MELISSA SHAW: Ontario taxpayers may have to pay $18.6 million for the cancelled eco fee program that was introduced last summer. The bill comes from Stewardship Ontario, the private industry funded organization created by the government to manage the program. The fee was put in place in July 2010 to help pay for the costs of recycling cleaners, medication and other household chemicals. Environment Minister John Wilkinson says this number is ‘wildly inflated’ and that the amount paid to Stewardship Ontario will depend on the results of an audit which is now in progress. Stewardship Ontario operates on fees paid by the 1500 businesses that design the products, companies such as Clorox Canada and drug manufacturer Apotex Inc. They could not charge these companies fees until the program was running so the start up expenses were paid for on a line of credit. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY: It was announced this week that Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, will not be invited to participate in the two debates taking place before the May 2nd election. The Green Party has never won a seat in the House of Commons, and they were also not invited to the 2008 debates, until public and punditry pressure made the consortium reverse this decision. Last time, however, they had representative (who was elected as Liberal), which played a large part in the reversal.

May has called this decision arbitrary, and has questioned the legitimacy of barring the only female candidate from participating. Last time around the party won almost a million votes, representing 7% of the popular vote. This year their budget is smaller but their reach is further, putting forth a full slate of 308 candidates. May says all that has really changed is that the party has even more support than last time. By the looks of it, however, this support is not coming from the places that have the power to change her lack of invitation. [ index ]

MELISSA SHAW: Jack Layton made an election campaign stop in Quebec where he announced that he would cut federal subsidies to the oil industry which amounts to 2 billion a year. He said that quebeckers now pay 75 dollars a year per person to subsidize fossil fuel producers. According to Layton this boosts profits for the fuel industry and discourages green energy projects. He promised to redirect these funds towards renewable energy sources such as solar or geothermal power and to establish a training fund for jobs in these fields. The conservatives have also said they would phase out these subsidies but Layton argued their cuts would only amount to 1 percent of the funding given to large oil companies. He did not mention these subsidy cuts for the fossil fuel industry when he spoke in Edmonton earlier this week. Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach criticized him for ‘driving a wedge between the provinces.’ [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY: On Friday March 25th, Lawyers from the uOttawa-Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic and Lenczner Slaght LLP and went before the Supreme Court of Canada in defence of the publisher and authors of a controversial book documenting the activities of high profile Canadian mining companies.

The book, called “Noir Canada: Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique”, was produced Écosociété, a small public affairs publisher, and lead author Alain Deneault. It focuses on the evidence of the complicity of Canadian mining companies in environmental and human rights abuses taking place in several African countries. The book also calls for public inquiry.

Ecosociete was hit with two defamation lawsuits in the spring of 2008, from Ontario’s Banro Corporation and Quebec’s Barrick Gold, both mining companies. If the publishers and authors win in the SCC, it will mark a victory as well for anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) legislation. [ index ]

MELISSA SHAW: The Saskatchewan government is planning to ban an invasive species of fish called the Northern Snakehead. The Ministry of the Environment issued a public alert for the fish which is native to China and Siberia but can survive Canadian winters. The province believes that several pet stores are selling the Northern Snakehead and fears that they could be released by people into lakes which would wipe out local species. Environment Minister Dwight Duncan said that the invasive species regulations will be updated to ban the import, possession and sale of aquarium fish that are considered harmful. Rules are being developed by the province to explain what to do if any of these fish are found but there have not yet been any cases reported. The Environment Ministry is urging pet stores not to sell the fish. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY: Earth Day Canada’s Hometown Heroes Award Program deadline has been extended. This award is intended to acknowledge and celebrate Canadian environmental leaders (groups, businesses, or individuals) that are dedicated to creating and sustaining long-term awareness and action within the communities they serve.

The categories and prizes are as follows: Individual Award - $10 000 cash, half to keep and half to donate to their preferred environmental cause; Group Award - $10 000 cash to support their work; and the Small Business Award is an all-expenses paid trip to any professional development summit, conference, or workshop on conservation and/or sustainability within Canada.

If this sounds like something you’d like to nominate someone for, you now have until April 22, to send in nominations to www.earthday.ca/hometown, and celebrate the accomplishments of those fighting the green fight! [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE (Read by Danielle Bonnett): China is the world’s largest investor in green energy technology according to a new report from the Pew Environmental Group. According to the study, China invested over $54 billion dollars in 2010, an increase of 40% from the year before. China also remains the world’s largest producer of wind turbines and solar panels. Though China is set to increase its use of renewable energy into the future, it remains for the time being the largest emitter of carbon because of its heavy reliance on coal.

Germany is the second largest green-energy investor, overtaking the United States which now sits at third. Argentina was the country with the largest annual growth in green energy, as it increased its 2010 green-tech investments by a staggering 568%. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE (Read by Danielle Bonnett): The number of tigers in India has increased by 20% according to the latest survey by scientists. This puts the number of tigers at around 1700, up from 1400 when the last census was taken in 2007. Indian tigers remain endangered due to poaching, which supplies tiger parts to black markets. Habitat loss is also a threat, particularly in this nation of 1.2 billion people. The current number of 1700 is in stark contrast to the estimated 100,000 that existed a century ago.

Though these new numbers are good news for conservationists, scientists caution that the increase in the new census might not be due to a population rebound.

The new survey used new techniques and was more comprehensive than the previous one, meaning that tigers that were missed in the 2007 survey might have been counted in this one. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE (Read by Danielle Bonnett): US President Barack Obama vowed to curb the country’s reliance on foreign oil. Renewed unrest in the Middle East has once again increased fuel prices, which has in turn prompted politicians to address energy policy. Speaking at Georgetown University, President Obama admitted that vows to curtail foreign oil go back to former President Nixon in the 70s, but that high fuel prices and climate change means that the idea is more important than ever.

President Obama offered to increase domestic energy production through a combination of policies that include increased investment in renewable energy, but also increases in nuclear power as well as domestic oil drilling. [ index ]