Vancouver & Burnaby Chapter

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Energy

Energy 101

Energy is fundamental to our society. Without access to reliable energy at fair prices, the Canadian economy would be in serious trouble. And with our long, cold winters, millions of Canadians would suffer terribly without adequate, secure supplies of energy. At the same time, in this age of climate change, we all recognize the need to conserve energy, and to develop cleaner sustainable energy sources, like wind, solar, etc.

Despite the fact that Canada is one of the world’s largest producers of oil and gas, and a net exporter of energy, most Canadians do not realize that we also import hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil every year. And under NAFTA, even in times of shortage, we are forbidden from cutting our exports of energy to the U.S. in order to meet our own needs. In other words, even if we haven’t got enough energy, NAFTA forces us to export the same proportion of energy to the U.S.

And while most developed countries have a strategic petroleum reserve and a national energy security plan, we do not. This makes no sense. Council members demand that the government develop a national energy security plan that puts the needs of Canadians first.