Canadians Increasingly Support Rational Energy Policy: Poll

Angus Reid survey shows a majority of Canadians say economic growth should be the top priority in shaping Canada’s energy policy.

A new poll by Angus Reid shows Canadians increasingly support a rational energy policy focused on economic growth. According to the survey, 61% of Canadians say economic growth should be the biggest priority in shaping Canada’s energy policy, compared to 39% who say environmental protection.

Here are the provincial/regional splits:

BC: 59%-41%

Alberta: 74%-26%

Saskatchewan: 69%-31%

Manitoba: 66%-34%

Ontario: 63%-37%

Quebec: 52%-48%

Atlantic Canada: 59%-41%

The shifts are notable, with Angus Reid pointing to “24-point swings in favour of economic growth in both Manitoba and Quebec.” Nationwide, there has been a 16-point swing compared to 2019, when 55% said environmental protection was the top priority. Further, even as the government has shifted in a more pro-development direction (leading to a backlash from the once-ascendant environmentalists represented by politicians like Steven Guilbeault), nearly half of Canadians want the government to do more to get pipelines built, while fewer say the government is doing too much. In 2019, 50% said the government was doing too little, while 48% say the same now. 23% said the policy was “about right” in 2019, compared to 31% who say that now. And the number who say the government is doing “too much” has dropped from 27% to 21%.

In B.C., support for the Westcoast LNG pipeline is at 61%, compared to 17% who oppose it, while support for a proposed Alberta-BC pipeline is at 56%, and support for Energy East is at 68%. B.C. is now a pro-pipeline province.

This gives the government room to take more action (such as pending regulatory ‘streamlining’). Were the government to rescind Bill C-69 and remove the industrial carbon tax, such measures would likely be met with public support.

A rational response to reality

This shift in public opinion represents a rational response to reality and a rejection of the failed mystical environmentalist approach that often prevailed over the past decade. The idea that the global environment could be decisively impacted by Canada driving up the cost of our own energy and restraining production was always based on a fantasy. And with Canada facing increasing economic hostility from anti-free trade right-wing collectivists in the U.S. and facing the consequences of listening to anti-development left-wing collectivists within this country, indulging in fantasies is something we cannot afford.

Prosperity requires production, and production requires action. Increasingly, Canadians are recognizing this.

Spencer Fernando