Last month, Enserva held its Fall 2023 Day on the Hill, bringing a delegation of members to Ottawa to engage with federal government officials and representatives of the Official Opposition to champion our advocacy priorities and share the perspective of the energy services, supply, and manufacturing sector. We were proud to be joined by members representing the wide range of businesses within the sector, including geothermal power generation, site reclamation and environmental consulting, manufacturing, oilfield services, remote workforce lodging, and more.
The delegation brought years of experience and institutional knowledge, helping to facilitate meaningful conversation, foster new relationships, and highlight the necessity of the industry as the country looks to reduce emissions and embrace new forms of energy.
In all advocacy efforts, our messages are centered around three overarching priorities to help the industry continue moving forward:
- Unlocking capital
- Unlocking labour
- Regulatory modernization
Our sector employs approximately 400,000 Canadians across all provinces, making it the fourth largest energy services industry in the world, and contributes nearly $11 billion to Canadian GDP. By working towards our three key priorities with multiple initiatives, our industry can continue creating jobs, driving innovation, and boosting Canada’s economy to help unlock Canadian energy and make the world a better place.
Meetings Recap
Day one of Day on the Hill was spent meeting with key ministries, including Natural Resources Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, and Transportation, largely focused on unlocking capital and regulatory modernization.
As the largest Indigenous employer in Canada, the energy services, supply, and manufacturing sector is proud to partner with Indigenous communities to create new economic opportunities, while also bringing learning back into the work to do our part in meaningful reconciliation. Our sector is doing this work through advocating for more Indigenous community participation in site reclamation work, opening up new training and career pathways, and creating opportunities for own-source revenue.
Through Enserva’s Remote Workforce Lodging Council, the sector is taking action to create workplaces and community environments that are physically, emotionally, and culturally safe for everyone.
These messages were shared with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, along with our goal to increase Indigenous representation in the sector’s workforce. Future opportunities for collaboration between the sector, the department, and Indigenous communities were discussed, to continue working towards economic reconciliation and energy security in all communities across Canada.
Dave McHattie, Russel Orcutt, Deidra Garyk, Jonathan Stringer, Lisa Mueller, Gurpreet Lail, Georgina Lloyd, Assistant Deputy Minister, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Anita Walker, Senior director for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Ron Gusek, Adam Alvis, January McKee.
As the world looks to embrace new and lower emitting forms of energy, oil and gas will continue to be a necessary part of the energy supply mix. This sentiment was echoed by the Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Canada as he met with Enserva’s delegation.
The energy services, supply, and manufacturing industries are the innovators and solution finders that are making tangible changes to bring Canada and the world closer to a cleaner energy future. Enserva and its membership are proactively working to solve the problems facing industry today to better position the energy sector at large for success in the years ahead.
As ESG reporting standards become more common, transitioning the entire energy supply chain to adopt these measures will come with challenges. In anticipation of these challenges, Enserva is developing an ESG platform to provide a centralized location for reporting and a mechanism for industry training.
We presented this proactive, innovative tool to the Deputy Minister and Energy and Natural Resources Canada’s Net-Zero division and look forward to providing government and members with further updates on the upcoming launch of the platform in January 2024.
Russel Orcutt, January McKee, Gurpreet Lail, Ron Gusek, Michael Vandergrift, Deputy Minister, Energy and Natural Resources, Dave McHattie, Deidra Garyk, Lisa Mueller, Adam Alvis, Jonathan Stringer.
Advocating for regulatory modernization to better enable our members as they create jobs and drive economic value is a key goal for Enserva. Ease and efficiency of transportation specifically is a core necessity of the energy services, supply, and manufacturing sector and is particularly challenging due to the cross-provincial nature of the industry. The lack of cohesive regulatory regimes leads to operational roadblocks, delays in transport, and unnecessary costs that are ultimately reflected throughout the energy supply chain.
The delegation conveyed these challenges to the Associate Deputy Minister of Transport Canada, Dominic Rochon, along with several senior officials and highlighted key areas for harmonization between jurisdictions and changes to better enable new forms of energy. Enserva is looking forward to continuing this work with Transport Canada to support the country’s diverse energy mix.
To end the day, the delegation met with Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. We appreciated the opportunity to highlight the work our members are doing across the service, supply, and manufacturing sector, and the solutions we’re building to support Canada’s diverse energy sector.
Jonathan Stringer, Ron Gusek, January McKee, Deidra Garyk, Russel Orcutt, Pierre Poilievre, Adam Alvis, Gurpreet Lail, Lisa Mueller, Taylor Hides, Dave McHattie, Nouha Ezzine.
Pierre Poilievre speaking with Enserva delegation.
Pierre Poilievre speaking with Enserva delegation.
Stay tuned for our next blog which will recap our delegations second and third days of meetings.
