Taking questions from reporters Wednesday at the roll out of the grocery rebate in Canada, the Prime Minister said some political parties, including the Conservatives, don’t accept climate change is a reality. Justin Trudeau says Canada has to fight climate change and that’s why there is a price on pollution.
Pointing to this year’s wildfires, and last year, Hurricane Fiona on the east coast as well as the atmospheric river going through BC which caused infrastructure damage, Trudeau says that is the cost of inaction and the Canadian government will keep on moving forward to limit the impact of climate of change.
Last month was the third warmest June in 126 years in Saskatoon. Environment Canada says the monthly mean temperature was 19.2 degrees which is 3.4 degrees above normal. It was the second warmest in Prince Albert in 136 years. The monthly mean in Prince Albert was 18.3 degrees—or 3 degrees above normal. Also yesterday, the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer which is an unofficial tool, measured Earth’s average temperature at a record high of 17.18 degrees Celsius.
Trudeau also took questions about the Wednesday announcement from Canada’s Heritage Minister on suspending all Government of Canada advertising to Facebook. He says the federal government will stand firm on requiring Google and Meta to pay news publishers for content that appears on their sites if it helps them generate money.
Justin Trudeau says it is vital to have an independent, diverse, free press in Canada. He says they are still in negotiation with Google but Facebook has refused to recognize responsibilities it may have in giving back to democracies that have contributed to its success as a company.
“This goes to the core of a free and informed society that is able to take responsible decisions in a democracy. Citizens need to have access to quality local news, tio quality content, to quality journalism that is properly paid.”
Meta said it is removing Canadian news from its sites in response to the federal Online News Act. That’s the legislation that will require Google and Meta to pay news publishers for content that appears on their sites if it helps them generate money.
