Renewable energy has undergone big growth in Canada over the last five years and, with some support from the federal government, this country could be “a real leader” in the field, according to a report by Clean Energy Canada, a group that advocates for renewables.
It estimates that $24 billion has been invested in renewable energy in Canada over the last five years, and that jobs in the sector now number 23,700. That surpasses the 22,340 people employed in the oilsands energy projects in western Canada.
Canada’s government ‘missing in action’
Canada now ranks seventh in the G20 group of countries in terms of the amount of money invested in renewable energy. “That’s thanks largely to provincial leadership from (the governments of) Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, as well as from the private sector,” says Merran Smith, director of Clean Energy Canada.
Listen“Who’s really missing in action here is the federal government. They pay a lot of attention to our fossil fuel energy sector, but have paid really very little attention to and have given very little support to the clean energy sector,” says Smith.
Government should ‘level the playing field’
The federal government should instead support clean energy the way it supports sectors like aerospace and oilsands, says Smith, adding it should provide diplomatic support like it did in promoting the Keystone oil pipeline in the United States. It could be promoting the export of good and services from the clean energy sector.
The government should also “level the playing field,” says Smith by making oil companies pay for the pollution they cause. “The oil and gas sector produces a lot of carbon and it doesn’t pay for that pollution. Society does and that needs to change to drive the clean energy sector…We really need to put a price on carbon.”
Better infrastructure needed
Smith also recommends the Canadian federal government invest in clean energy infrastructure. “We need to be investing in smart grid technologies, transmission lines between provinces, electricity storage, EV (electronic vehicle) charging stations. We need to set ourselves up to be a high tech and green economy for the future and the federal government needs to really be a part of investing in that.”
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