Feds should be planning for a greener energy future, now
For the vast majority of countries, whether they are net importers or exporters of energy, the policy decisions they are making right now will form the basis of their ability to thrive or even survive in the coming decades. Those governments that are unable or unwilling to strategically manage their energy resources will be cursed […]
Energy and clean-tech economy: global clean-tech opportunity is immense
The world is moving inexorably toward a clean energy future, with the consequent innovation, jobs, and growth benefits to those countries that are ahead of this curve. As demands for energy increases with global economic growth and in particular the rise of big economies like China, India, and Brazil, and as concerns about the effects […]
Hydro power to continue to be important part of Canada’s clean energy mix
The following is a speech Christian Paradis delivered on Oct. 26 in Ottawa at the 2010 Annual Forum of the Canadian Hydro power Association. O TTAWA—Canada is the world’s second largest producer of hydro power in the world. [The] industry employs tens of thousands of people, such as engineers, geologists, construction workers, electricians, and mechanics, […]
Time for talk is over, Canada needs a climate-change energy strategy right now
Canada needs an energy strategy that contemplates future energy supply and demand, international versus domestic markets, energy security, alternative energy sources versus traditional sources, jurisdictional issues, international pressures and environmental issues. The proverbial elephant in this room is climate change. Of course, any energy strategy to be believable and operable must contemplate the impact of […]
‘Idea of a superpower’s rhetorically fun, but it doesn’t mean very much’ say energy stakeholders
While the government has touted Canada’s aim to become a “clean energy superpower,” some energy industry observers say it is a term more “rhetorically fun” than substantive and they question whether the government really wants to be a superpower. Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) first spoke of Canada as an “emerging energy superpower” […]
High moral tone, meaning well, do not make foreign policy
Joseph Stalin, on being told that the Pope was opposed to some course of action the Soviet dictator favoured, famously sneered, “How many divisions does the Pope have?” The Catholic Church had the last laugh, of course; good men and women fought back against Communism. But Stalin’s question is a brutal reminder that moral principles […]
Harper plans to make ‘northern vision’ a reality
One can’t talk about the North’s future without recalling prime minister John Diefenbaker’s vision of “a Canada of the North.” It helped rocket the Prairie populist to the greatest Parliamentary triumph in Canadian history. Today, technology, shrinking distances, and climate change are creating new challenges and possibilities in the Arctic, and Stephen Harper will, he […]
AIP to transfer control to N.W.T. over lands, resources great, but needs aboriginal governments in northern political future
When one takes an objective view of natural resource development in the Northwest Territories, the southern media have the story wrong. The important development is not the wrangling over secrecy between the Harper government and the Joint Review Panel on a natural gas pipeline that is years away, nor is it the discovery of oil […]
New reality in Arctic: need to rethink approach
Because the Bloc Québécois recognizes how important the North and the Arctic are, it is worried about the military approach and the mid‑ and long‑term directions the Conservative government has adopted since coming to power in 2006. Accelerating climate change and melting polar ice caps have led circumpolar countries to cast covetous glances at the […]
We need to increase our visible presence using the Coast Guard, and Canadian Forces
The Great Canadian North is a land of opportunity, where opportunities present themselves in many faces. Whether it is the great people who inhabit the region, the natural resources which can be found at the bottom of the sea or under the soil, its unique natural habitat or its pristine waterways, there are many reasons […]
