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First in the large city category, Edmonton wants to be an "innovation centre for value added and green technologies and products" and is measuring progress by percentage of green collar jobs. In the medium city category, Halifax has insecticide and pesticide bans throughout the city and has established a Sustainability Transition Team.

In the small city category, Yellowknife has integrated energy efficiency into its building bylaws, conducted an energy audit on all of its facilities, and is the only small city with a LEED-certified building.

Seventeen Canadian cities were assessed on newly expanded indicators to better represent results-oriented factors, such as improved air quality, domestic and overall water usage and the number of people employed in cultural industries. Corporate Knights found that overall Canadian cities are doing a good job of self-regulating.

"Our work highlights the need to expand the biofuels debate beyond its current focus on climate change to include a wider range of effects such as their impacts on air quality," said Jason Hill, lead author of the report.

Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study examined combined environmental and human health costs of gasoline, corn-based ethanol and cellulosic fuels. It found corn ethanol to be the most costly.

Cellulosic ethanol made from wood, grasses and plant biomass produces less emissions of fine particulate matter, emits lower levels of greenhouse gases and has fewer effects on human health. Although environmental and health costs of cellulosic ethanol are less than half that of corn-based biofuels, it is far from being ready for commercial use.

"Environment Minister Jim Prentice intends to deregulate federal environmental assessment in much the same way that George Bush deregulated the financial services industry and Mike Harris deregulated control of drinking water supplies," said Stephen Hazell, executive director of Sierra Club Canada.

"Duplication of environment assessment effort has largely been eliminated due to the efforts of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency as well as the Major Projects Management Office established by the Harper government a year ago," said Will Amos, Ecojustice lawyer and Sierra Club Canada board director.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act was enacted by the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney in 1992.

In March 2006, the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce passed a resolution, 'An Energy Plan for Manitoba', at its 75th Annual General Meeting. The resolution called for a public dialogue to arrive at an energy plan for Manitoba.

Manitoba Wildlands has recommended the Manitoba government conduct a public process to provide Manitobans with a plan for; domestic energy needs, conservation targets, public debt tolerance, new projects, and a renewable portfolio standard for energy targets.

"Manitobans support their public utility. They also wish to participate in deciding longer term energy policy in our province," said Gaile Whelan Enns, director, Manitoba Wildlands.

"Tar sands oil is the dirtiest form of energy in the world. It has no place in President Obama's plans for a clean energy economy," said Sierra Club US Dirty Fuels Campaign Coordinator Pat Gallagher.

On February 19, 2009 President Obama travels to Canada on his first presidential visit abroad. He will face pressure from the Government of Canada to support production of Alberta tar sands oil.

Leading up to Obama's visit, environmental groups will conduct a wide variety of outreach, including running newspaper ads, launching a new website, and asking Americans and Canadians to sign letters and petitions to Prime Minister Harper and President Obama.

"Both Canada and the United States must begin to make the transition to a green energy economy from our current economy based on dirty fossil fuels such as coal and tar sands oil" said Stephen Hazell, executive director of Sierra Club Canada. "We are delighted by President Obama's commitment to make that transition."

The joint assessment is part of a larger process to review 200 chemicals to determine the safety for people and the environment. This regulatory step allows government to regulate chemicals and eliminate the use of dangerous substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

D5 is used in pharmaceuticals, cleaners and cosmetics. It is considered bioaccumulative and can harm aquatic organisms at low concentrations. D4 is used in lotions, plastics and soaps, and is shown to be persistent in the environment.

Ottawa issues assessments on batches of priority chemicals but in November and December the government missed its own deadlines. Environmentalists say federal reviews stopped due to pressure from industry and are concerned delays will affect the timeline for assessing other substances.

Since 1986 there has been a global moratorium on commercial whaling. The IWC allows whales to be killed for research purposes and under these rules Japan plans to harvest up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales in the Antarctic Ocean this season.

The IWC has proposed Japan be allowed to hunt whales in its territorial waters if the scientific whaling program is phased out or allow Japan's research program to continue if it adheres to annual limits set by the IWC's Scientific Committee.

Japan has threatened to leave the IWC if the commercial whaling ban is not lifted. Iceland and Norway are the only two countries that do not recognize IWC rules and have authorized fisherman to hunt whales to sell for meat.

The seven-member JRP has announced it will need until December to finish its environmental and socio-economic assessment of the project, taking 47 months to do a job it was asked to do in 10. Oil companies have spent nearly $500 million to get the pipeline to this stage. With regulatory delays and the collapse of gas and oil prices, companies are looking towards cheaper shale gas discoveries in British Columbia and elsewhere.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced the federal government would contribute to infrastructure costs and cover expenses related to the long regulatory process. Critics say the offer is in conflict of interest and creates doubt the government will make a fair and objective environmental assessment decision.

"The Government has missed a superb opportunity to help Canada make the transition to a sustainable economy by creating green jobs, supporting green infrastructure, and investing in renewable energy," says Stephen Hazell, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada.

The budget included a promising $1 billion Green Infrastructure Fund but it lacks a clear plan on how funds will be allocated and appears to bypass environmental assessments of projects. The government has also chosen to spend $351 million on nuclear energy and $1 billion over 5 years on carbon capture storage, an initiative that experts say is not yet economically viable.

Human rights records of all UN member states are reviewed every four years - Canada faced its review February 3, 2009. Submissions against Canada ranged from problems with immigration policy, the erosion of labor rights, to the government's refusal to endorse the 2007 United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Paul Joffe, an international human rights lawyer, said the power of the review comes with publicity or its "name and shame" aspect. "What country wants to be put in a report as being against human rights? This process is meant to encourage countries to improve their behavior and uplift standards," said Joffe.

In a pastoral letter to more than 50,000 Catholics in the diocese of St. Paul, Bishop Luc Bouchard wrote, "The integrity of creation in the Athabasca oil sands is clearly being sacrificed for economic gain."

The letter calls for a stop to oilsands development until adequate environmental protection measures are in place. He highlights the need for rules to lower greenhouse gas emissions and ambitious fuel-efficiency standards so oil is not wasted.

"The moral problem does not lie in government and industry's lack of a sincere desire to find a solution; the moral problem lies in their racing ahead and aggressively expanding the oil sands industry despite the fact that serious environmental problems remain unsolved after more than 40 years of on-going research," the letter says.

The letter highlights concerns that the Canadian government is seeking special exemptions for greenhouse gases produced by the oilsands as a North American cap-and-trade system is developed.

"Emissions cuts in any credible North American system will need to be deep for all sectors. Placing an extra burden on some sectors in order to allow emissions from tar sands to grow, or stay constant, would not be acceptable on environmental or equity grounds," the letter says.

The letter came from the David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence Canada, ForestEthics, Greenpeace Canada, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Pembina Institute and the Sierra Club of Canada.

US Mayors issued a policy statement at their 2008 annual convention urging US cities to avoid purchases of dirty oil.