Canada Invests in Indigenous Communities’ Clean Energy Capacity in Newfoundland and Labrador
News release
June 24, 2019 Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador Natural Resources Canada
The best ideas for clean energy in remote Indigenous communities come from the people who live there. Canada is proud to help bring these ideas forward and create long-term clean energy sustainability.
Yvonne Jones, Member of Parliament for Labrador, on behalf of the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, today announced that the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) will receive $245,000 to hire a clean energy research coordinator to liaise between the NCC, research and not-for-profit partners, and communities to implement clean energy alternatives to diesel fuel.
This project aims to increase community-level involvement in clean energy by hosting accessible, collaborative and culturally appropriate gatherings that focus on community perspectives and youth engagement activities tailored to community needs. The gatherings will create opportunities for education, training and youth employment through NCC’s research partners, and improve intergenerational and intercommunity communication.
Funding for the project comes from the Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities Program and is part of Canada’s more than $700 million investments to help rural and remote communities move off diesel.
Through Canada’s national energy dialogue, Generation Energy, Canadians made it clear that reliable, affordable clean energy solutions are not a luxury but a necessity for Canada’s low-carbon future. The Government of Canada will continue to support clean energy initiatives that create jobs, support investment and industry competitiveness, advance our clean future and help realize our global climate change goals.
Quotes
“Led by a new clean energy research coordinator, this initiative will increase community-level involvement and generate opportunities through solutions and strategies that are relevant to them. This is an example of how our government is putting communities first.”- Yvonne Jones,
Member of Parliament for Labrador and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade
“On behalf of the NunatuKavut Community Council, we welcome the Government of Canada’s partnership and funding of this project. It is a project that focuses on clean energy research and initiatives in NunatuKavut. It builds on the innovative sustainability, climate change and energy work that we have been leading in our communities over the past number of years. Our new clean energy research coordinator will work collaboratively with communities on developing and implementing energy plans. As well, a dynamic youth council has been established to build skills and capacity in sustainable and clean energy now and for the future. We are a people whose identity is shaped by the land, sea and ice and we have a deep connection and relationship to our territory. This work, like so much of what we do, will be guided by local and traditional knowledge so that it respects our longstanding relationship with our environment and appropriately reflects the voices and priorities of NunatuKavut Inuit.”
- Todd Russell,
President of the NunatuKavut Community Council
Associated links
Contacts
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
343-292-6100
NRCan.media_relations-media_relations.RNCan@canada.ca
Vanessa Adams
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Natural Resources
343-543-7645
Vanessa.Adams@canada.ca
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