Many Albertans are in favour of diversifying the province’s economy, but when it comes to renewable energy, it’s a heated topic.
The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) brought its ‘Diversify Alberta’ campaign to Okotoks on March 20 for a town hall to discuss economic diversification, primarily in the energy sector.
“The AFL is the largest worker advocacy group in Alberta,” said longtime president Gil McGowan, "representing 21 unions in the both the public and private sector, who in turn represent about 175,000 working Albertans.”
According to McGowan, who has been president of the AFL since 2005, the ‘Diversify Alberta’ campaign aims to have conversations that are controversial but necessary to Alberta’s continued economic success.
“As a labour movement, we recognize that the world has entered a global energy transition and that this transition is picking up steam,” he said. “As an organization that represents Alberta workers, we think it's incumbent on us to have a conversation about what the future needs to look like if we're going to maintain our prosperity going forward.”
The campaign is built around a report called "Skate to Where the Puck is Going" that highlights the benefits of diversifying the province's economy to keep it successful internationally while creating new jobs.
"We could not only keep people working in our core industries, including oil and gas going forward, but we could create an additional 200,000 good-paying, family-sustaining, community-sustaining jobs," McGowan said.
He anticipated a heated discussion revolving around the future of the energy sector, and it certainly was one as attendees argued back and forth about renewable energy and fossil fuels.
One attendee claimed that electrifying the grid across North America is impossible, and that the mining of enough rare-earth elements to meet that goal requires extensive slave labour.
Another attendee, an engineer, said that electrification is doable on a realistic timeline and can be done in a sustainable way while phasing out reliance on certain minerals.
McGowan stated that oil demand peaked this year and may plateau or decrease going forward, while an attendee argued that oil demand peaks every year and has historically only continued to peak.
Energi Media journalist Markham Hislop, who brought decades of experience covering the energy sector in North America to his role as a co-host of the ‘Diversify Alberta’ town hall, shared his perspectives on numerous issues.
Hislop highlighted advancements in the study of bitumen, primarily that scientists are discovering sustainable ways to generate carbon fibre, asphalt and activated carbon for batteries. He suggested that the economy can be diversified and create new jobs in Alberta, while further cementing the province’s international dominance of the market by creating sustainable supply chains and manufacturing for more sustainable bitumen refinement.
One attendee, who was strongly opposed to the country's potential reliance on renewable energy, said that since Canada is only responsible for less than two per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, its provinces should not be made responsible for the world’s climate issues. The engineer in the audience responded by asserting that, by that logic, putting the entire world into small percentiles of their carbon footprint and saying that they don’t individually need to contribute is a harmful attitude.
McGowan, who announced his candidacy for the Alberta NDP leadership race earlier in the month, acknowledged that the conversations had in the town halls across Alberta were bound to be tough, considering their political and economic implications, but that he and the AFL are dedicated to having them.
“We have one camp in the province saying things like ‘shut it all down' and another camp saying things like ‘drill, baby, drill,’” he said, “but from our perspective, that's not a particularly constructive way to approach this conversation because we, like other Albertans, understand that change is coming and we need to prepare for it or run the risk of being left behind.”
Town halls have also been held in Nanton and Olds, and one will be held in Calgary on March 21. In April, town halls will be held in Lethbridge, Pincher Creek, Medicine Hat and Brooks.
Learn more about the Diversify Alberta campaign and events here.
