Politicians promoting fairy tales should be ashamed of themselves. Pictured: Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. Photo Credit: Steven Guilbeault/X.
We are constantly barraged with messages from governments, corporations, third-party groups and others about how we are in the process of a massive transformation away from fossil fuels to sources of energy that are supposedly more climate-friendly. It’s all a lie. Despite governments, businesses and others pouring money into everything from wind and solar power to electric vehicles (EVs) to heat pumps and more, and exhorting Canadians to adopt these changes, we are just as dependent on oil and gas as we ever have been.
In terms of energy currently consumed in Canada, the number one source is refined petroleum at about 40 per cent, with natural gas a close second. In total, fossil fuel energy sources represent about 75 per cent of total Canadian demand. International data show similar trends, with demand for fossil-fuel based energy remaining stable or even increasing in some cases in forecasts for the next couple of decades.
Another relatively new buzzword – electrification – also contains its share of dishonesty and misrepresentation. Electrification refers to the goal of having all energy provided by electricity and having all electricity generated by non-fossil fuel sources. Despite all the hype, electricity represents less than 20 per cent of all energy consumed in Canada at present. The notion that Canada will be converting to an all-electric energy system within a certain time frame is a pipe dream that is unrealistic and unaffordable. Politicians promoting such fairy tales should be ashamed of themselves.
A June mini-Cabinet shuffle in Ontario put Stephen Lecce in the role of a new portfolio of Minister of Energy and Electrification. This does not bode well for the cost and availability of electricity in the province and looks to impose another burden on businesses that are already paying too much for electricity because of the previous Liberal government’s Green Energy Policy and the Ford government’s inability to bring down costs. Given Canada’s current economic competitiveness crisis, policies that worsen our productivity are hardly welcome.
Reports on EVs continue to worsen. Auto companies have delayed or dropped plans to produce more EVs as demand plummets. EV battery plants in which Canadian governments have invested massive amounts of our tax dollars look increasingly like white elephants soon to be made obsolete by technology. Past purchasers of EVs talk about how they will never do that again. As EVs have now been around for a few years, a used EV market is appearing yet those buying used EVs have terrible tales about how they had to spend $30,000 on a new battery for their used vehicle. It certainly appears that federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s goal of forcing all new vehicles sold by 2035 to be EVs is a foolish fantasy.
More and more estimates of the total cost of “net zero” are also being conducted, and the news is horrific. Costs are easily in the trillions of dollars and every subsequent estimate seems to up the ante. There is also the question of grid reliability, as all of the evidence on electricity generation by wind, solar and biomass has shown serious issues with reliability and the risk of brownouts and blackouts, unlike the consistent and eminently reliable track record of power sources such as nuclear and natural gas.
Corporations who initially bought in to the net zero bandwagon are also now peeling off as they realize the promised results are not being realized and the overall impact of adopting these non-business goals is hurting the company and its employees and shareholders. Recent defections have been seen from many large energy corporations, financial institutions including giants such as BlackRock and most of the so-called net zero investment funds which have produced poor returns for investors.
It also doesn’t help the cause that none of the supposed apocalyptic impacts of climate change that have been predicted for decades have come to pass. Islands that were supposed to be submerged by now are doing just fine with water levels no different from when the warnings were first issued. You know something is off when some of the biggest climate alarmists have no problems buying multi-million- dollar waterfront properties. Meta magnate Mark Zuckerberg recently delivered some stern words about the need to curtail our lifestyles for climate purposes while aboard his new $300 million, 118 metre, diesel-driven superyacht. Cynicism among the general public is well-founded and overdue.
As always, as the public becomes less and less accepting of the net zero thrust, it will continue to be promoted by the large number of people who are making a great deal of money from the campaign. In Canada, this includes many of the so-called ENGOs (Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations) who are funded by government and often abetted by having been granted charitable status when their actual charitable activities are slim to none. The number of these organizations has ballooned under the Trudeau government, and richly deserve to be defunded and stripped of their charitable status when the Liberals are turfed from government.
There is also an army of academics, consultants and other advisors making out like bandits advising companies on how to adhere to ESG rules and other foolish regimes imposed on organizations by international and domestic regulators. As former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, recently hired as a special advisor to the federal Liberals, is a major champion of forcing companies to adhere to these ridiculous rules or be cut off from sources of financing, we should all be very wary of his potential entry into Canadian politics.
Unfortunately, the true climate zealots are not deterred by the facts. The Trudeau Liberal government is on a mission to insist upon an energy transition no matter how much evidence is produced about how much it is going to cost Canadians, ruin our economy and degrade our standard of living. The more contrary evidence piles up, the more outrageous their lies. It is all well and good to look at alternatives to how we do things and what can be done to make how we live and conduct business more environmentally friendly, and we should continue on that path. But pushing a dishonest agenda with promised outcomes that never materialize is mostly what we have seen to date. As always, eventually the truth comes out and people realize they have been sold a bill of goods. All things considered, it’s amazing it took this long.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
