Canadian ‘climate ministry’ will have arms storage and detention rooms – media

A Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) facility under construction in Winnipeg includes a sizable firearms storage room, as well as multiple evidence rooms and interrogation rooms, according to  CounterSignal. The outlet, which claims to have received a leaked copy of the architectural plans as drawn up by a Winnipeg firm, published a snapshot showing some of the more disturbing labels on Tuesday.

The sprawling 50,000 square-foot building also encases biological labs, media relations offices, a weather forecasting station, and – perhaps most disturbing, given the implications – facilities for housing hundreds of people, including “enforcement officers” working for the ECCC.

The “enforcement officers” are essentially climate police, endowed with equivalent authority by the 2019 Impact Assessment Act, which purports to be legislation aiming to reduce the impact of energy, farming and other large projects on indigenous communities and the environment. They may enter any property without a warrant in order to verify compliance with the IAA, taking photos, accessing computers, phones and other devices, giving orders to anyone operating machinery, or even demanding the premises be vacated and future access prohibited. 

According to a job posting on Indeed.com, Canada is currently hiring these “enforcement officers” to enforce pollution regulations. They are given a secret security clearance and restricted weapons, which they carry – along with handcuffs – into whatever environmental conditions Ottawa calls for them to inspect. 

ECCC agents were spotted earlier this week on private farmland in Saskatchewan, where they claimed to be taking water samples in order to measure nitrate levels. Premier Scott Moe demanded to know what the agency planned to use the samples for and why it was being done without the permission and knowledge of the farmers.

Many farmers fear the PM could follow in the footsteps of his counterpart in the Netherlands, whose planned restrictions on fertilizer usage threaten to put the majority of Dutch farmers off their land. In 2020, Trudeau announced plans to reduce fertilizer emissions by 30% over the next 10 years, which will not only reduce crop yields and make it impossible to continue growing food, but, fertilizer industry advocates say, won’t even lower carbon emissions.