Background
In October 2009, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce released a report, Powering up Canadian Prosperity, which called for the development of a Canadian sustainable energy strategy.
Click here to access the report.
In early 2010, the Canadian Chamber will be releasing a follow-up report to Powering up Canadian Prosperity that will focus on the importance of leveraging Canada’s energy resources into additional ‘value-added’ industries – i.e. leveraging Canada’s energy resources into additional jobs in manufacturing, production or other sectors in the economy.
Report Highlights
- Canadians understand the need to grow the current (and historic) model of Canadian business as “hewers of wood and drawers of water” to support for the development and retention of high value industries and their quality valueadded jobs. Jobs in research and development, processing, and manufacturing; business for local firms; a tax base for local communities – are all benefits that come with rethinking this sector.
Some further examples of this are:
– The research and development and manufacture of new nuclear power and research facilities for both energy and nuclear medicine drives thousands of highly skilled jobs;
– The refining of petroleum including the building of a chemical industry that utilizes refined oil and gas by-products to produce chemicals such as styrene, insulation and recyclable plastics;
– Businesses throughout Canada developing and manufacturing new technologies to support the global long-term shift to alternative and low-emission energy sources
Our report will look at what governments should do, without propping up unsustainable business models, to ensure that the investment climate and regulatory frameworks are in place to encourage investments that will support the development of spin-off industries in the energy sector.
Member Consultation
Member chambers of commerce and boards of trade are encouraged to consult with their respective members to help the Canadian Chamber develop its report.
Please send the results of your members’ consultations to Scott Campbell at [email protected] by January 20, 2010.
To assist in these consultations, the Canadian Chamber has prepared some questions to help guide your chamber’s discussions and input:
- Are there value-added industries in your area that rely on the presence of the energy industry as suppliers or customers?
- To sustain or develop these value-added industries, are there specific short-,
- medium-, or long-term actions that need to be taken by governments (please specify local, provincial, federal)?
- What types of infrastructure are needed to support these industries?
- What are the competitive issues that such industries face (e.g. labour rates, distance to marketplace, infrastructure, and regulatory environment)?
- How important is a price on carbon/greenhouse gas emissions to the development of these industries?
