February 1, 2012
Sustainable energy poll (online extra)
Canadians see the country’s energy resources as important to our future prosperity, and by a wide margin they also believe it’s important for Canada to diversify its markets beyond...
February 1, 2012
Le fédéralisme symétrique
Le 19 décembre, le ministre des Finances Jim Flaherty annonçait la fin prochaine de l’engagement fédéral de hausser de 6 p. 100 par année les transferts aux provinces pour...
February 1, 2012
Reflections on the Quebec question
The remarkable results of the 2011 general federal election — the collapse of the Bloc Québécois, the rise of the NDP in Quebec and the advent of a Conservative...
February 1, 2012
An intellectual in politics
Tom Kent, who died in Kingston on November 15, 2011, at the age of 89, was Canada’s foremost activist-intellectual. To some the combination of the words is an oxymoron:...
February 1, 2012
The social democracy of Canadian federalism
Our unusually decentralized federalism creates a distinctively Canadian obstacle to social democracy. The delivery of services crucial to it — notably, health care, education, social assistance — is, for...
February 1, 2012
L’avenir de l’Europe
Depuis des mois, c’est souvent avec beaucoup de légèreté qu’on évoque la fin de l’euro et avec plus d’arrogance encore qu’on décrète que la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) n’a...
February 1, 2012
Nuclear in the oil sands: Building on Canada’s strengths
There’s no doubt that most Canadians want sustainable energy. In 2009-10 the Energy Council of Canada (ECC) held a series of Canadian energy forums that provided a grassroots approach...
February 1, 2012
Sustainable energy: A driver for economic, environmental and social well-being
Sustainable energy is defined by Wikipedia as “the provision of energy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”...
February 1, 2012
Reversing the curse: Starting with energy
In spite of the enormous contribution of energy natural resources to our fiscal and economic well-being, our national psyche continues to be torn by ambivalence toward this unique endowment...
February 1, 2012
Making Canadians energy wise
Canada’s diverse array of energy resources is a source of comparative advantage for the country and a key driver of our future prosperity. By combining smart government policy with...
February 1, 2012
Becoming increasingly unconventional: Why energy is in need of a strategy
It would be rather understandable for a neutral observer of global energy developments in 2011 to sympathize with John Cleese, of Monty Python fame, as he gasps “It’s not...
February 1, 2012
Why Keystone failed and how to fix it
It is tempting to dismiss the Obama administration’s decision to delay a final ruling on TransCanada Corporation’s Keystone XL Pipeline until a new route through Nebraska can be found...
February 1, 2012
Beyond Kyoto and Keystone
When political rhetoric reduces complex policy even the most distinguished statesmen. This set of decisions to light switch choices, the outcome is usually poisonous or paralyzing. Good/bad choices in government are...
February 1, 2012
The Equinox Summit: Imagining a lower-carbon, electrified future
Not enough, and too much. This is the nub of the science works. Historically, scientific discoveries have beem problem faced by our modern technological civilization: not enough sources to satisfy...
February 1, 2012
Harnessing energy for change
Energy and climate change are two sides of the same have strong views about the costs and opportunities. After two coin, inextricably linked. Today we are facing generational challenges in our...
February 1, 2012
Europe’s winter of discontent
Proposals for a European union have been preoccupying European minds since the Second World War. Remember William Wyler’s classic 1953 film Roman Holiday? Princess Anne (Audrey Hepburn in her US...
February 1, 2012
Hydroelectricity: Green and renewable
The US Energy Information Administration forecasts that world electricity generation will almost double between 2007 and 2035, while the International Energy Agency predicts that by 2040, world energy consumption...
February 1, 2012
Energy for nation-building in the 21st Century
The term nation-building is usually associated with Canada’s first century. It evokes sepia images of men in stovepipe hats driving in the Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway,...
February 1, 2012
Coming down the pipeline in 2012
A new year is supposed to be a time for change. New attitudes and goals are chased in the spirit of starting anew. Personal resolutions seek to put behind us...
February 1, 2012
After Kyoto and Durban: A question of balance (Q&A)
POLICY OPTIONS: Thanks for doing this, Mr. Kent. The thematic of this month’s magazine is “Sustainable Energy.” How would you define that? PETER KENT: I think it’s the balance...
February 1, 2012
“We rise together or we fall together”
I am especially grateful to have the chance to address Ontarians at this critical juncture in global affairs. Parts of Europe are teetering on the brink of collapse. And...
February 1, 2012
Editor’s Note
Welcome to our special issue on sustainable energy. Exploiting and transporting Canada’s energy resources in an environmentally sustainable manner promises to be one of the most important public policy...