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by Ryan Fournier, Young Canadians for Resources
Recently I joined over 100 other young Canadians and signed a pledge to unleash responsibly produced Canadian energy to the world.
It was early September and I was getting ready for my final year of university. Together with my friends at Young Canadians for Resources (YCR), we were demanding an end to the purchase and dependency on environmentally destructive, human rights abusing, war-funding energy supplies from authoritarian regimes, whose control and rule over global energy markets threaten our friends and allies.
Just last month we opened this pledge to the public. As of this writing, it’s been signed by more than 7,500 people across Canada and beyond. I think that shows growing grassroots support among Canada’s youth for YCR’s push for Canadian energy solutions.
For me, supporting Canada’s strong commitment to environmental protections and energy security is both a moral and an environmental stance that promises to improve our future while it leads the world away from war-funding, human rights-abusing and emissions-raising energy regimes – and toward responsible Canadian energy products.
As a diverse group of young people, YCR and our thousands of supporters refuse to sit idly by at this vital moment in our history. We’re demanding better, safer, and cleaner energy production practices as the global demand for energy continues to increase and our allies plead for Canada to step up and provide a democratic energy alternative.
Canada is the only large energy producer with both the untapped capacity and the ability to provide what the globe is clambering for: liquid natural gas with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions on the planet, oil produced to the world’s most stringent environmental and human rights regulations, and the support of many Indigenous communities who want to move their oil and gas projects – and their communities – forward.
Young Canadians recognize the world has to end its dangerous dependency on globally aggressive regimes that weaponize the oil and gas markets. This continued reliance on authoritarian energy sources only punishes sustainable producers – like ours – that are working toward a cleaner, safer, and more equitable ecological future.
It turns out we’re not alone. Here’s what a tiny sample of signatories to our pledge had to say:
“I am a proud Canadian. We should be using ethically produced fossil fuels from Canada, not importing oil from foreign countries, produced with lesser environmental standards!” – Jodi, from Taylor, BC.
“I love Canada and Canadian energy. Thank you to these responsible students.” – Julie and Mike, from Ontario.
With its record of continual advances, why not support Canada as the leader and driver of change? Students and young people across all regions of the country see how Canada scores at the top of a raft of global rankings: the Environmental Social Governance Index, the Environmental Performance Index, and the Human Freedoms Index, to name a few. Canada’s innovation is leading on the pathway to net zero.
When YCR began this campaign, we gained the immediate support of over 100 students and young professionals, a large majority of them from Ontario and Eastern Canadian provinces. But we knew we’d started something important, so we took our campaign nationwide.
It’s time for every Canadian to join this younger generation, Canada’s future leaders, and demand a cleaner, safer, and more equitable energy future here and abroad. It’s time to join the thousands of supporters standing up for Canadian energy, our human rights record, and our commitment to sustainable environmental leadership.
It’s time to join us in support of Canada’s exemplary record on secure, strictly regulated energy, and to wean the planet from threatening energy sources and dangerous dependencies worldwide.
Ryan Fournier is a fourth-year student at University of Ottawa and one of the petition’s YCR student organizers.
Sign the Pledge Here: Choose Canadian Energy, not war oil. For cleaner and safer futures.
Listen to Ryan Fournier debate “Who Would You Choose to Buy Your Oil & Gas From?
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