Canadian Politics
Session: A15(a) - Energy and Environmental Politics in Canada at a Crossroads
Date: Jun 2, 2016 | Time: 03:15pm to 04:45pm | Location: Science Theatres 27
Chair/Présidente: Monica Gattinger (University of Ottawa)
Discussant/Commentateur: Robert Skinner (University of Calgary)
Participants & Authors/Auteurs:
George Hoberg (University of British Columbia) : The New Politics of Energy in Canada: A Case Study of the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
Abstract: Divisive pipeline projects have been a core feature of the Harper era. This paper will use the case of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline proposal to illuminate the new politics of energy in Canada during Harper’s period in government: aggressive pressure for resource development, weakening environmental protection, and intensive resistance from environmentalists and First Nations. Increasing access to Pacific tidewater for the oil sands was a critical component of Harper’s agenda, accentuated once the Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf Coast began to founder. The Harper government and the energy sector turned their attention to the Northern Gateway Pipeline at first, but as it became increasingly political toxic, expectations increased for the Trans Mountain Pipeline. In short order, however, the Trans Mountain proposal ended up in a virtually identical political dynamic.
Paper / Communication
Monica Gattinger (University of Ottawa) : Moving Beyond the Crossroads in Energy and Environmental Politics in Canada: Is there a Deal to be had?
Abstract: In Canada, the politics of energy have become increasingly fierce, divisive and multifaceted, and include dimensions ranging from inter-regional to Aboriginal to environmental. Much of this conflict surrounds development and transportation of Canada’s fossil fuel resources, but renewables, including wind and hydropower, along with electricity transmission lines, have also been the target of opposition. The level of conflict over energy has reached a point that a number of key stakeholders – including environmental activists, Aboriginal leaders and industry executives – are turning their minds to how the country can move beyond the current crossroads. What might the elements of a ‘deal’ on energy look like? And what can we learn from previous Canadian energy conflicts when it comes to addressing the current situation?
To answer these questions, this paper draws on scholarly literature documenting three energy controversies in the post-war period – the Great Pipeline Debates of the 1950s, controversy over the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline in the 1970s, and the National Energy Program of 1980 – to identify their origins and the ways in which they were resolved. The paper will then draw on scholarly, grey and primary literature to analyze the extent to which the current crossroads bears similarities to past junctures, and to assess what might be learned from these experiences. The analysis will pay particular attention to the economic, inter-regional, Aboriginal and environmental dimensions of the contemporary conflict, assessing whether past agreements on energy offer guidance for a ‘deal’ in the current period.
Jean-Sébastien Rioux (University of Calgary) : Are there Two Solitudes in Canadian Energy and Environmental Policy?”
Abstract: Newspaper content analysis and survey research have generally demonstrated a “Two Solitudes” effect in the realm of Canadian defence and foreign policies, with Francophone and Anglophone media reporting on issues such as military deployments and foreign aid differently (see Rioux 2005). Since then it also appears that energy and environmental issues are treated differently in Québec than in other Canadian regions, particularly on energy development projects such as shale gas development or pipelines to the East. In this study, Automated Content Analysis is used to measure traditional as well as social media coverage of one energy issue with a national scope, namely, the July 2015 National Energy Strategy adopted at the Council of the Federal meeting in St. John’s NL. The paper focusses on identifying what, if any, factors are of differing interests across Canada and estimating the magnitude of any identified difference in coverage. The policy implications of having a ‘National Energy Strategy’ are also analyzed.
Canada is at a crossroads in its energy development. Getting the country’s oil, gas and electricity resources to domestic and international markets is becoming increasingly challenging, with ever-greater numbers of projects running into fierce opposition along environmental, inter-regional, Aboriginal, economic, social and cultural lines. At the same time, the country faces growing challenges to ensure reliable domestic energy supplies at competitive costs with acceptable environmental and social impacts, along with the challenge of cultivating a reputation as a responsible international player in an energy world in rapid transition along environmental, production, consumption and technological lines.
This panel will analyze the contours of these challenges, exposing their origins and characteristics in contemporary and historical perspective. Why have energy and environmental politics ascended on the policy and political agendas of federal, provincial/territorial, municipal and Aboriginal governments? Do Canadian attitudes towards energy and the environment differ across the country? The panel will also take a retrospective and prospective look at dealing with energy and environmental controversies. How have previous energy conflicts been dealt with in the post-war period? What – if anything – can be learned from these experiences? What are the promise and prospects of options like a National Energy Strategy?
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