Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow blame flooding in Ontario’s capital city on climate change but one expert says some places are better equipped to deal with heavy rain than others.
Neither leader gave specific evidence on how climate change affected the flooding but confidently assured that more would be expected as a result.
Kenneth Green, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and Frontier Centre for Public Policy has written extensively on public policy and he told True North that Chow was discussing adaptation more than additional greenhouse gas reduction measures, such as a further increase to the carbon tax.
A market-based “adaptation” measure would include creating incentives for people to keep more of their land permeable to water penetration, rather than paved over with impermeable materials, Green explained.
“An adaptationist response to climate risk is, I think, far more rational than the idea of reducing GHG emissions, so the more the government focuses on things like this, the better,” he said
Green has warned that “Canadians will pay dearly for Ottawa’s carbon tax,” estimating that it will cause a 1.8% drop in GDP and a loss of 185,000 jobs by 2030.
Chow said that she expects the number of severe rainstorm days to double in the next 15 years, due to climate change and that the only way to fight this inevitability was government measures.
Toronto’s mayor said that she’s considering providing such incentives to homeowners and for people with large parking spaces where stormwater is not properly running off, which causes more flooding.
Chow previously considered implementing a rain tax that the vast majority of residents opposed. The proposal has been postponed until 2027.
Trudeau echoed Chow’s concerns that climate change would increase the frequency of extreme weather events and said that his government has made a dozen investments in flood-resilient infrastructure in the city of Toronto.
“We’re going to continue to be there to make sure that people are safe and that infrastructure needs are met long into the future in this great and growing city,” he said.
A Fraser Institute study suggested that there was no evidence to suggest that extreme climate events are on the rise, despite assertions from environmental activists and the Liberals.
Green said studies on creating permeability utilities have existed for years. In Austin, Texas, where he used to live, the government implemented business incentives for keeping a certain percentage of parking areas permeable to the downward flow of rainwater.
He said that some governments have managed flood control better than others, but the biggest failure comes from the insurance area.
“Governments don’t require people building in flood-prone areas to carry sufficient insurance, and thus, when floods happen, the taxpayers smart enough not to live in flood zones have to pay for their damages via government bailouts,” said Green. “Then, government’s often let people rebuild right where they were, and when they build back even grander, it only ensures higher cost losses for the next flood. It’s a vicious circle of encouraging people to put higher and higher value homes and businesses in higher risk areas, because they face no disincentives not to do so.”
Green authored a book titled, The Plague of Models: How Computer Modelling Corrupted Environmental, Health, and Safety Regulations.
In his book, he dedicates an entire chapter to arguing against climate models and predictions.
“I do not place any credence in predictive climate models, at all,” said Green, who holds a doctoral degree in environmental science and engineering.
Immigration recently passed climate change as a key priority for Canadian voters. Also eclipsing climate change were the rising cost of living, housing affordability, healthcare, and the general economy.
Despite Canada having one of the most expensive carbon taxes in the world, it previously fell to 62nd place out of 67 on the Climate Change Performance Index.
“Justin Trudeau’s failed environmental policies are not only costing Canadians — but they’re also not working,” said Conservative MP Dan Mazier.