to support them,” his platform reads.

At the same time, he says Canada has the potential to help lower greenhouse gas emissions globally by exporting nuclear technology and liquefied natural gas and investing in carbon capture and storage. He did not, however, include any specific emissions-reduction targets or commit to upholding Canada’s existing pledges.

O’Toole’s platform points to the potential of conservation initiatives, including incentivizing landowners to protect lands that play a critical role in sequestering carbon. 

The Narwhal requested an interview with O’Toole but was told the new leader would not be available before publication.

Erin O’Toole, Jason Kenney and Alberta’s oilsands

O’Toole, who was endorsed by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney in the leadership race, has made it clear that a Conservative government would continue to support the oil and gas sector while working with industry to develop a plan to reach net-zero emissions.

Kenney’s backing was seen as a significant boost for O’Toole, but it could make it more difficult for the new leader to implement robust environmental policies.

“Right now, standing up for Alberta, to many Albertans, is basically equivalent to not fighting hard to transition away from the fossil fuel industry,” Coletto said.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney greets workers in Oyen, Alta., on July 3, after announcing the provincial government’s financial support of Keystone XL. Photo: Chris Schwarz / Government of Alberta / Flickr

O’Toole committed in his leadership platform to repeal Bill C-69 (the bill that enacted both the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act), pass a National Strategic Pipelines Act that would speed up environmental reviews for projects deemed “nationally strategic” and scrap the tanker ban on B.C.’s north coast — an environmental protection measure that was seen to play a role in the death of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project in 2016.

O’Toole, who was highly critical of blockades set up across the country last winter in support of Wet’suwet’en land defenders opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline, has also said he would criminalize rail blockades. 

His Freedom of Movement Act would make it illegal to block a railway, airport, port or the entrance to a business or household “to prevent radicals from shutting down the economy.” That echoes a law enacted by Kenney’s United Conservative Party government in June — legislation that is now facing a constitutional challenge.

Erin O’Toole ‘not a fan’ of UNDRIP

On Indigenous rights, O’Toole said he doesn’t support legislation to fully implement the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

Speaking to Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde on his Ahkameyimok Podcast earlier this month, O’Toole said: “I’m not a fan of UNDRIP and here’s the reason: our Supreme Court of Canada developed the duty to consult and Indigenous engagement far before the UN did any work on this topic and I’m a bit of a UN reform-minded person.”

“I don’t want us waiting for somebody in New York to say we need to do better and we need better outcomes in terms of reconciliation,” he said.

In his platform, O’Toole says, “improving the relationship between the government and Indigenous communities must be a top priority.”

He says a Conservative government under his leadership would promote economic development for Indigenous peoples by holding a summit aimed at increasing the benefits and revenues Indigenous communities get from resource development.

O’Toole also commits to “break the logjam holding back land claim settlements and agreements on land title issues across Canada.”

Erin O’Toole’s emphasis on LNG

Sarah Burch, the Canada research chair in sustainability governance and innovation based at the University of Waterloo, said she’s “heartened” to see O’Toole acknowledge the urgent challenge the world is facing due to climate change.

But she is concerned about a number of the new leader’s platform planks — including O’Toole’s promotion of LNG as an alternative to coal.

O’Toole’s platform says, “we need to stop building new coal-fired power plants and accept that natural gas is the most realistic interim step that cuts emissions in half.”

While Burch said the combustion of natural gas may produce about half the emissions of coal combustion, that doesn’t consider the lifecycle emissions from the production and transportation of natural gas, which releases methane, a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

“Unless we grapple with the lifecycle emissions of natural gas and deal with methane fugitive emissions, it’s not going to be a huge improvement. And even more important in my mind is that it also then locks us into decades of still a fairly high carbon energy system,” she said.

Fact check: are B.C.’s LNG ambitions compatible with its climate goals?

As for his commitment to scrap the carbon tax, Burch said she appreciates that O’Toole’s focus is on reducing pollution from industrial sources and ensuring those responsible pay for their emissions. But she doesn’t think Canada will be able to reach its goals without consumers being part of the equation. 

“That’s part of what a carbon tax does,” she said.

Burch added that she’s surprised O’Toole didn’t emphasize the potential to produce renewable energy in Canada.

“Alberta in particular is well endowed with renewable energy resources,” she said. “There’s so much potential there that could really fuel or power a renewable or lower carbon energy transition in Canada and could create good, well-paying jobs, but he dismisses those pretty much outright as not a feasible or desirable solution.”

The risk of the climate policy u-turn 

At this early stage, there remains a level of uncertainty about what climate policies O’Toole’s Conservative Party will prioritize.

Andrew Leach, an energy and environmental economist at the University of Alberta, said “the platform that he ran on … was the vision to become leader of the party and what matters to all of us is what he would do as prime minister.” 

Leach did caution, though, that it’s the “jerk back and forth” on climate policies that can be really costly for the economy.

You don’t want one government to commit to phasing out coal, the next government to say “oh, just kidding” and a third government to flip back to phasing out coal, he explained.

“If we have broad agreement about where Canada is heading and differences about the nuts and bolts of getting there in terms of greenhouse gas emissions then we’re probably going to have better and more cost-effective environmental policy,” he said.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.