This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Following protocol: the political geography of climate change policymaking in Canada Murray, Laurel Alexandra Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 29. Sep. 2021 FOLLOWING(PROTOCOL(( The$Political$Geography$of$Climate$Change$ Policymaking$in$Canada$ ( A thesis submitted in fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography Laurel A. Murray School of Social Science & Public Policy King’s College London University of London April 2014 1 Abstract Canada is a country often painted as a unifying power and an honest broker in world affairs. She has a respected history within the United Nations and a tradition of championing international norms, especially to curtail dangerous actions amongst the community of nations. From NAFTA to peacekeeping missions, she has carved a respected niche in global politics, perhaps fairer than her domestic situation warrants. Recent economic and environmental problems challenge this legacy of international cooperation and the rule of law with poor implementation of key international treaties. Environmental problems, in particular, have not translated into robust environmental policies even though Canadian identity is intrinsically woven with the concepts of nature and stewardship. The issue of climate change is a case in point: Canada was one of the earliest and most vocal supporters of the international climate change regime, and simultaneously, one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters per capita. The government signed the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a commitment to lower emissions by 6% of 1990 levels; yet emissions rose by 19% by the end of the commitment period. The country appears to suffer from a Jekyll and Hyde syndrome: defending international norms and the rule of law whilst at the same time ignoring the very treaties she fought to create. This thesis explores how the federal Canadian government shifted from being an international leader to a laggard in the Kyoto Protocol; and in doing so it will explain the socio-economic and political forces that shaped Canada’s Kyoto strategy. A grounded theory research design was used, combining key informant interviews, policy document analysis, and participant observation. The case study raises important questions for a country such as Canada with lessons for climate politics both within the country and other federalist countries. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. 3 TABLE OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... 7 TABLE OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. 8 ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................. 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 13 1.1 AIM OF THIS THESIS ..................................................................................................... 15 1.2 SETTING THE STAGE .................................................................................................... 19 1.3 THREE PERSPECTIVES .................................................................................................. 23 1.4 THESIS STRUCTURE ..................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH APPROACH & METHODOLOGY ............................... 35 2.1 INVESTIGATING GOVERNMENT POLITICS AND THE POLICY PROCESS ........................... 35 2.2 RESEARCH DESIGN AND EMPIRICAL TARGETS ............................................................. 37 2.2.1 Primary Literature ............................................................................................. 41 2.2.2 Interviews .......................................................................................................... 46 2.2.3 Direct Observation ............................................................................................ 54 2.2.4 Analysis of Data ................................................................................................ 56 CHAPTER 3 THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL NORMS & MULTILATERALISM ................................................................................................... 59 3.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 59 3.2 INTERNATIONAL NORMS .............................................................................................. 61 3.3 CANADIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY ................................................................................. 63 3 3.3.1 Multilateral Rule of Law ................................................................................... 64 3.3.2 The Environment ............................................................................................... 67 3.4 FORERUNNER IN THE UNFCCC NEGOTIATIONS .......................................................... 69 3.4.1 The Good Boy Scout ......................................................................................... 70 3.4.2 A Multilateral Approach ................................................................................... 71 3.5 THE CANADIAN PUBLIC ............................................................................................... 72 3.6 THE MANDATE ............................................................................................................ 75 3.6.1 The Target ......................................................................................................... 77 3.6.2 Sleeping with Elephants .................................................................................... 79 3.7 INK TO PAPER .............................................................................................................. 80 3.8 A NEOREALIST CHALLENGE ........................................................................................ 83 3.9 THE RIGHT THING TO DO ............................................................................................. 87 3.10 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 90 CHAPTER 4 STRUCTURAL CONSTRAINTS ON FEDERAL CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY ......................................................................................................... 92 4.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 92 4.2 CANADA’S FEDERALIST SYSTEM ................................................................................. 94 4.2.1 The Federalist Model ......................................................................................... 94 4.2.2 Reservation of Powers ....................................................................................... 95 4.2.3 Coordination amongst First Ministers ............................................................... 99 4.2.4 Parliament ........................................................................................................ 101 4.2.5 The Courts ....................................................................................................... 102 4.3 CANADA’S SLOW RATIFICATION PROCESS ................................................................. 103 4.4 CANADA’S OBSTACLES TO POLICY FORMATION, 1997-2005 ..................................... 107 4.4.1 Weak Capacity ................................................................................................ 108 4.4.2 Ineffective Consultation between Ottawa and the Provinces .......................... 112 4 4.5 PROVINCIAL VETOES ON FEDERAL ACTION, 1997-2005 ............................................ 116 4.6 BARRIERS TO UNILATERAL FEDERAL ACTION ..........................................................