It is playfully said that in Canada, we have two seasons: winter and almost winter.
Canadians are well-accustomed to dealing with snow, ice, and freezing temperatures, and many embrace the cold weather with fun activities such as skiing, snowshoeing, and ice skating.
But winter can be as threatening as fun, and there are times when it is less a question of leisure and more a question of survival. There is beauty in the power of winter, but make no mistake, there is also danger.
We were reminded of this truth when extreme cold weather rolled into western Canada a few weeks ago. In Lethbridge, it reached -47C and other parts of the province reported even lower temperatures.
Flights were grounded, water mains broke, cold shelters were overwhelmed, and even the Edmonton Royal Alexandria Hospital emergency department lost heat in the cold snap.
It was so chilly that the clock tower in downtown Lethbridge stopped working.
There was a severe risk of rolling blackouts should the energy grid not be stabilized. Albertans were warned to keep their electricity use to a minimum by turning off unnecessary lights and opting to use a microwave instead of a stove.
The frenzy caused many in western Canada to question why we experienced such instability. What conditions nearly brought our electrical grid to the brink?
The answer is multi-pronged, but central to it is the fact that the sun failed to shine, snow insisted on falling, and the wind refused to blow. In other words, wind and solar could not be relied on for energy while four natural gas plants were offline or operating at reduced capacity.
We found ourselves in this situation thanks to Trudeau’s Ottawa-knows-best approach to so-called ‘clean energy,’ which is based on fiction more than reality.
We need more natural gas generation, not less.
This is not an ideological position. It is simply common sense. We should be playing to the strengths of our region. Regrettably, Liberal common sense is as rare as a snowflake in the Sahara.
With the timing of a bad joke, the cold snap came in on the heels of the government doubling down on its electric vehicle mandate, which will require all vehicles sold in Canada to be electric by 2035.
This plan is almost comical, if not for the severe threat it poses to the prosperity and well-being of Canadians. The current energy grid is incapable of accommodating Trudeau’s mandate to switch every vehicle to electric. Not to mention, EVs are impractical in many rural parts of Alberta, let alone in the areas around Lethbridge—especially in the winter. It seems Trudeau has overlooked Canadians and their lived reality to advance his ideological utopia.
If we struggle to ensure that our hospitals have sufficient power, how does the Prime Minister think it appropriate, much less reasonable, to promote the obligation that all Canadians must buy an EV?
The Liberals’ goals are more fantastical than feasible at this point, but there are real consequences to the people who face the shortfalls of Trudeau’s fantasy when reality comes crashing in.
The ideologically-driven policies of the current government are not working. Natural gas is one of the cleanest, safest, and most reliable forms of energy and Canada is among the world’s top five producers of natural gas, with approximately two-thirds of production coming from Alberta. We just need the federal government to stop tying our hands behind our back so we can take advantage of this powerful resource.
Canadians must be empowered with the freedom to make their own decisions free of outlandish and out-of-touch mandates.
When we face reality with practicality instead of fantasy, we will not only survive, we will begin to thrive.