Nearly 60 percent of Canadians believe Canada is doing a poor job in developing a shared long-term vision for the country’s energy future, a new poll has found.
Thirty percent of those surveyed say Ottawa is doing a “poor” job, and 29 percent say it is doing a “very poor” job, of planning for the country’s future energy needs, according to a poll conducted by Nanos Research.
The survey results report a substantial rise since 2021 when 44 percent of Canadians held such negative views. The April survey recorded the highest proportion of pessimistic views since tracking began in 2017.
Most Canadians do see energy as an important priority for the future, the survey found, but affordability continues to be on the minds of many.
“When asked to prioritize energy needs such as affordability, lowering GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions, reliability, and safety, 39 percent of Canadians rank the affordability of energy as the most important need in the next five years,” Nanos Research said in a press release. “Reliability and affordability are most frequently ranked in the top three needs whereas emissions reduction is most frequently ranked fourth.”
Canadians are also more likely to say the federal government is not doing a good job of ensuring energy is affordable, the survey found. Thirty-six percent rate Ottawa’s efforts as poor, while 33 percent say they are mediocre. Only 27 percent were satisfied with the government’s performance.
Those surveyed were also divided on the government’s climate change target efforts, with an almost equal split between those who say the government is doing a good job (28 percent) and a poor job (24 percent).
The majority of Canadians also support or somewhat support building new export facilities for both low carbon hydrogen and natural gas. Seventy-six percent said they were in favour of hydrogen and 65 percent said they were in favour of natural gas.
Carbon Tax
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has described carbon pricing as the best way to address the impacts of climate change while setting Canada up for “success in the future.” According to the survey, more than half of Canadians don’t share his sentiments.Support for the Liberal government’s carbon pricing system remains low across the country—particularly in British Columbia, the Prairies, and Atlantic Canada—with 55 percent opposing the tax overall. Support for carbon pricing sits at 32 percent while 12 percent of those polled were unsure.
Support among females surveyed sits at only 29 percent compared to 35 percent of males and is highest in the 18–34 age range, also at 35 percent. The 35–54 age group was the most likely to oppose the tax at 58 percent.
The federal carbon tax is the price placed on the carbon content of fuels to reduce CO2 emissions. It is applied across the country except in British Columbia, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories where they collect their own fuel tax.
Carbon pricing kicked off in 2019 at $20 per tonne and is set to rise $15 per tonne every year until it eventually reaches $170 per tonne in 2030.
The online survey was conducted between April 16 and 18 for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the C.D. Howe Institute.
