On the forms of financing for these initiatives, why are we waiting for energy service companies to pay for the energy retrofit up front? Wouldn't that be a logical place to use our Canada Pension Plan money, or just government general revenue? If the payback for a building envelope retrofit is five or seven years, and there's no outside commercial financer willing to undertake that, wouldn't it be a compelling case to do it anyway for all the right reasons? It would stimulate the economy, create jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Why wait for an outside contractor to say they'll do it for you if there's a business case for doing it at all?
On March 26th, 2009. See this statement in context.