The federal clean electricity regulations introduced today are a win for Canadians and lower emissions, but any change to the country’s grids must do more to support workers.
If done correctly, these regulations can help create hundreds of thousands of decent jobs in communities across Canada, lower energy bills and avoid hundreds of millions of tonnes of pollution that contribute to the droughts, floods and wildfires that wreak havoc across the country.
That will only be possible with workers at the table, substantial investments in skills and training, and a total commitment to creating good unionized jobs.
These changes are a key part of the Green Economy Network’s Common Platform. Our Platform urges:
- Canadian electricity to be net-zero by 2035.
- $40 billion for transmission, renewables, upgrades and Indigenous and community power.
That’s why the regulations are welcome, but also why more must be done to complement them with a robust green industrial strategy described in the Common Platform that puts Canada on competitive footing with the European Union and the United States.
To maximize its potential, Indigenous and community ownership and benefits must also be included to lock-in the support new energy projects need.
Further: the weakening of some of these regulations will mean more gas plants are slated to be built and that some fossil fuel plants will continue polluting to 2045 or later.
The fight to win jobs and an affordable, reliable, 100 percent clean electricity will continue, and we will keep fighting for affordable, secure, clean power for all with support for the workforce behind it.
It’s up to the provinces now to plan and implement electricity plans that go further than these federal regulations, and deliver for the workers and communities that produce and use clean energy.