Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said last week he has “concerns” about plans to expand exports from thermal coal mines. (Photo courtesy of the Office of the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard)

The Lead

An open letter sent to Jason Nixon, Alberta’s Minister of Environment and Parks, from Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is asking for Alberta to place an annual cap of 100-megatonnes on greenhouse gas emissions coming from the oilsands sector. Wilkinson noted that the province has put this limit into legislation, but it has yet to enforce it.

This letter comes a little over a week before the decision is to be made on the Teck Frontier oilsands mine project, which Wilkinson mentions in the letter. The letter reads that the joint review panel has “concluded that the project is likely to result in significant adverse environment effects,” but that the project is in the public interest, reports CBC News.

The letter also says that there is a “significant risk” in approving the Teck Frontier mine project and that it could see the province surpass the 100-megatonne cap by 30 per cent in the span of ten years, according to the Calgary Herald.

Internationally

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported that a U.S. natural gas facility was forced to stop production for two days due to a ransomware attack. The company experienced what is called a “spear-phishing” attack where individuals are scammed through a series of believable messages. The facility threatened was not named, reports BBC News.

On Thursday morning, Brent Crude was at US$58.92 and West Texas Intermediate US$53.97.

In Canada

According to the Alberta Federation of Labour, public-service pensions are being used as a means to support the unstable fossil fuel market in the province. There is a fear from the labour organization that the Alberta Investment Management Corp., or AIMco, is using pensions savings as a means to a political end. In response to this, AIMco has said that its investments of close to $115 billion in carbon-focused industries are similar to investment funds abroad. CBC News has more.

Following suit with CN, Via Rail is expected to lay off close to 1,000 of their employees due to protests along rail lines throughout Canada. This is the first time that the company has has to halt the majority of their services at a nationwide level, said to Via’s chief executive officer, Cynthia Garneau, according to the Globe and Mail.

In other news, the RCMP has offered to move off Wet’suwet’en territory, according to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair. Although federal and provincial ministers have been requesting to meet with hereditary chiefs, there was a demand that the RCMP leave the traditional land before a meeting is agreed to, reports the Globe and Mail.

Noteworthy