Pathways is a costly climate fiction — and Canadians are paying for it www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/30/o...

Pathways is a costly climate fiction — and Canadians are paying for it

The 2025 Alberta–Carney agreement explicitly links pipeline construction to the Pathways project. Despite record profits — $37 billion for oilsands producers in 2023 — Canadians are being asked to fin...

nationalobserver.com

Canada's electricity strategy is overlooking its most powerful asset policyoptions.irpp.org/2026/07/cana...

Canada's electricity strategy is overlooking its most powerful asset

Treating homes, businesses and industries as active grid participants would improve electricity reliability and make the transition more affordable.

policyoptions.irpp.org

“Energy efficiency offers few ribbon-cutting ceremonies for politicians, but the GDP returns of $4 to $6 for every $1 invested is a larger multiplier than any other infrastructure bet.” www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/15/a...

Canada keeps backing the wrong megaprojects

History shows us energy megaprojects often have three things in common: underestimated budgets, exaggerated jobs and royalty claims, and foreign ownership.

nationalobserver.com

Tomorrow (July 15th) is the "Beat the Heat" day of action in favour of maximum temperature rules for tenants and access to cool temperature acorncanada.org/news/acorn-b...

ACORN “Beat the Heat” Day of Action on July 15th

July 15th is ACORN "Beat the Heat" Day of Action, marked by actions in 11 cities across Canada as part of an international push for government action on preventable extreme heat deaths.

acorncanada.org

Really, really useful and clarifying paper from @brhaley.bsky.social published by the Centre for Industrial Policy - and I'm not *only* saying that because it cites At The Trough :) centreforindustrialpolicy.ca/brief/why-do...

Why does Canada develop megaprojects instead of innovation systems? - Centre For Industrial Policy

centreforindustrialpolicy.ca

Are "major projects" going to create a more independent economy in Canada? Not if history is any guide. In this report, I warn that Canada might be falling into a very old development pitfall instead of building a diverse and adaptive economy. centreforindustrialpolicy.ca/brief/why-do...

Why does Canada develop megaprojects instead of innovation systems? - Centre For Industrial Policy

centreforindustrialpolicy.ca

Not Another $@#&^* Oil Shock! Webinar not to be missed

Jim Stanford@jimbostanford.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Hear estimates of the coming cost to Canadians: high fuel prices, indirect price effects, inflation, interest rates. Learn what policies could insulate Canada from another ride on this roller coaster. And hear how taxing & redistributing excess oil profits would share the pain.

Today's clean electricity strategy opens the door to natural gas for "flexibility". Re-sharing this article arguing why pay gas plants when you could PAY PEOPLE.

Brendan Haley@brhaley.bsky.social · 2y ago

My article with @evanpivnick.bsky.social & @sachigibson.bsky.social is re-published by @cleanenergycanada.org So I get to re-share it, with my meme Why pay power plants, when you can pay people to be energy efficient and demand flexible? #energysky 💡🔌 cleanenergycanada.org/pay-people-i...

Review of what Canada's release of a national electricity strategy means for energy efficiency www.efficiencycanada.org/what-canadas...

What Canada’s new electricity strategy means for energy efficiency - Efficiency Canada

Highlights from the federal government's electricity strategy and analysis of how it could integrate energy efficiency measures.

efficiencycanada.org

Tomorrow Mark Carney set to announce a “new agenda to deliver clean, affordable, and reliable energy for Canadians.” For a pre-read, see my ladder on how to grow the electricity system affordably in @nationalobserver.com www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/31/o...

“The government must provide confidence that home retrofit supports will be available when Canadians need them.” www.theenergymix.com/canadas-home...

Canada's Home Retrofit Fund Must Avoid Another ‘Boom-Bust Cycle’, Experts Warn

As the Carney government prepares to revive federal funding to help Canadians pay for home energy retrofits, experts say the new program needs to be fast, flexible, and flush.

theenergymix.com

Kind of an accidental, explicit acknowledgement that the people who said carbon capture was going to only ever be a bait-and-switch were... entirely correct.

Aaron Wherry@aaronwherry.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This is something.

Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund captures resource rents to build a diverse and stable economy that increases wealth for present and future generations. The "Canada Strong Fund" works the other way around. Capture citizen wealth to increase dependence on resource projects. rabble.ca/economy/stap...

The Staple Theory at 50: The staple theory and the carbon trap

As part of our continuing special series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of Mel Watkins' classic article, "A Staple Theory of Economic Development," we present here an innovative a...

rabble.ca

"...we want electrification to be beneficial in terms of efficient, affordable, lower emissions so let’s target helping people get off of more expensive heating oil systems." - Brendan Haley of Efficiency Canada 🎧 Give the full CBC interview a listen: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-... #NSPoli #NSPower

The war in the Middle East raised many questions. We've convened Dan Woynillowicz, Patricia Lightburn, @brhaley.bsky.social and @georgeprbenson.bsky.social to grapple with this one: How does Canada navigate the squeeze caused by the Iran energy war? Registration now. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

New Westminster the first city in Canada to pass a maximum heat bylaw. Congrats to tenant organizers at @acornunion.bsky.social acorncanada.org/civicrm/mail...

In anticipation of a federal electricity strategy, here is how to grow the electricity system affordably for @nationalobserver.com It starts with saving electricity and making better use of the grid we already built www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/31/o...

How to grow the electricity system affordably

We will not grow our electricity system affordably if our strategy is narrowly focused on physical infrastructure and risky megaprojects.

nationalobserver.com

This Halloween, my costume is an electric heat pump water heater (HPWH). If you don’t think this is a SCARY costume - here are some scary policy developments related to water heating.

@pgraefe.bsky.social says this is part of a much longer-term pattern where Canada decides to rely on adopting and adapting American technology rather than becoming technological innovators on their own.” www.nationalobserver.com/2025/10/23/n...

Canada's first 'nation-building' nuclear project relies on US suppliers

Canada’s first major “nation-building” investment is going toward a small modular reactor project that depends heavily on US suppliers for key technology and components.

nationalobserver.com

Bruce Doern writing in 1983 on "mega-project" industrial policy in Canada "The Liberals also succumbed (certainly not for the first time) to the perceived need to produce policies for show" "an almost unthinking 'resources first', 'let's cash in on the mega-projects approach'" #cdnpoli #elbowsup

I'm writing something on why Canada develops megaprojects instead of innovation systems In 1957 staple theorist WT Easterbrook wrote Canada puts "a high premium on bigness in entrepreneurship" - that our capitalists seek security in gov't infrastructure projects. #cdnhist #cdnpoli #elbowsup

Energy advocate critical of Nova Scotia premier’s response to rising power rates www.halifaxexaminer.ca/economy/ener...

Energy advocate critical of Nova Scotia premier’s response to rising power rates - Halifax Examiner

"They’ve done nothing about energy poverty and they have been in power almost five years now," Chris Benjamin said.

halifaxexaminer.ca

This is indeed what we have been advocating for It is the first national energy efficiency program accessible to all low-income Canadians in decades Next step is a national framework to eliminate energy poverty to direct and stabilize a program like this

I wrote about that proposal at the time. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Could the Liberals' carbon tax troubles light a fire under the move toward heat pumps? | CBC News

Whatever else the Liberal government's carbon tax contortions have done, they may have boosted the cause of energy efficiency — particularly for low-income households. And there are now calls for the ...

cbc.ca

I'll defer to @brhaley.bsky.social on the detailed analysis, but on first glance this new federal program for targeted retrofits... natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-effic... ... seems to look a lot like what a group of experts proposed in 2023. irpp.org/research-stu...

Retrofit Reset: Prioritize Low-Income Households

To reduce energy costs and climate risks faced by low-income households, the federal government should establish a new free retrofit program aimed at making about 100,000 homes per year more affordabl...

irpp.org

most federal investments in housing don’t include requirements for high-performance envelopes - that keep homes safe during extreme heat, poor air quality or cold snaps writes Jillian McArthur is www.nationalobserver.com/2025/09/05/o...

A home built for yesterday can’t withstand tomorrow

Canada is about to build millions of new homes. This is a once-in-a-generation nation-building project, the kind we haven’t seen since the postwar boom.

nationalobserver.com

The Greener Homes Loan Program is running out of money. We need MPs to act now to secure long-term funding so the program continues without interruption. ujoin.co/campaigns/39...

Bringing Inuit Food Security and Sovereignty into Canadian Nation-Building Narratives yellowheadinstitute.org/2025/bringin...

Bringing Inuit Food Security and Sovereignty into Canadian Nation-Building Narrative

Over the past year, the Canadian state has renewed its focus on Arctic sovereignty, investing in military infrastructure and extractive projects under the guise of national security. In this Brief, Ye...

yellowheadinstitute.org

Want an example of how to save money and increase productivity in the public service? Here’s an example of where the waste is - political ass covering. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/09/02/o...

Inside Transport Canada's pointless coverup

What an Access to Information request into a weeks-long runaround to dodge a simple answer to a question about a North Atlantic right whale surveillance program reveals about the inner workings of the...

nationalobserver.com

Funding shortfall looms for signature energy retrofit program in Canada #cdnpoli #energysky www.corporateknights.com/energy/fundi...

Funding shortfall looms for signature energy retrofit program in Canada

About 3,500 new loans are approved every month under the federal Greener Homes Loan program. Advocates forecast it will be out of cash by mid November.

corporateknights.com