The federal government will show Canadians its plan to protect jobs during the cleanup energy transition Not before early spring, Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson Said Wednesday.
Legislation to guide how that plan is implemented, however, won’t come for some time after that.
The Liberals have promised a “just transitions act” since at least 2019, and Wilkinson is saying it will finally happen this year.
That prospect has prompted outrage in Alberta, where the energy transition will have the biggest impact and provincial politicians are headed for a hotly contested election this spring.
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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has asked to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to help shape that legislation. His main opponent, NDP leader Rachel Notley, asked the federal Liberals to delay the whole thing at least until after the election, which is scheduled for late May.
But Wilkinson said the bill, for which he gave no timeline, would in some ways be secondary to an action plan listing the government’s intentions. He said the plan is expected to be revealed by the end of March, although it “could slip into the next quarter.”
“The legislation will guide future efforts and create a governance structure, but it is the policy statement that I think is going to be most influential,” he said. “And, as I say, we will be releasing it in the coming months.”
He said the plan is based on long consultations with the provinces, labor unions, business and indigenous communities. In the end, he said, there would be no surprises.
The concept of a “just transition” has existed for several decades, but following the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, most of the world committed to transitioning to clean energy sources to slow climate change.
The idea is that any effort to adjust dependence on fossil fuels must ensure that people who work in energy industries can move to new areas and not be left out in the cold.
The “just transition” debate began last month after Smith lambasted the federal government for a briefing document that listed the number of jobs that could be affected by the ongoing global transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy.
Smith misread the total number of jobs in affected areas to mean the number of jobs the federal government expected would be lost, and pledged to “fight this transition idea” with everything he had. .
A week later, the premier wrote to Trudeau warning that the Ottawa–Alberta relationship was “at a crossroads”, and demanded that Alberta be included in all discussions on “just transitioning” going forward.
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She also said that the legislation should not be labeled as “just a transition” bill, but about “sustainable jobs”.
That request imbued the federal government with interest and even amusement, as several federal ministers had already indicated their intention to use the term.
“I think I’ve been very clear that I don’t like the term ‘just transition,'” Wilkinson said Wednesday.
“I prefer ‘sustainable jobs.’ I think it speaks to a future where we want to create economic opportunities for all regions of this country, including Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Smith will be in Ottawa next week as part of the first meeting of ministers on health care, but there is no indication she will hold a one-on-one meeting with Trudeau on permanent jobs.
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