Take Charge! Council to Demand a National Energy Strategy

Is it cold enough
for you? With many in Eastern Canada digging out after this weekend’s
record-setting snowfall and all of us facing the coldest winter in 15
years, it’s no wonder that you may be thinking about how to heat your
home this month. We certainly need secure supplies of energy to get us
through another Canadian winter.

But
right now, Canada does not have a national energy strategy that
addresses how we get our energy, where it is going, or the high price
of environmental devastation that can come with producing it.

Our
country is rich with energy resources, but Canadians do not have
control over them. The federal government signed that control away
under NAFTA.
This was demonstrated recently by a lawsuit launched by American oil
corporations Exxon-Mobil and Murphy Oil. The companies are suing the
Canadian government for $60 million US, contesting the requirement for
them to spend a fraction of their soaring profits from the Atlantic
region on research and job development there.

And the Harper government’s commitment to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP)
means even less control over our energy resources. The SPP moves Canada
closer to a continental resource pact that means secure energy
resources for the U.S., while the future energy needs of Canadians are
left anything but secure.

Without
a Canadian Energy Strategy – a strategy that would ensure Canadians
security of supply, guaranteed access to energy reserves in times of
need and strong protections for the environment – our country will
continue to be a victim of an energy gold rush. Politicians continue to
let corporations and the market set the agenda, focusing on big
business needs, and privatizing public services, while ignoring the
energy security needs of Canadians.

That’s why on February 2, 2008, Council activists from across the country will be participating in Take Charge! A National Day of Action to Demand a Canadian Energy Strategy. Visit our website today to find out how you can get involved.