Paul Dewar: Address to the European Heads of Mission

Good afternoon Your Excellencies.

Jack Layton asked me to pass on his sincerest apologies – he wishes he was well enough to speak to you today.

I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to speak, and thanks also to Ambassador Iremark for providing such a pleasant place to meet.

A major global economic shift is underway and Canada can either be at the forefront of the new economy or trail behind.

Which it will be depends on how successfully we shift to a greener economy and take up the fight against climate change.

Right now, Canada has one of the highest per capita carbon emissions in the world.

And it’s no secret that Canadians remain divided over how aggressively we should fight climate change.

Our economy relies on both traditional manufacturing and extractive resources, much of which is exported.

So whether it’s automotive parts in Southern Ontario or the tar sands in Alberta, key industries will need significant change to meet new carbon emission reduction targets.

While public opinion is in favour of action, consumers will need to accept some lifestyle changes.

And we have yet to see a willingness to make the necessary shifts in our economy away from emission-intensive to clean-energy industries.

We still have work to do in convincing Canadians that the costs of doing nothing will be far greater than those of acting – especially in the long term.

In fact – as many of your countries have demonstrated – fighting climate change can be an opportunity to re-tool an economy for the 21st century.

And on that front, we remain far behind the European Union.

Making the economic shift we need will have costs – no one disputes that – but the costs of inaction will be far greater.

Not only will climate change itself wreak havoc, but Canada will fall behind world leaders in renewable energy, new technologies and other key growth areas.

The way I see it, the price we pay in the short term to transition our economy is an investment in our long-term prosperity.

So how do we build the new economy in Canada?

The crucial first step is committing to aggressive hard targets for carbon emission reductions, as the EU has already done.

The Climate Change Accountability Act – put forward by my party but delayed in Parliament – mandates those same targets, including a minimum cut of 20% of 1990 levels by 2020.

We also need to accurately determine the real cost of carbon in the current economy.

That’s why North America is long overdue for a cap and trade system that prices the status quo and provides market-based incentives for cutting emissions.

Setting hard targets for emissions reduction and pricing carbon output will provide the framework for both fighting climate change and transitioning to the new economy.

Within that framework, Canada needs to do a better job of supporting the numerous private, local and provincial initiatives that are currently leading the way in green innovation.

In the private sector, new venture capital projects like VCi Green Funds and the billion-dollar consortium CleanTech North are generating start-up funds for new technologies.

At the local level, municipalities across Canada are establishing numerous green infrastructure and energy projects, like the WindShare Co-op, which develops locally owned wind-power projects that meet the needs of a host community.

Here in Ontario, the provincial government has established a renewable energy feed-in tariff program.

This program pays small businesses and home-owners, as well as large-scale renewable energy producers, a guaranteed price for clean energy they produce through solar cells, wind turbines and other projects.

What Canada lacks is a suite of specific, well-funded policies at the federal level that capitalises on the excellent work being done across the country.

Our guiding principles should be -- invest, train and exploit.

We need to invest in expanding the existing home energy efficiency retrofits program, in promoting renewable energy feed-ins Canada-wide, in building better public transit within and between cities, and in creating national financing strategies,
like green bonds that generate funds for large-scale renewable energy projects, or tax incentives for investment in green technology.

We need to train our workers for the next generation of green collar jobs – that means financial support, as well as new workplace and university programs.

And we need to exploit Canada’s renewable energy advantages in wind, hydro, biomass and more.

But to take those critical steps to transition our economy, we need to see doing so as an opportunity not a sacrifice.

We need to work cooperatively with our friends and allies in Europe and elsewhere.

Working together, our countries can better navigate the uncharted waters of a changing global economy.

Canadians want action on climate change, but they fear the costs and consequences of economic change.

As a party with strong environmental credentials, we feel a responsibility to engage the Canadian public and work to convince people from coast to coast to coast of the need for swift action.

We believe that taking the next steps to aggressively fight climate change in Canada will require demonstrating that other countries have done so without engendering economic disaster.

And that’s why we would very much like to learn what your countries are doing to cut emissions and grow green economies.

Mr. Layton will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Copenhagen in December and he hopes to meet with representatives from projects in Europe and around the world that are leading the way.

He would greatly appreciate any assistance you can offer.

Your Excellencies, Canadians pride ourselves on being good global citizens.

I believe we will rise to the challenge of climate change and take a leading role on the world stage.

But we have some ways to go yet and we can’t make it there alone.