(The following article is from the September 16-30, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

People's Voice Commentary

     Gathering in Toronto over the August 23-24 weekend, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada held a wide-ranging debate on the energy industry. The meeting adopted a call to make energy nationalization the material basis for a radical overhaul of the Canadian economy, with the goal of dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and rebuilding the country's economic foundations. The "People's Energy Plan for Canada" will be a centrepiece of the Communist Party's federal election campaign.

     The Energy Plan warns that "Our world - and our country - are entering a period of grave dangers, an era of potentially devastating climate changes, widespread hunger and chaos, all linked to the unchecked growth of fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and wars to control oil reserves. In response, the Communist Party of Canada proposes far-sighted and radical policy changes, requiring a courageous struggle to take urgent and decisive action."

     Skyrocketing energy prices have impacted on Canadian industries and the living standards of working people. But "at the same time, there is growing awareness and concern about the harmful impact of reliance on fossil fuels on our domestic and global environment, particularly with respect to climate change, and about the deadly wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, waged largely to secure U.S. imperialist domination over energy resources. The outcome of this debate is central to the entire future of Canada and its sovereignty, and to the very future of our planet."

     Throughout Canadian history, energy policy and development have been unplanned, driven by the anarchy of "market forces" and the interests of giant energy monopolies. The result has been massive profits for Big Oil. In the first half of 2008, the five biggest Canadian-based oil giants (Husky, Petro-Canada, Suncor, Encana and Nexen) raked in more than $12 billion. The global oil monopolies (ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and Total) report staggering profits. ExxonMobil alone made US$40.6 billion in profits in 2007 - about US$1,300 every second of the year!

     Canadians are increasingly aware that reliance on the consumption of fossil fuels threatens the planet, and that pro-corporate governments are obstructing every effort to seriously reduce emission levels of greenhouse gases.

     For all these reasons, the Plan states, "Canada today requires a comprehensive, integrated energy policy - one which ensures the security of energy supply to meet the needs of our people and promotes the overall economic and social development of our country, while protecting and enhancing our environment."

     The cornerstone of such a policy must be the public ownership of energy, "from its primary production/extraction and refinement through to its distribution and sale. Any meaningful transformation of the energy `system' is impossible without wresting control from the private energy monopolies..."

     Other policy options fall short, the document states, such as the carbon tax backed by Dion's Liberals and the "cap and trade" favoured by Layton's NDP.

     The cap and trade concept allows "dirty" or heavily gas-emitting companies to "pollute and pay," and global monitoring of the "trades" is utterly inadequate. Meanwhile, carbon tax proposals place a disproportionately higher burden on low-wage and poor people than on the wealthy. At best, these concepts are of questionable promise; at worst, they divert attention from far more urgent measures. Both turn the environment into just another commodity, relying on market mechanisms to induce lower emissions, while leaving control in the hands of the same corporations which have degraded the environment in the first place.

     Public ownership of energy, on the other hand, has been achieved in many countries, and offers the potential for radical restructuring of humanity's impact on the environment. A massive and complex struggle against the corporate interests will be needed to achieve such a fundamental reform, but it can be won.

     Such a move will be a vital step towards restoration of the Canadian sovereignty sold out by Liberal and Conservative governments. Under the terms of the NAFTA agreement, for example, Canada is legally prohibited from restricting the rate of exports of petroleum and other energy to the U.S., even if our energy reserves fall short of future Canadian needs. Left in place, this NAFTA clause will drain Canada's energy to fuel the United States military-industrial complex.

     Furthermore, Chapter 11 of NAFTA grants U.S. corporations legal rights to sue Canada if their profits are adversely affected by government policy. This makes it virtually impossible for any federal government, acting upon the democratic will of the people, to nationalize foreign corporate holdings in this country.

     The follow-up to NAFTA, the "Security and Prosperity Partnership," calls for a continental energy and natural resources pact which would grant U.S. monopolies even greater guaranteed access by creating an integrated energy marketplace.

     For this reason, the Communist Party says that Canada must give immediate notice of intent to withdraw from the NAFTA Treaty, and terminate participation in the SPP negotiations.

     A central feature of the "People's Energy Plan" is its firm commitment to fundamentally transform the system of energy production and use, through dramatic overall reductions in greenhouse gas emission, air pollution, and radioactive waste. Such a transformation must include significant public investment in research and expansion of solar energy, wind power and other renewable forms of energy.

     The Plan calls for massive investment in low-cost, publicly-subsidized mass transit systems; inter-city, high-speed rail service to reduce reliance on private automobile and air travel; strict enforcement of substantially higher emission-control standards on vehicles sold and used in Canada; and the establishment of a publicly-owned "Canadian car" industry using new, non-polluting technologies.

     Other policies in the Plan include an end to coal-fired power generation; a permanent moratorium on new nuclear power generation stations, and the phased closure of existing nuclear facilities; termination of feedgrain-based bio-fuel production; cancellation of the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline, and curtailment of other "North-South" projects in favour of an East-West power grid to serve the energy needs of the entire country.

     One critical issue in this debate is the impact of the tar sands projects, which are devastating northeastern Alberta. The Communist proposal calls for cancelling expansion of tar sands projects, and the phased reduction of current facilities as export licences expire and as Canadian domestic reliance on bitumen/refined oil gradually declines. The plan supports a moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration and operations.

     The vast profits from public ownership of the oil and gas industry could fund massive programs to environmentally retro-fit small businesses and existing housing stock - especially low-income and public housing - and to set higher energy-conserving standards. Another proposal is for a Canada-wide program of mixed reforestation to replenish depleted forest stands, reduce soil erosion and enhance CO2 absorption.

     The Communist Party stresses that "the absence of (an) integrated energy policy, together with other harmful corporate actions and governmental neglect, has contributed in large measure to the decimation of Canada's industrial base over the past two decades. Industrial development is a cornerstone of any country's economic health, of the maintenance and improvement of workers' living standards, and the preservation of its sovereignty."

     A People's Energy Plan would strengthen environmentally-sound manufacturing, benefitting industrial workers and creating countless more jobs in services, trades and related sectors across the country. This would raise the wage rates of workers in general, and strengthen the capacity of the working class to defend the economic, social and political rights of all Canadians.

     This strategy is also crucial to the struggle to overcome the legacy of centuries of plunder of Aboriginal peoples in Canada, including the ongoing theft of oil, gas and hydro power from their traditional lands and waters.

     To achieve genuine equality of Aboriginal peoples and guarantee their national rights, the People's Energy Plan calls for present and future energy development on Aboriginal lands (both surface and sub-surface) to proceed only with their full knowledge and consent, on fairly negotiated terms. The development of a Canada-wide power grid would provide stable and secure supplies of energy to the Aboriginal peoples, especially in rural and Northern communities which currently have poor access to energy, and it would lower the domestic cost of energy to those communities. Finally, it would generate massive revenues to help compensate Aboriginal peoples for the outright thievery of their lands and resources over many generations.

     Far-reaching changes to Canada's political structure would be needed to implement a People's Energy Plan. Under current constitutional arrangements, provinces maintain primary control over natural resource development on their territories. The Communist proposal is that crucial decisions over energy development should rest with the Canadian people as a whole, not the provinces. The sole exception should be Québec, which constitutes not just a province but also a nation within Canada. The necessary constitutional changes should be negotiated by governments and the Aboriginal peoples, along with equitable agreements on federal/provincial sharing of the wealth generated through extraction and development of energy resources.

     The energy issue is closely connected to Canada's foreign and defence policies. The U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are motivated in large part by the drive of U.S. ruling corporate circles to dominate and control energy resources. The People's Energy Plan calls for Canada to categorically reject the use or threat of military aggression to secure access to natural resources, and to fully respect the sovereign rights of other states and peoples to control their own resources.

     The Plan would contribute to the world-wide struggle against militarism, which is incredibly wasteful of energy resources. Canada should immediately end its participation in the occupation of Afghanistan, withdraw from NATO and Norad, and redirect its own bloated military budget to peaceful and socially useful purposes.

     The Communist Party advocates "a broad people's movement to launch a political struggle to win and implement a People's Energy Plan, a struggle which will likely involve many pitched battles and partial victories along the way."

     The first steps should include the following measures:

* The rollback (and then capping) of retail energy prices, especially for home heating;

* Support for stronger mandatory post-Kyoto emission reduction targets;

* Withdrawal from the NAFTA Treaty and termination of Canada's involvement in the SPP process;

* Imposition of a 100% "Windfall Profit Tax" on the large oil and natural gas corporations;

* Renationalization of Petro-Canada and privatized utility companies such as Ontario Hydro, Nova Scotia Power, and others;

* Re-establishment of a two-price system for oil and gas, with reduced rates for domestic use and world price rates for exported energy;

* A shorter work week with no loss in pay, which would create more jobs and reduce fossil fuel consumption.

     The centrepiece of the People's Energy Plan is public ownership through nationalization, and the democratic, popular control of energy resource extraction, production and distribution. It is around this pivotal and decisive question that the most intense battles will be fought. Nationalization and the resulting access to the enormous wealth it generates are necessary to publicly finance the other investments and transformations elaborated in the plan. Just as important, only the sweeping nationalization of Canada's energy resources will make it possible to break the economic and political power of the giant monopolies - the fiercest enemies of energy democratization.

     During the current federal election, and at every stage in this unfolding struggle, we must keep our eyes on the prize - Canada's energy for the needs of the people, and under the ownership and control of the people.