And Indigenous Peoples should be first to receive public support for their own clean energy projects. The time for energy democracy has come: we believe not just in changes to our energy sources, but that wherever possible communities should collectively control these new energy systems.Īs an alternative to the profit-gouging of private companies and the remote bureaucracy of some centralized state ones, we can create innovative ownership structures: democratically run, paying living wages and keeping much-needed revenue in communities. That applies equally to oil and gas pipelines fracking in New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia increased tanker traffic off our coasts and to Canadian-owned mining projects the world over. The new iron law of energy development must be: if you wouldn’t want it in your backyard, then it doesn’t belong in anyone’s backyard. There is no longer an excuse for building new infrastructure projects that lock us into increased extraction decades into the future. The latest research shows it is feasible for Canada to get 100% of its electricity from renewable resources within two decades by 2050 we could have a 100% clean economy.
Technological breakthroughs have brought this dream within reach. Moved by the treaties that form the legal basis of this country and bind us to share the land “for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow,” we want energy sources that will last for time immemorial and never run out or poison the land. “Small steps will no longer get us to where we need to go. We can bolster this role, and reset our relationship, by fully implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous communities have been at the forefront of protecting rivers, coasts, forests and lands from out-of-control industrial activity. This leap must begin by respecting the inherent rights and title of the original caretakers of this land. That means small steps will no longer get us where we need to go. Climate scientists have told us that this is the decade to take decisive action to prevent catastrophic global warming.
We know that the time for this great transition is short. Many more people could have higher wage jobs with fewer work hours, leaving us ample time to enjoy our loved ones and flourish in our communities. Caring for one another and caring for the planet could be the economy’s fastest growing sectors. We could live in a country powered entirely by renewable energy, woven together by accessible public transit, in which the jobs and opportunities of this transition are designed to systematically eliminate racial and gender inequality. Canada is not this place today- but it could be. These facts are all the more jarring because they depart so dramatically from our stated values: respect for Indigenous rights, internationalism, human rights, diversity, and environmental stewardship. And Canada’s record on climate change is a crime against humanity’s future. Deepening poverty and inequality are a scar on the country’s present. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has acknowledged shocking details about the violence of Canada’s near past. We start from the premise that Canada is facing the deepest crisis in recent memory.
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