Thank you so much for this opportunity, Mr. Chair. It's truly an honour to be here.
My name is Sandeep Pai. I work as a senior researcher with the Global Just Transition Network in Washington, D.C. I've been researching, writing about, and working on just transition issues for many years now, and I recently earned my Ph.D. on this topic from the University of British Columbia.
I want to acknowledge that energy transformations are already under way in the world. These transformations, we need to acknowledge, will destroy many jobs in traditional sectors, such as oil, gas, coal and automotive, but the green economy will also create millions of jobs in various sectors, ranging from solar to energy efficiency.
While industrial transitions have happened in the past, the scale and speed of the current transition will be nothing like we've seen before. I say this with respect to my research, which looks at multiple countries around the world, including Canada. This scale and speed will transform lives across communities in Canada. Although a large number of Canadians will no doubt benefit from this transition, make no mistake: Without adequate planning, many provinces, communities and workers might be left behind.
Given the enormous scale of this transition, I want to bring forth, before this committee, four key considerations.
First, I think it's important to acknowledge that just transition is not just a worker issue: It's an issue that impacts communities.
We always make the mistake of thinking about this as a worker issue, which is central, but not the only thing. Any large existing industry, such as oil, automotive or coal, typically creates a local ecosystem of socio-economic dependency that spans local jobs, local and regional revenues, and the social and community development spending these companies do. Therefore, my first point is that to understand how to do a just transition, it's very important to commission detailed studies of impacted sectors and communities to understand in turn the ecosystem, the dependencies and the regional vulnerabilities.
Second, one of the issues with just transition is trust. Globally—including, to some degree, Canada—we have never done good just transitions. Workers have always felt they have been left behind. My second recommendation is that Canada pilot some just transition interventions, as it has done with respect to the coal sector. However, it should pilot some interventions focusing on a few energy communities to show that just transition is not a theoretical idea and that it can be done in real life. It's very important; otherwise, communities will feel that this is just another fancy word.
Third, for any just transition, social dialogue is very important. The first step in even starting the social dialogue is conducting a stakeholder analysis to understand which stakeholders and communities will be impacted. This would include identifying under-represented stakeholders. In many jurisdictions, it has often happened that certain industrial or other groups dominate the discourse on just transition. You can see that happening in the U.S., in South Africa and even in the EU. To not make that mistake, it's important to identify who the under-represented stakeholders are and how we can engage with them throughout the process.
My final recommendation is this: A long-term, whole-of-government approach or intervention is required for doing just transition. Planning and implementing are part of a multi-level process that will require coordination among ministries, governments and various departments locally, provincially and nationally. Canada should consider creating an inter-ministerial committee that involves the federal government and members from key energy-producing provinces. Such a committee should facilitate ongoing social dialogue and enable fair and equitable Canadian transformations.
Thank you so much. I'm happy to take questions.