Transformation, not transition!
An update on the dangerous and ideologically driven legislation that seeks to kill Canada’s energy sector
Bill C-50, a Liberal Bill sponsored by the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, was rammed through the Standing Committee on Natural Resources late last year bringing the Bill to the Report stage.
C-50 has been commonly referred to as the “Just Transition” bill, despite the Liberals’ attempts to re-brand it as the “Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act”. However, neither of these flowery titles are accurate and the costly Liberal-NDP coalition should be honest with Canadians about what their dangerous and ideologically driven legislation actually seeks to do – kill Canada’s energy sector.
If passed, this bill will destroy 170,000 direct Canadian jobs and risk the livelihoods of 2.7 million Canadians across all provinces and sectors including energy, manufacturing, construction, transportation, and agriculture. It will also undermine energy security for all Canadians. As if that isn’t bad enough, this ill-conceived legislation is being proposed at a time when the global demand for energy is increasing. Rather than working to meet the demand and secure Canada’s place in the world as an environmentally and socially responsible energy provider, the Liberal-NDP coalition thinks it’s a smart idea to shut it all down and tell energy workers to go and find a new profession. These ideologues push this dangerous legislation while ignoring the sector that provides Canadians with such a high standard of living, or what life without fossil fuels would realistically look like right now in a country as cold as Canada.
The reality is, the world will need oil and gas for decades to come and if Canada isn’t providing its clean, ethical energy, you can bet that major polluters like China and India will fire up a few more coal plants in order to supply it. Without competition from Canada, sadly, countries like Ukraine will remain dependent on Russia for their energy.
To maintain the quality of life we have come to enjoy, Canada must develop both our traditional and alternative energy sectors like hydrogen, biofuels, wind, solar, nuclear, tidal, and other innovative energy sources. Environmental stewardship must be addressed with realistic, concrete, and effective measures, which is why the Official Opposition believes in technology, not taxes, and transformation, not transition.
As Bill C-50 is debated in the House this Parliamentary session, Conservatives will stand up for energy workers and their jobs.
