The Globe and Mail op-ed: Informed citizens are key to Canada’s energy future

We make the case that citizens are needed to help move Canada past polarizing discussions on energy

Writing in The Globe and Mail, Robin Prest, the civic engagement program director at Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue, argues that deep and informed dialogues on Canada’s energy future are necessary.

Read the op-ed in The Globe and Mail.

Polling data used to inform the op-ed

New polling data from Forum Research, which was commissioned by SFU, has yielded that there are significant regional differences in the degree to which different groups are trusted to predict Canada’s future energy needs. Prest writes, “In some regions, only 32 per cent of Canadians trust industry to predict Canada’s future energy needs, while in other regions, this number is as high as 60 per cent. Similar regional differences exist over trust in environmental groups.” The polling data has also shown that Canadians are in the dark about the country’s energy future; 49 per cent of respondents say they’re unfamiliar with the federal government’s energy plans.

Find out more about the polling data and its methodology here. More polling data will be released in October.