No Time to Lose

The opinions and recommendations in this report, and any errors, are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders of this report. [...] The reality is the competitiveness of the Canadian economy, the produc- tivity of its industries and the innovations we champion are less threatened by corporate tax rates and environmental rules than by climate change, per- sistent and damaging levels of inequality, and drastically underfunded pub- lic services and social programs. [...] While the AFB applauds the launch last year of Cre- ative Canada, the federal government must effectively monitor the flow of investments to arts and culture to ensure the industry (including artists, staff, boards, volunteers, etc.) reflects Canadian demographics and diverse cultural contexts. [...] Occurrences of wildfires, floods and other extreme weather events associated with global warming are on the rise in every part of Canada and around the world.1 The rapid depletion of our natural environments and species extinguishment puts the need for better conservation measures high on the agenda. [...] Part of the funding for this “just transition” will come from strengthening the federal carbon pricing backstop system, by continuing to increase the minimum carbon price by $10 a tonne annually after it reaches $50/tonne in 2022 and closing some of the loopholes for highly polluting industries.2 The AFB also cancels all fossil fuel subsidies, which currently distort the true cost of the oil and g