Generation Energy Council Created to Give Shape to Canada’s Energy Future

former Premier of the Northwest Territories
December 12, 2017                                           Ottawa                                      Natural Resources Canada

Transforming how our society makes, moves and uses energy will help define Canada’s future, while creating good, middle-class jobs and a sustainable environment for coming generations.

Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Jim Carr, today announced the creation of a diverse,14-member Generation Energy Council to provide advice on how Canada can prepare for a reliable, affordable, low-carbon economy in the future.

The Council’s work will be informed by the takeaways from October’s ground-breaking two-day Generation Energy Forum in Winnipeg, which was the culmination of a six-month engagement with more than 380,000 people through online participation, in-person panels, workshops and the Citizen Dialogues on Canada’s Energy Future run by Simon Fraser University. The Forum brought together more than 600 experts, industry representatives, traditional and emerging energy sectors, academics, and Indigenous and community leaders from across the country and around the globe to discuss Canada’s energy future.

The Generation Energy Council will be co-chaired by Merran Smith, a fellow at Simon Fraser University and Executive Director of Clean Energy Canada, and Linda Coady, Chief Sustainability Officer at Enbridge.

They will be joined by:

• Peter Tertzakian, Chief Energy Economist and Executive Director, ARC Financial Corporation
• Annette Verschuren, Chair and CEO of NRStor Inc.
• Julia Langer, CEO, The Atmospheric Fund
• Leah Nelson Guay, founder and past CEO of First Nations Power Authority of Saskatchewan
• Richard Nerysoo, former Premier of the Northwest Territories
• Aisha Bukhari, Senior Manager at Advanced Energy Centre at MaRS
• Jane McDonald, Managing Director, International Institute for Sustainable Development
• David Collyer, energy consultant and past President and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
• Louis Tremblay, President and Co-founder of AddÉnergie
• Élise Proulx, Vice-President of Communications and Government Affairs, Hydro-Québec
• Colleen Giroux-Schmidt, Senior Director of Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs, Innergex Renewable Energy Inc.
• Philippe Dunsky, President of Dunsky Energy Consulting

The Council will provide advice inspired by these four questions:

• What should Canada’s energy future look like over the long term?
• What generational goals should we strive to achieve?
• What principles should guide us?
• What are the potential pathways and guideposts along the way?

In addition to the feedback from the Forum, the Council will be informed by the public input gathered over the last six months as well as global energy analyses to develop its report for the Minister.

The report will inform the Government as it develops an energy policy that ensures meaningful engagement with Indigenous peoples; aligns with Canada’s Paris Agreement commitments and the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change; and complements the work being done by the provinces and territories, building on the shared priorities identified at the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Meeting at the Forum.