Canadians Mostly Unaware of Liberals’ ‘Just Transition’ Away From Oil: Poll

Pumpjacks draw oil out of the ground near Olds, Alberta, on July 16, 2020. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

A new poll suggests that Canadians are mostly unaware of the Trudeau government’s plan for a “just transition,” which entails moving workers out of the oil and gas sector and into jobs it deems more sustainable.

The Postmedia-Léger poll says that 84 percent of people surveyed have no idea what the “just transition” entails.

A memo prepared for Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on the “just transition” last year says that over 2.7 million workers will face “significant” job disruptions due to federal climate change programs.

The building and transportation sectors will be impacted most, according to the document, which suggests that some workers will need to recycle as a “janitor or driver” for a “solar energy company.”

Wilkinson said he plans to table his “just transition” legislation this year.

The poll says 60 percent of Canadians believe the country shouldn’t be making drastic changes to the economy as other large polluting countries are not making significant efforts to reduce emissions.

The plan for a “just transition” is better known to residents of Alberta, with 32 percent saying they’ve heard about it.

The premier of the province, Danielle Smith, has been vocal in telling Ottawa she wouldn’t go along and has asked the term be scrapped altogether in a letter she sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Jan. 25.

“Immediately drop the verbiage of ‘Just Transition,’” she wrote.

Smith met Trudeau on Feb. 7 in Ottawa and said to him publicly that Alberta’s energy sector would not be “phased out.”

The term is lesser known in other provinces, with 19 percent knowing it in B.C., 15 percent in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 15 percent in Ontario, and 10 percent in Quebec.

Residents of the Maritime provinces knew the least about it at 7 percent, despite Newfoundland and Labrador being an oil producer.

Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, who represents a Newfoundland riding, defended the carbon tax while testifying in the Senate on Feb. 9, but he also said he “can’t stand the phrase ‘just transition,’” according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“‘Just transition’ is a word that workers hate and my constituents don’t like and so I don’t like it either,” he said.

Among the Canadians surveyed who’ve heard of the term, 53 percent believed it relates to helping workers find alternative jobs as a result of climate change policies, 48 percent believe its a program to fight climate change, and 40 percent believe it will negatively impact the oil and gas sector.

Andrew Enns, Leger’s executive vice-president for central Canada, told the National Post the Liberal government has “a lot of work to do” to communicate about its planned “just transition” and to convince Canadians it will work.