OTTAWA — The federal government will show Canadians its plan to protect jobs during the transition to clean energy no later than early spring, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Wednesday.
Legislation to guide how that plan is implemented, however, won’t arrive for some time after that.
The Liberals have promised a “just transition law” since at least 2019, and Wilkinson has been saying it will finally happen this year.
That prospect sparked protests in Alberta, where the energy transition will have the biggest impact and provincial politicians are headed for a hotly contested election this spring.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith requested a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to help shape that legislation. Her main opponent, NDP leader Rachel Notley, has called on federal Liberals to delay everything at least until after the election, which is scheduled for the end of May.
But Wilkinson said the bill, for which he did not offer a timetable, will somehow be secondary to the action plan that lists what the government intends to do. He said the plan is expected to be revealed at the end of March, though it may “roll over to the next quarter.”
“The legislation will guide future efforts and create a governance structure, but it is the policy statement that I think will have the greatest impact,” he said. “And, as I say, we’ll be releasing it in the next few months.”
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He said the plan is based on long consultations with provinces, labor organizations, companies and indigenous communities. Ultimately, he said, it will contain no surprises.
The concept of a “just transition” has been around for several decades, but it took on new meaning after the 2015 Paris climate accord committed most of the world to transitioning to cleaner energy sources in a bid to stop 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 into new sectors and are not left behind.
The federal government will show Canadians its plan to protect jobs during the clean energy transition no later than early spring, says Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. #JustTransition
The “just transition” debate erupted last month when Smith criticized the federal government over a briefing document listing the number of jobs that could be affected by the ongoing global transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
Smith misinterpreted the total number of jobs in the affected sectors to indicate the number of jobs the federal government expected to be lost, pledging to “fight this just transition idea” with everything he had.
A week later, the prime minister wrote to Trudeau warning that the Ottawa-Alberta relationship was “at a crossroads” and demanding that Alberta be included in all future “just transition” discussions.
He also said the legislation should not be labeled a “just transition” bill, but one on “sustainable jobs.”
That request captivated the federal government with interest and even amusement, as several federal ministers had already signaled their intention to use the term.
“I think I’ve made it pretty 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 seek to create economic opportunity for all regions of this country, including Alberta and Saskatchewan.”
Smith will be in Ottawa next week as part of a prime ministers’ meeting on healthcare, but there are no signs that he will have a face-to-face meeting with Trudeau on sustainable jobs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 1, 2023.