QUESTION PERIOD — Natural Resources
Support for Energy Sector
June 28, 2021
Honourable senators, this is a question regarding the energy sector. It is directed to the government leader in the Senate.
In its 2019 federal election platform, the Liberal Party promised it would:
. . . ensure energy workers and communities can shape their own futures by introducing a Just Transition Act, giving workers access to the training, support, and new opportunities needed to succeed in the clean economy.
Clearly, leader, the Trudeau government abandoned this promise, like many other promises. Could you tell us why?
The Government of Canada is committed to assisting Canadians, industries, and provinces and territories in effecting a transition from our current reliance upon fossil fuels to a cleaner, more sustainable economy. In that regard, it has provided and will continue to provide support to industries so they can transition to a cleaner way of exploiting our natural resources and to workers for retraining. It’s working with provinces, territories and governments, and it will continue to do so.
This is necessary for Canada’s well-being and the well-being of our children and our grandchildren.
I know your words are saying that the government supports the energy sector, the hundreds of thousands of workers, but we have yet to see the kind of support that has been promised. That legislation is nowhere to be found.
Also, throughout the pandemic, we know they didn’t receive the kinds of support, financially or otherwise, that they deserve.
Leader, what does your government’s failure to bring forward that legislation say to Western Canadian energy workers and their level of importance to this government?
Senator, I disagree that the government has not been providing support. It is a fact of life that one can often complain about the levels, the nature or the extent of support, but the government has provided support to the energy sector and to Canadians who work in it throughout this pandemic.
The fact remains that in the environment we’re in, including a minority Parliament, it is not always possible for things to advance in a way that would be necessarily desired. The government remains committed to working in that area, as in others, in the best interest of Canadians.
