A rainbow appears to come down on pumpjacks drawing out oil and gas from wells near Calgary on Sept. 18, 2023.Heather Exner-Pirot is director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and Charles DeLand is associate director of research, energy and natural resources at the C.D. Howe Institute.
So much of the debate is dominated by the loudest, most vested interests. But, what do the silent majority of Canadians – those who care more about paying their bills or picking their kids up from child care than what arguments were made about pipelines or heat pumps on the op-ed pages or on social media – think about these issues?to gauge Canadians’ views on energy and climate – surveying 1,237 Canadians, 18 years old or older, over the course of three days.
Canadians are also pretty clear on the role oil and gas plays in our economy and in our place in the world. A majority – 65 per cent – support building natural gas export facilities to export LNG to other countries, versus just 20 per cent who are opposed. The oil and gas sector is currently important to Canada’s economy, say 74 per cent and just over half think it will remain so.
Where does that leave our conversation? If there was ever a time where Canadian energy policy could be determined looking only through a lens of, that time is over. Canadians’ desire for economic growth, affordability, reliability and security will trump sustainability when push comes to shove. Addressing them holistically can help avoid the unsavoury task of choosing between them in the first place.