Environment minister attacks climate reporting, evades reporters

Andrea Barbour responded to one question in the House of Assembly Wednesday. But instead of answering it, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Environment, Conservation and Climate Change attacked recent reporting by The Independent that revealed the government has forecast Newfoundland and Labrador will blow past its 2030 climate target.

During question period the NDP’s climate critic, Sheilagh O’Leary, called the revelation “absolutely unacceptable.” Then, citing the Progressive Conservatives’ election platform – which acknowledged that without “immediate and decisive measures” the province may miss its 2030 target – O’Leary asked Barbour when the government’s promised climate plan will be made public.

Barbour said she was “so happy” O’Leary asked the question, “because I get to clear the air here.” She then took aim at “the media,” not referencing The Independent and Ricochet Media, who jointly published the Oct. 29 article, by name. “We know that the media took the narrative, twisted it and wrote what they wanted, and they didn’t say the truth,” Barbour said.

Gasps and shouts of surprise from the Liberal side of the legislature prompted House Speaker Paul Lane to call for order. Barbour then said the projections referenced in the reporting were part of a “draft model” being developed as part of the Conservatives’ climate planning.

“The truth is, what is in the media and what was ATIPP’d back in July was a draft model. Now how can you take a draft, and say this is what we have, and put it out to media and talk about it?”

Barbour said her department “knew this was going to happen. But here we are today, and it’s happening. This model is under development and […] everything that was […] put out there was based on a snapshot of a draft model.”

In fact, the reporting in question quotes a spokesperson for Barbour’s department explaining the numbers disclosed in the document – which was obtained through an access-to-information request – represent a “preliminary draft projection.” The spokesperson is also quoted in the story saying the projection is “based on a new modelling approach being developed jointly by the Department of Environment, Conservation and Climate Change and the Department of Finance.”

In a follow-up question Wednesday, O’Leary accused successive Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments of creating climate plans that “collect dust”. She then asked Barbour why residents should trust the current government.

That’s when Energy and Mines Minister Lloyd Parrott rose to speak on Barbour’s behalf. Shifting from Barbour’s focus on the news reports, Parrott took aim at O’Leary’s party. “The public should be thankful that they don’t have an NDP government, that they don’t have a government that is fully opposed to oil and gas,” he responded, not directly addressing O’Leary’s question.

“We will produce oil and gas in this province as long as we have oil and the world needs it,” Parrot continued. “At the end of the day we pay for everything we do based on industry. If we didn’t have industry, if we didn’t have mining, if we didn’t have oil and gas, we would have nothing.”

Parrott’s response came after several references he made in the House of Assembly Wednesday to the province being “back in the oil business.” Earlier in the day the province’s offshore energy regulator announced Shell Canada and Equinor have committed a combined $240-million investment in oil exploration off Newfoundland’s coast.

Following question period, members of the province’s press gallery waited about a half hour for Barbour to clarify what she said in the legislature. But Barbour didn’t show up. Instead, department spokesperson Michelle Hunt-Grouchy appeared to tell reporters Barbour “is not available to pop out.” Asked repeatedly why the minister was not able to answer questions, Hunt-Grouchy didn’t elaborate.

Liberal leader John Hogan later told reporters that facing the media is “the crux” of a cabinet minister’s position. “It’s communicating to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians what’s happening.”

O’Leary also addressed Barbour’s refusal to take questions from the press. “It’s really unfortunate that a minister, who is accountable to the people who have elected her, is not coming to either the media, or answering questions in the House of Assembly,” she said.

On Monday Barbour did not take questions from reporters on the emissions projections. She was absent from the house on Tuesday. 

O’Leary restated her position that the province doesn’t need a new climate policy from the Wakeham government, and that what’s needed is a just transition. “I don’t understand the denial,” she said. “Why are we still living in a day and age while we’re denying a climate crisis?”

Responding to news of the new offshore exploration investments, Hogan said consecutive governments have put in “a lot of work” to expand the oil industry. 

O’Leary was less enthusiastic. “To continue to invest in an oil and gas industry that we know is on the down-swing – we know it’s finite,” she said. “We know the impacts that are happening on the environment. We need to protect our workers. We need to protect the people of our province.”

Wakeham also did not make himself available Wednesday following Barbour’s allegations in the House of Assembly.