Priority 1: Collaborative Canada

First in a series on the ‘Now or Never” report of the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources (ENEV).

Priority 1 of the ENEV report is all about collaboration. Collaboration between provincial, territorial, federal and aboriginal governments… basically all of Canada.  The key to maintaining and building Canada’s profile as a leader in energy in the world is to work together.

Simple concept. But we all know it’s easier said than done.

Canada’s energy endowment is diverse and unique. The exploration, production and transportation of energy resources varies greatly across this country. So, instead of trying to dissect and comment on what collaboration might mean to each region of Canada, I’m going to go in a different direction.  A direction that I believe will help everyone get up to speed with what’s happening in the country. And that direction points directly at improving your energy literacy.

It just so happens that energy literacy is exactly what this blog promotes. Now, is energy literacy as important to the lives of Canadians as reading, writing and arithmetic? Probably not. Is it as important as financial literacy? I would argue that, for Canadians, it is. Decisions around energy policy are going to be made that will affect the prosperity of all Canadians, and every one of us should understand the underlying issues and join in the debate around these policies.

So here’s today’s lesson.

Energy literacy, in my opinion, will pave the way to collaboration.  Because Canada’s energy issues are complex, Canadians need to maintain a level of understanding of energy issues in order to work together to find solutions to ensure our energy future is sustainable and prosperous. Even if many of the energy decisions are made on a provincial, territorial or federal level, Canadians have the power to influence the direction of Canada’s energy future. And that planning is well underway.

So hit the books, or in this case the Web and start by learning more about energy across Canada. Below are links to the energy departments in each province and territory. Study up!

British Columbia – Minister:  Rich Coleman

Alberta – Minister:  Ken Hughes

Saskatchewan – Minister:  Tim McMillan

Manitoba – Minister:  Dave Chomiak

Ontario – Minister:  Chris Bentley

Quebec – Minister:  Serge Simard

New Brunswick – Minister:  Craig Leonard

Nova Scotia – Minister:  Charlie Parker

Prince Edward Island – Minister:  Wes Sheridan

Newfoundland & Labrador – Minister:  Jerome Kennedy

Yukon – Minister:  Brad Cathers

Nunavut – Minister:  Lorne Kusugak

Northwest Territories – Minister:  J. Michael Miltenberger