CDN NEWS | 
US NEWS 
by Ryan Fournier
As an advocate for Canada’s abundant natural resources, I recognize the importance they have on our every day lives. Moving towards safe and reliable futures for communities from coast to coast as well as our trading partners and allies requires utilizing all available resources.
Throughout high school and my undergraduate term, I have seen a significant lack of conversation amongst young people, and blatant hypocrisy from certain powerful actors tasked with educating and leading them regarding the ongoing climate crisis. The simple fact is, the future of clean and responsible energy cannot be achieved with global dependencies on unethically produced, war funding, human rights abusing, oil and gas supplies that are a staple of many authoritarian regimes around the world.
When we see clothing made in sweat shops, it makes us question whether or not we should be consumers of such evil, yet why don’t we have the same concern with irresponsible and unclean energy supplies that fund wars, ignore human rights, and threaten our allies?
We must not remain idle bystanders in 2023 and beyond, as these dangerous dependencies contribute to the threats and brutalization of not only the sovereign borders of Ukraine and all her innocent people, but also inevitably threatens our friends and allies in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, as hostile authoritarians use these dependencies to dominate vital global supply and keeping the democratic free world in its grip.
We know what happens when these dependencies are left untreated and ignored, they expand in influence and become more malignant in the face of human lives versus profit. Canadian allies and friends cannot be left dependent on warring tyrannies like Putin’s Russia who threaten to shut down the supply at any given moment, and use their oil and gas as a means to harass and intimidate uncooperative neighbors.
If you stand for human rights and environmental sustainability, you must stand with young people and our allies who demand we follow through to end the dependence on Russian energy and other similar regimes who use profits for persecution, and instead promote our own responsible Canadian energy. We cannot continue as we are if we truly stand for what I learned in my youth; that we in Canada are a people of a democratic, human rights loving and protecting society, who have always stood for cleaner environmental and sustainable values. We must fulfill our duty of upholding these principles, but also instill them by investing in Canada’s innovative energy infrastructure and technology.
As a university student completing his studies in April, I would like to see a change in 2023 and beyond. Where Canada no longer remains a bystander to the ongoing energy crisis and party to the dangerous dependencies on less clean and less responsible energy suppliers like Russia and Saudi Arabia. As someone who believes in human rights and stands unequivocally against war, oppression, and dictatorships, I want Canadians to join myself and 10,000 others in a call towards safe and sustainable futures, by helping the world remove war oil, and instead advocate for the expansion of Canadian energy as the preferred global alternative.
Further Info:
Why Canadian Energy?
- Canada is unique in the world, as the 6 main oilsands producers joined forces to work collaboratively with federal and provincial governments to reduce current oilsands GHG emissions by 2030, with a plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. (1)
- Canadian companies have tested various technologies and found they could commercially produce near-zero emissions natural gas (e,g, Questerre – Quebec). The ever-growing opportunities for sustainable jobs in the energy industry enables Canada’s producers to be low emissions suppliers to a world in transition, along with carbon capture, utilization, and storage where the Pathways Alliance has taken a leadership position. (2)
- The IRN reported that in a 2021 Census, extractive resource sectors, mainly the oil and gas sector, provided the highest paying average wages for Indigenous workers in Canada.
- Like many of Canada’s allies, Japan and South Korea have been vocal in pleading for Canadian energy, specifically reliable liquefied natural gas (LNG) to offset coal-fired power and reduce Russian energy dependence. “The world is waiting for Canada,” said Yamanouchi Kanji, Japan’s ambassador to Canada. (5)
- Canada scores a top global rank on HFI, EPI, ESG, and is the only democratic nation with the capacity and ability to provide the world with responsibly produced energy alternatives, as it holds the 3rd largest reserves on earth.
REFERENCES
- https://www.rbccm.com/en/insights/story.page?dcr=templatedata/article/insights/data/2023/02/meet_the_pathways_alliance
- https://energynow.ca/2023/02/the-federal-newly-branded-sustainable-jobs-plan-oil-gas-we-are-not-down-and-out/?amp
- https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/resource-sector-provides-highest-paying-jobs-for-indigenous-workers-in-canada-846492054.html
- https://energynow.ca/2023/02/the-world-is-waiting-for-canadian-lng-japan-south-korea-reps-say/?amp
Share This:
Canada’s Advantage as the World’s Demand for Plastic Continues to Grow