Transcript
Transcript: Looking at Canadian Energy Up Close
[00:00:00 Video opens with a series of images: An airplane flying through a sunny sky; a logging truck; an oil derrick; a solar panel farm. Overlaid text on screen: Looking at Canadian Energy Up Close.]
[00:00:06 Ian Wereley appears full screen. Text on screen: Ian Wereley, Adjunct Professor, Department of History, Carleton University. Adjunct Curator, Canada Science and Technology Museum.]
Ian Wereley: My name is Ian Wereley. I explore the history of oil in the 19th and 20th centuries, primarily in the United Kingdom and the British Empire, but this also includes Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the United States. I'm really interested in how societies grapple and understand energy, and particularly how they navigate through energy transitions from one energy regime or era to another, trying to draw lessons for how we might engage with our own energy transition in the present period.
[00:00:36 Overlaid text on screen: What were, historically, the primary sources of energy in Canada?]
Ian Wereley: I think the history of energy in Canada can be defined by two key periods: an organic energy regime, which was then followed by a mineral energy regime.
[00:00:51 A series of archival photos: a horse pulling a laden cart along a railway track; logs being loaded onto a truck; a hydroelectric dam.]
Ian Wereley: And the organic energy regime included things like animal power, wood power, waterpower, and muscle power from human labour.
[00:00:58 Ian Wereley appears full screen.]
Ian Wereley: And as history unfolded, the mineral energy regime came up – and this includes things like coal, oil, natural gas, and other forms of fossil fuels – but we are slowly making a transition to a sort of decarbonized, or demineralized economy, which includes clean technologies, renewable energy technologies, and other kind of innovative sources
[00:01:18 A series of photos: a wind farm; a hydroelectric dam; a solar panel farm.]
Ian Wereley: like geothermal, wind, tidal, solar, and kind of the other new forms of energy
[00:01:21 Ian Wereley appears full screen.]
Ian Wereley: that are helping us transition away from the traditional mineral energy regime.
Energy has actually exposed to Canadians a more uncomfortable side of their past, how the Canadian Government and other governments have pushed other people and cultures out of the way to produce the energy that fuels our lives. We've also come to learn of some of the negative consequences of energy production and consumption: environmental consequences, economic, social justice consequences. We've really come to learn how difficult it is to produce and consume energy without a cost happening to someone somewhere.
[00:01:56 Overlaid text on screen: What role has energy played in shaping our national identity?]
Ian Wereley: Canada at large is an energy-producing and an energy-consuming country, so that's part of our daily life and the fabric of our nation.
[00:02:12 A series of photos: an aerial view of wintery suburban main street; a plane coming in for a landing right above us; a person hiking the Rockies, looking down on Lake Louise; people skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.]
Ian Wereley: So if you think of things like our obsession with car culture and auto-mobility, being able to travel on the weekends, go to different parts of the country. Our ability to fly across what is a continent from one part of the country to another. Our ability to do leisure activities like camping and ice skating and all of those outdoor activities.
[00:02:26 Ian Wereley appears full screen.]
Ian Wereley: So, it really has defined who we are as a people, and it allows us to live in this country, which is very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. So it really does have a knock-on effect right from the very top of society all the way down to the daily experiences of everyday Canadians.
[00:02:40 Overlaid text on screen: Would the current energy transition be Canada's first?]
Ian Wereley: Not at all. In fact, it's just one of many that Canadians and our predecessors have undergone in the last, let's say, a thousand years. You could argue that the transition from prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies into an agricultural-based lifestyle was an energy transition. And over the years since then, we've undergone many, many different transitions.
So, earlier, I mentioned the shift from the organic to the mineral energy regime, which was a large-scale transition. But even within that, there were a lot of smaller or micro-transitions. For example, the shift from whale oil to kerosene lighting, to electric lighting.
[00:03:17 A series of archival photos: a horse pulling an open carriage in front of the Parliament buildings; an old passenger railway car; an old car. A new photo of a modern electric car being charged.]
Ian Wereley: Or, for example, the shift from horse-drawn carriages to cold-powered vehicles into automobiles that are run by natural gas, oil, or even now, electricity.
[00:03:25 Ian Wereley appears full screen.]
Ian Wereley: We're actually quite adept to making these changes as long as the conditions are there to ensure that we have all of the knowledge and expertise and skills to make that change without creating unintended consequences in other parts of the country or in other sectors.
[00:03:39 Overlaid text on screen: How have Canadians consumed energy?]
Ian Wereley: Canadians have always, since the beginning of our history, extracted and consumed vast amounts of energy, especially compared to our peers in the United States and in Europe. So today, Canadians are the ninth largest consumer of energy in the world, and we have far more consumption per capita than places like Italy, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, or even the United States.
Canadians have always had a really diverse mosaic of energy sources. So, over the years, we've relied on peat, wood, coal, hydroelectricity, animal power, wood power, natural gas, coal, oil, solar, wind – really, you name it, we've used it, and we are using it today.
So I think that's something that really sets Canada apart, is that we're actually really used to relying on a variety of different energy sources at different times and different places. And I think that sets us up really nicely for a future where different sources of energy will need to be relied upon as we move away from the fossil fuel for energy regime.
I think if you look at the last 150 years of Canadian energy history, there's been a major shift or transition about every 50 years, or two generations, and this timeline is only speeding up in recent years. And I think we can see in the next 50 years, at least one or two more major energy shifts in our regime.
[00:04:56 Overlaid text on screen: How do renewable energy sources fit into Canada's energy history and current landscape?]
Ian Wereley: Canada has always been rich in natural resources and sources of energy.
[00:05:06 A series of photos: a mountain river flowing through a forest; Niagara Falls; icebergs.]
Ian Wereley: And every time a new technology has come along to harness the power of these sources of energy,
[00:05:11 Ian Wereley appears full screen.]
Ian Wereley: Canadians have been right at the forefront of developing those technologies and using those technologies. So in my view, going forward, why would we change that? Why would we stop being a country that's always been on the leading edge of new energy technologies like wind and solar, wave, geothermal – all of these types of energies really hold enormous promise for Canadians. Transitions have happened in the past before, and they will happen again in the future.
[00:05:35 Overlaid text on screen: How different is our energy context today from previous points in Canadian history?]
Ian Wereley: Number one, Canada is now its own sovereign country. So for the vast majority of our energy history, the decisions that guided Canada's energy trajectory were made in London,
[00:05:51 Archival photos of “Big Ben” in London, and Queen Victoria.]
Ian Wereley: in the imperial power of London.
[00:05:54 Ian Wereley appears full screen.]
Ian Wereley: So one important benefit that we have in today's energy climate is that we have full autonomy over the decisions we make and the trajectory that we take.
[00:06:04 A map of the world, showing an increasing number of place markers superimposed on the map.]
Ian Wereley: Another key difference is the international energy market is much more sophisticated and crowded than it was in the late 19th and early 20th century.
[00:06:09 Ian Wereley appears full screen.]
Ian Wereley: So Canadian energy and energy products now have to compete on a global market with other countries that are producing and consuming energy at a much higher rate than they were in the late 19th and early 20th century. So while we are more equipped to better leverage our strengths in the coming energy transitions, we also in a larger marketplace with more competition. And this is really going to force us to think hard about what type of decisions we make for our future.
[00:06:35 Overlaid text on screen: As Canada moves towards a shifting energy future, what lessons from our past should we keep in mind?]
Ian Wereley: I think another important aspect to remember is that energy consumption in production has consequences. It can bring great benefits to people across the country, but it also will bring detriments to people in places where energy is extracted, places where the consequences of energy consumption are greatest.
We have done this process before. We have gone through many energy transitions in our past, and we have always been successful. And I think it's really important to keep that in mind as we navigate future energy transitions.
[00:07:08 Animated Canada School of Public Service logo appears. Text on screen: canada.ca/school.]
[00:07:15 Canada wordmark appears.]
