Policy Options - Canada's premier public policy magazine

Institute for Research on Public Policy - home

Home | Support us | Contact us | Français

| More -->

Policy Options - home


	Policy Options \| Current issue
		Sustainable energy February 2012 Published 10 times per year, Policy Options is Canada's premier public policy magazine. Its goal is to encourage an informed debate on the important public policy issues of today and tomorrow.
	Editor's note Interview with the Editor L. Ian MacDonald UP FRONT "We rise together or we fall together"In a major address to the Economic Club of Canada, Alberta’s new premier, Alison Redford, staked a claim to leadership of the sustainable energy debate as well as to Alberta’s role as a leader in the Canadian federation. "I speak for all Albertans when I say that we are proud to join with Ontario in making this country strong," she declared. "We rise together or we fall together. There is no other way." Alison Redford ON THE COVER After Kyoto and Durban: A question of balanceIn his first major interview since the Durban Conference, Environment Minister Peter Kent sat for an extended Q&A with Policy Options Editor L. Ian MacDonald on January 10. He reiterated that Canada was still committed to working toward our Copenhagen obligations of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Sustainable energy, he said, is a question of balance. Peter Kent Coming down the pipe(line) in 2012(Summary not available) Todd Hirsch Harnessing energy for changeCanada’s national interest will be served when we understand and anticipate the coming transformation in global energy dynamics and the future low-carbon economy. On the one hand, we want access to energy markets in the US and Asia while limiting the scope of what energy options we promote. On the other hand, we leave the Kyoto Protocol behind while standing with 194 other countries in Durban to support a new 2020 agreement to reduce GHG emissions. The inherent flaw in ignoring the linkages between these two is that we are missing opportunities to harness energy for change. Counter to popular wisdom, a well-executed Canadian energy strategy also has the potential to bring growth, prosperity and sustainability. Velma McColl The Equinox Summit: Imagining a lower-carbon, electrified futureCan we engineer a tectonic shift in the industrial, social and economic fabric of a global society, dislodging it decidedly away from fossil fuels? Is such a thing even possible to conceive, much less plan and execute? Participants in an innovative gathering of the Waterloo Global Science Initiative in Waterloo, Ontario, believed so — and set about imagining how the world could realistically cleave a bold new pathway toward a lower-carbon energy future in electricity. Australian science journalist Wilson da Silva, who moderated the sessions, reports from the inside. Wilson da Silva Beyond Kyoto and KeystoneIt's time for Canada's absolutists on energy, the economy and the environment to lay down their rhetorical arms. It’s time to find a path forward that works for all Canadians, argues Contributing Writer Robin Sears, in a look back at the journey from Kyoto to the Keystone XL pipeline and a preview of the issues that lie ahead. Robin V. Sears Why Keystone failed and how to fix itMost government and industry officials in Canada seem to assume that the Obama administration’s decision to postpone a final ruling on the Keystone XL Pipeline until after the 2012 election is only a temporary setback. However, the outcome is not a foregone conclusion. The real battle is over how Alberta’s oil sands resources will be exploited. The Keystone experience contains important lessons for Ottawa, Edmonton and the pipeline and oil sands industries. Donald Barry Boming increasingly unconventional: Why energy is in need of a strategyThe global energy picture is shifting. World energy demand is expected to increase by one-third between 2010 and 2035, with the vast majority of the demand driven by the rapidly emerging economies. China alone is forecast to consume 70 percent more energy than the US by 2035. Incremental supply will remain predominantly from hydrocarbons, but will increasingly come from unconventional sources and geographies. Canada should benefit from this, Kevin Lynch and Kathy Sendall argue, provided it pays greater attention to where the shifts in energy demand will come from and how the demand will be met. Unconventional oil and gas development depends on new and innovative technologies and, to supply the new energy, consumers in Asia will require new transportation infrastructure. All require leadership and a strategic game plan. Kevin G. Lynch and Kathy Sendall Making Canadians energy wiseCanada stands poised to realize significant advantage from its diverse array of energy resources, and to augment its position as an environmentally responsible supplier of energy and advanced technologies to world markets. But first we need a renewed commitment to energy conservation. Wise use of energy across all sectors of Canadian society would improve the competitiveness of our economy, lessen exposure to volatile energy prices, enhance our communities and better enable us to achieve economic and environmental objectives. John Manley Reversing the curse: Starting with energyMany in Canada and internationally subscribe to the view that over time staple economies tend to underperform compared with more balanced industrial economies. More recently, campaigns to brand Canada as an environmental pariah and producer of "dirty oil" play to these insecurities and sensitivities. David Emerson would like to see this "curse of natural resources"expunged in the context of energy. By leveraging and carefully managing energy and resource assets, he says, Canada can achieve an advanced, knowledge-based, technologically rich economy. And, he maintains, such an energy strategy for Canada should be managed for the long term — 30 years, for example — as one of the challenges that will shape the kind of country and opportunities we pass on to the next generation. David L. Emerson Sustainable energy: A driver for economic, environmental and social well-beingCanada needs to resolve the debate over what it is we want to extract from our position as the fifth-largest energy producer on the planet. We have the ability to improve our regulatory structures, invest additional resources in innovation and clean technologies, diversify our markets to secure our energy independence, recognize that carbon needs to be priced and accelerate energy conservation and literacy, while still respecting our constitutional jurisdictional division of powers. Daniel Gagnier Nuclear in the oil sands: Building on Canada’s strengthsIf nuclear energy could economically be applied to bitumen extraction from western Canada’s oil sands — a process that currently uses fossil fuel — it would conserve natural gas, improve the carbon profile of the oil sands, help to mitigate public perception problems in the US market and facilitate longer-term oil sands industry growth. It might also open doors to a dramatically lower-carbon electricity system across Canada. Stimulated by an uptake of nuclear in resource processing, new generations of nuclear reactors could increasingly supplant fossil-fuelled generation, not just in big-grid areas, but even in smaller northern communities and at military installations — replacing dirty air and expensive power with clean air, knowledge jobs and affordable, reliable energy. John Stewart Energy for nation-building in the 21st CenturyAs much of the developed world struggles with high unemployment and massive public debt burdens, Canada has a unique and unprecedented opportunity. Across the country, energy megaprojects involving oil, gas and hydroelectricity, financed by the private sector, could create more than 1 million jobs over the next two decades. This would strengthen and diversify our energy markets for long-term growth and wealth creation, all while maintaining one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world. In this article, Jim Prentice explores this new era of nation-building for Canada, the challenges we face and positive ways for both governments and industry to turn those challenges into unprecedented opportunity. Jim Prentice Hydroelectricity: Green and renewableThe main issue today is reconciling the growing need for energy, especially electricity, and the environmental imperatives associated with greenhouse gases. In Quebec, hydro-power is the cornerstone of electricity generation. Our great advantage is to have baseload energy derived from a renewable source, which will also be a major asset in the electrification of transportation. Thierry Vandal PLUS Europe’s winter of discontentEurope’s worst crisis since the Second World War is multilayered. On the surface, it is about excessive sovereign debt. There is an underlying lack of confidence on the part of financial markets that sufficient solidarity exists in the EU to back up the common currency by easing the short-term debt burdens of the most over-extended Euromembers. However, its roots are in political shortsightedness and institutional flaws that were in the European project’s origins, when national parliaments retained the exclusive prerogative to tax and spend, which resulted in widely varying fiscal policies and financial conditions undermining the common currency. A Euro-skeptical British government disagrees with the proposed EU Treaty changes to mandate closer integration. The critical issue is whether the political leadership, especially Germany’s, is there to support the common currency and defend the EU’s future. Jeremy Kinsman L’avenir de l’EuropeThe crisis in the euro zone is a symptom of a deeper problem that threatens the future of the European project. Marie Bernard-Meunier looks back on the events and changes that have occurred over the past 20-plus years that have weakened the European integration process. She criticizes the excessive focus on the European Central Bank, and outlines the more fundamental changes that will have to be made if Europe hopes to get out of the current stagnation. She concludes that Europe certainly has the resources to commit to these changes but perhaps lacks the political courage. Marie Bernard-Meunier The social democracy of Canadian federalismTo the end of his days, our Founding Editor was a man of provocative ideas for improving the lives of Canadians. Here, in a paper written for the Broadbent Institute, Tom Kent offers a blueprint for social democracy in Canada. It is what amounts to a political testament, covering the waterfront of social policy from health care to early childhood education and post-secondary education. Of course, all of these issues go to the heart of the debate on Canadian federalism. Where do provincial jurisdictions end and where does the national interest begin? As Ed Broadbent has observed: "Tom Kent was an extraordinary Canadian and a committed social democrat." Tom Kent An intellectual in politicsThe role of the intellectual in politics is well documented in Great Britain but much less discussed in Canada. Tom Kent, who was policy secretary to Lester Pearson and Founding Editor of Policy Options, however, is an outstanding example of one Canadian intellectual who helped transform our society. Kent wrote pointed essays on social policy and party democracy right up to the end of his life (like the one in this issue), and his questions need to be answered by the next generation of progressive activists. Thomas S. Axworthy Reflections on the Quebec questionIn this article, Irvin Studin takes stock — some two and a half decades after Meech — of the Quebec question and its future. Studin argues that Canada remains in a "defensive posture" on this question, continuing to see it largely in the context of needing to protect against the dissolution of the federation. He notes with concern the rise of an entire generation of political and policy leaders outside Quebec with little “culture” for dealing with the Quebec question in general, and the Constitution in particular. He assesses the possibilities for Quebec-centred constitutional reform, suggesting that section 43 (bilateral) constitutional amendments remain doable — and might even provide a constitutional “fix” for Quebec’s grievances. Irvin Studin Le fédéralisme symétrique(Résume not available) Alain Noël Sustainable Energy Poll (Online Extra)In their latest exclusive Policy Options/Nanos Research poll, Nik Nanos and Mitra Thompson find that Canadians see energy as vital to our future prosperity. By a wide margin, Canadians also believe the country should diversify its energy markets beyond the US. However, Canadians are about evenly divided on the issue of whether the Keystone XL pipeline, extending from Canada to the Gulf Coast of the US, should be built. Nik Nanos and Mitra Thompson

Useful links and information

Latest Nanos Research polls

Sustainable Energy Poll (Online Extra)
February 2012

A Canadian spring: more people see country moving in right direction; Canadians see its reputation much higher in the world
December 2011

More Nanos Research polls...

Article search

Advanced search...

Back issues

	The Year in Review December 2011
	Continuity and change in the provinces November 2011
	The New Normal: Majority Government October 2011

More back issues...

Support us

To enhance its research activities, the IRPP engages in fundraising initiatives.

Keep abreast

Thinking Ahead

Like the IRPP on Facebook

Follow IRPP on Twitter

Webmaster | irpp@irpp.org IRPP 1470 Peel Street #200 Montreal Quebec Canada H3A 1T1 514-985-2461