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Ontario and Quebec have a chance to forge stronger energy links, a panel of experts told a York University forum
It doesn’t make sense to sell gasoline for twice as much in some provinces as others, and it doesn’t make sense to do it for electricity, a Quebec business professor says.
Electricity costs less than 5 cents in Quebec, and more than 10 cents in Ontario, Pierre-Olivier Pineau told a forum organized by York University’s Sustainable Energy Initiative on Friday.
“That wouldn’t be accepted for gasoline,” he said. But Canadian provinces act like energy separatists when it comes to electricity, he said. Pineau said there’s an opportunity today to forge some sensible national policies over energy.
That’s something has hasn’t happened since the early 1980s, when the federal Liberals’ ill-fated National Energy Policy outraged western Canada. But Pineau said many regions of the country now have something to gain from greater energy co-operation:
• Alberta and Saskatchewan want to pipe oil to the east coast through Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick (and expand pipelines through B.C.);
• Ontario would benefit from low-cost Quebec hydro power;
• Quebec is embarking on a cap-and-trade carbon market venture, but has no Canadian partners.
“Put on the table: Ontario will join the cap and trade market, but we (also) sign a contract for hydro-electricity,” he said. “I think it’s politically realistic.”
It means all regions of the country have something to gain by dealing with the others, he said.
Pineau acknowledged it wouldn’t be simple. Quebec, for example, would have to increase its domestic hydro price in order to free up more power for export — which would be politically unpopular.
He also warned that the window to swing a deal could close. Quebec is currently considering three additional projects to expand its links to the northeastern U.S., where it already exports large amounts of power.
Jack Gibbons of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance also enthusiastically backed the idea of increasing imports from Quebec.
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