An open letter to the Premier of Alberta: It’s time to move on
Why Jason Kenney needs to recognize his approach to oil is just another dinosaur
Dear Premier Kenney,
Well, well, Jason, you’ve certainly come a long way since I first met you in 1985. Back then, you were a skinny 15year-old kid attending a month-long high school English course at Oxford University. I was “Dean of Students” for this Blyth and Company (Toronto Travel Agent) summer course and you were a bright, attentive and astute young fellow. And, now, you have launched your very own Canadian Energy Centre, a war room and rapid response unit designed to counter all the “misinformation and lies” about what you refer to as “Canadian energy.”
Here are some potential targets for your truth squad:
1. Pope Francis — he considers climate change as “the most serious and worrying phenomena of our time.” He’s even told CEOs to keep their oil in the ground! And, he has led the way for many other major religions to issue similar statements.
2. Mark Carney — former governor of the Bank of Canada and also the Bank of England, now becoming the United Nations Special Envoy on Climate. He is also saying that the vast majority of oil reserves must be kept in the ground.
3. The Academy of Science for virtually every country in the world — you know, la creme de la creme of our best scientists across the globe ... they claim that modern climate change is both anthropogenic and very dangerous.
4. Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize winner (for bringing the issue of climate change to global awareness) and U.S. vice-president for eight years — he says that leaders (like you) are criminally negligent if they ignore climate change.
5. We Mean Business — This increasingly vocal coalition of nonprofit organizations is working with thousands of the world’s most influential businesses to accelerate our transition to a lowcarbon economy.
Jason, before I was involved in the Oxford English course, I took 24 teens across this country from Charlottetown to Victoria in 28 days as part of a Grade 10 Canadian History course (1982) … an absolutely amazing opportunity to experientially realize that all of this is one country, called Canada … and it very much includes Alberta.
My favourite play at Stratford (Ontario) this past summer was “Billy Elliot.” I am deeply struck by the parallels between the striking coal miners in northern England as Margaret Thatcher wanted to shut down the coal mines in the 1980s and what is happening now with beleaguered Alberta workers in the fossil fuel industry.
Please know that I want to help my fellow Canadians ... but not by perpetuating the suicidal practice of continued fossil fuel extraction including filthy oilsands.
We’re all in this together ... all of us, on the entire planet. We need to help Alberta retool its economic engine, but not in earth-destroying old ways. We all must develop a new vision for an economically viable province that is built on new resources as well as Albertan pride and know-how.
Jason, my most memorable moment with you was during our last five days of the course when we were in London. On Sunday, we attended a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral where you adeptly dissected a sermon from a senior clergy who, as you aptly noted, was stuck in the old British Commonwealth “Days of Empire.”
Well, Jason, the shoe now fits on your own stuck and stubborn foot. Stop hanging onto Alberta’s oil boom glory days. Stop hanging onto dangerous dinosaurs that are headed in the same terminal direction as the previous ones. The question of the day should be this: How can all Canadians assist Alberta (and the rest of the country) in transitioning from a fossil fuel dependent economy to a vibrant new one based on clean energy, meaningful employment and a truly sustainable future? I want to help. Tell me how to do so.
A fellow Canadian,
Grant Linney
Grant Linney is an actively retired outdoor environmental educator and resident of Dundas, Ont. He is the recipient of 10 local, provincial and national teaching awards. As a member of Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, he recently delivered his 500th presentation on climate change.