Good morning to all. To begin, I'll echo my colleague Ms. Brouillette's thanks for the opportunity to address the committee.
We in Canada have a highly knowledgeable, well-skilled workforce capable of building the technologies that will usher us into carbon neutrality. To do this, we need to channel public investment towards real solutions and support workers in communities in order to make these technological shifts at the scale required.
This means, first, that green strings should be attached to all public investments. Financial support to industry must be predicated on conditions that result in a transition to zero emissions, and condition support to emissions intensive sectors on either actions being taken to significantly reduce emissions, or acceptance of regulatory changes that will drive such a reduction.
Second, we are in the midst of an intimidating global economic shift, driven not only by COVID-19 but also automation and competition, and exacerbated by the climate crisis.
A just transition requires decision-makers like yourselves to ensure that when industries and jobs are phased out in the coming years, the burdens of adjusting to these societal changes are not shouldered unfairly by affected workers and communities.
The federal government has recently reaffirmed its commitment to the implementation of a just transition act, legislation essential to the sweeping intervention in the Canadian economy described by my colleague.
Many jurisdictions have adopted policies supporting a managed decline of the fossil fuel industry. Denmark, for instance, will stop issuing new licences for oil and gas exploration, phasing out fossil fuels by 2050. California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced taking action to phase out fossil fuel extraction.
Just transition is a foundational principle, recognized by the International Labour Organization and embedded in the Paris Agreement. I'll take a moment to highlight one of Climate Action Network Canada member organization Unifor's seven asks of government related to the formation of a just transition act for Canada, which advocates for the promotion—