Authors: William Kimber and Dr. Roger Gibbins
Finding Common Ground: The Next Step in Developing a Canadian Energy Strategy is the first to provide a synthesis from the various stakeholder groups that have called for a reform of Canada’s energy policy framework between 2009 and 2011.
While these stakeholder groups, which include leaders of Canada’s top enterprises, environmental organizations, the energy industry, policy think tanks and academia have all agreed that we need an energy strategy and we need it now, we still need to outline what that strategy might be. This report has uncovered eight interconnected themes surrounding existing conversations:
embrace Canada’s energy diversity as a strength;
ensure robust environmental stewardship;
set a price for carbon;
transform the demand side of the energy system;
strengthen Canada’s position in the world;
promote energy security in the North American context;
drive innovation and technological development; and
understand that strategy is a dialogue.
While impressive progress has already been made, there is still more work to be done. The report proposes three next steps to complement and reinforce strategies to assist Canadians in addressing energy challenges and opportunities, so that we can ensure the momentum that has been built is not lost.
This report is part of the Canada West Foundation’s Powering Up for the Future Project.