Roundup: A focus on heat pumps

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There has been a lot of attention paid to the subject of heat pumps and just what they are over the past few days in light of the government’s “pause” on carbon prices on heating oil in a bid to give people more time to make the conversion, particularly in places like Atlantic Canada. So what are they and why is the government subsidising the transition, going so far as to make them free for low-income households (in provinces where they have an agreement with the provincial government)? The Canadian Press has an explainer on what they are for starters.

There is an issue that the detractors keep raising which is that in particularly cold weather they may be insufficient and a secondary heat source would be necessary. In many places, they use electric heat as that secondary source, particularly given the simultaneous push toward clean electricity generation in this country (some eighty percent already comes from non-emitting sources). We should take heed that Nordic countries, which also have very cold winters, have been making the move to heat pumps for a while now, and the newer models can deal with far colder weather than earlier models, but that doesn’t mean that the transition doesn’t have complications.

https://twitter.com/robtpublic/status/1719579403427213557

You can bet Scott Moe and others will be concern trolling on this, and some of the criticisms do have merit, but it will become a real task to sort out just what is legitimate criticism, and what is being stated in bad faith (because look where it’s coming from). By the same token, the government shouldn’t oversimplify things here, or the scope of the challenge that this conversion may present itself to people who will need more assistance in navigating the other government retrofit programmes that can help them with that transition.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian drone attack hit an oil refinery in the central Kremenchuk region, while Russia also dropped explosives on the Black Sea shipping channels that have been used to transport grain. Ukraine’s commander-in-chief says they are entering into a static and attritional phase of the war, and they need new capabilities including more air power if they want to break out of it. Since the start of the war, more than 260 civilians have died from stepping on landmines, which is more of the lasting damage that invasion like Russia’s leaves behind.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau made a statement that Israel’s price of justice shouldn’t be paid for by “all Palestinian civilians,” which is a much more pointed criticism of Israel.
  • Trudeau appointed former BC premier John Horgan as the next ambassador to Germany, which has been vacant for months.
  • Chrystia Freeland sent a letter to Danielle Smith ahead of the meeting on the CPP, warning that withdrawing from the programme would be an irreversible mistake.
  • Mark Miller says the plan for immigration levels is to level it off at 500,000 per year by 2026, and to better understand some of the microeconomic forces around it.
  • Here is a look at Global Affairs’ attempts to get more Canadians out of Gaza at the southern border crossing.
  • Canada was one of thirty countries to sign onto a pledge to create a scientific network to monitor AI, as well as to cooperate on future regulation.
  • This year’s Silver Cross Mother is the mother of a peacekeeper who was killed in Bosnia in 1996.
  • A coalition of advocates is warning that the digital privacy bill doesn’t go far enough to protect against facial recognition technology.
  • Whistle-blowers at Sustainable Development Technology Canada recorded conversations about the incompetence of the management (who are still in place).
  • Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem told a Senate committee that upcoming mortgage renewals were factored into the decision to hold interest rates.
  • Pierre Poilievre is calling on the government to suspend the carbon price on all heating sources until the next election.
  • François Legault is trying to hold immigration levels in the province steady, claiming it is an effort to protect French (and totally not xenophobia, no sir).
  • It has been noticed that Scott Moe removed the Canadian flag from the Saskatchewan legislature’s press theatre months ago and won’t say why.
  • Here’s a look at the legal danger the CEO of SaskEnergy could be in if he complies with Scott Moe’s order to stop collecting the carbon price.
  • Kevin Carmichael assesses the signals the country is sending on foreign policy in advance of the fall economic statement.
  • Susan Delacourt reflects on the propaganda gift that Trudeau handed Poilievre last week with the carbon price “pause” on heating oil.

Odds and ends:

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