Varcoe: ‘Toxic’ just transition labelling is out as Ottawa concedes words matter in energy shift

Seamus O’Regan calls it a “toxic” term.

That’s why the federal labour minister doesn’t use the words “just transition” to discuss Ottawa’s long-term strategy that’s designed to assist workers during the energy transition.

Instead, he talks about sustainable jobs and the need for getting additional people to join Canada’s oilpatch today, as well as work in renewable power and across other energy areas.

Just don’t call it a just transition.

“I think the words are toxic . . . and that’s because people in my own riding were telling me that. What the hell does it mean?” the St. John’s South-Mount Pearl MP said in an interview during a visit to Calgary this week.

“Like anything in politics, it’s taken on its own baggage. And people associate it now with some sort of Star Chamber, where government is making decisions that will take me and my family and turn us upside down . . .

“We have a labour shortage. We do not have nearly enough people in the oil and gas industry, let alone scare people from leaving it. The jobs are good, they continue to be good.”

Over the past several months, just transition has turned into a political lightning rod for criticism toward Ottawa’s broader plans for the sector.

In February, O’Regan and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson released the Sustainable Jobs plan — dropping the just transition moniker — with new legislation expected to back it up later this year.

In Alberta, the debate has been piled on top of ongoing frustration about Bill C-69 (the Impact Assessment Act) and the ramifications of the incoming federal emissions cap for the country’s oil and gas sector.

Data released Friday by the federal government indicated emissions from the country’s oil and gas sector increased by 3.3 per cent in 2021 from the previous year, and made up 28 per cent of overall emissions.

Premier Danielle Smith and her cabinet colleagues have blasted the Trudeau government over the previous just transition talk, insisting Alberta won’t allow the feds to phase out jobs in the province’s biggest industry.

“Although they’ve changed the name on the idea — and that’s something — the truth is they’re just trying to put window dressing on something that’s not selling, and not going to sell,” said Alberta Jobs and Economy Minister Brian Jean.

Others see Alberta’s response as an attempt to pick a fight with the federal government just weeks before a provincial election.

“It did become toxic,” said Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt. “The phrase is not going to go away, because it’s now politically charged.”

The oil and gas sector remains a critical economic force within the country, employing more than 174,000 people directly across the country in March, according to Careers in Energy, a division of Energy Safety Canada.

It includes 132,000 people working in the industry in Alberta, and nearly 8,000 people in Atlantic Canada, including jobs within O’Regan’s riding in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In March, the sector’s unemployment rate sat at just 3.8 per cent.

“The existing skill set and knowledge will be required to support that growth across the energy sector, including oil and natural gas,” said Lisa Stephenson, director for Careers in Energy.

There’s also a need to attract younger workers into the oilpatch.

Canadians under the age of 25 only made up 5.2 per cent of the energy sector workforce in 2021, well below the average of 14 per cent in all sectors in the country.

Decarbonization efforts and growing climate concerns could have longer-term implications for oil and gas workers.

A TD Economics report in 2021 estimated the transition could put between half and three-quarters of industry workers (and related indirect jobs) at risk of being displaced over the next 30 years.

And federal policy surrounding the energy sector hasn’t exactly helped pull young workers into the industry.

Duncan Au, chief executive of CWC Energy Services, said his company is looking for more employees but it’s tough to get younger adults to apply for open spots or stay for the long term.

“The challenge is related to what this younger generation is hearing about the fossil fuels,” he said Friday.

“Words do matter, and I think that’s why our Alberta government fights these words called just transition . . . It has an effect on how that younger generation views it or interprets it.”

The federal government’s Sustainable Jobs plan, which will be updated in 2025, lacks many concrete measures but it does commit the government to create a Sustainable Jobs Secretariat, where employees and employers can get information on federal programs.

It also aims to improve data collection in labour markets and fund future skills development.

Jean said he’s had no contact from federal ministers about the Sustainable Jobs strategy and views the document as “essentially a plan to make a plan.”

“Whether you call it the just transition bill or the Sustainable Jobs plan, the truth is we’re running blind. We have not been consulted on this bill.”

O’Regan, who also sat down with Calgary Chamber of Commerce members on Wednesday, said it would have been a mistake for the federal government to be too prescriptive on what the interim strategy included and left out.

More consultations will take place, including with the provinces, workers and communities.

“We put out our plan. And here we are, and everybody is standing, and the industry continues — and what do we say in the plan? We need to draw more workers to the industry,” he said.

“(We) landed on sustainable jobs, a phrase that basically allowed us to talk about, here’s the future, how do we lower emissions, and workers are at the centre of it.”

Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.

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