If Ontario is ever going to recapture its place as the economic powerhouse of this country, we have to play to our strengths.

Unlike Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C., we don’t have oil and gas deposits. We can’t rely on traditional manufacturing anymore either, because most of those jobs have been outsourced overseas. No matter what certain politicians and pundits claim — those jobs are never coming back.

However, what Ontario does have is one of the most well-educated populations in North America. Our highly-skilled workers have the ability to produce value-added products that are in demand both here at home and around the world.

One sector where this is already happening is renewable energy.

Far from being an albatross around the government’s neck, Ontario’s willingness to invest in renewables has put us back on the map as a place that embraces business innovation and welcomes foreign direct investment.

Three years ago, Korean telecommunications giant Samsung agreed to invest $7 billion here to build manufacturing plants and develop 2,500 megawatts of green power. The deal has been pared back, but the fact remains that any province or state would still leap at an investment like this.

No matter what the critics say, the Samsung deal has created hundreds of good jobs, and will create hundreds more.

I have first-hand experience here. The merchant bank I manage has made investments in solar projects — most recently providing financing to a solar panel manufacturer based in Toronto — and that investment has created more than 120 jobs. These are jobs that put food on the table and help families pay bills. They are the kind of jobs we desperately need in Ontario.

This is just one example, a small part of the tens of thousands of jobs the Green Energy Act has created — jobs that some critics dismiss as mostly short-term construction employment.

What they fail to see, however, is that this effort is a lot like building a house. When you build a single home, it’s a short-term project, yes, but you’ve also acquired the skills to build more.

Should we stop building houses altogether because as of now we only have the demand for a few? Like houses, we know that with a growing population, and a growing economy, the demand for relatively cheap and abundant power is not likely to go down any time soon.

Opponents of renewable energy are living in a world based on 20th century thinking that no longer applies in today’s economic environment. Ontario must contend with a high Canadian dollar, low growth in the U.S., an auto sector in transition, and the flight of low-skilled manufacturing jobs overseas — all in a highly competitive and interconnected global economy.

Modernizing our economy requires investment and time. Canada is a major exporter of oil and gas, but we forget that it wasn’t always this way. The federal and many provincial governments have poured billions into supporting and developing that sector.

Leadership is about looking beyond the next election into the next decade. We need to ensure the Ontario we leave our kids and grandkids is a place with good schools and hospitals, where employment opportunities abound, and where we all enjoy a high standard of living.

Supporting renewable energy will help transition the Ontario economy into the 21st century by providing good quality, well-paying jobs, and ultimately return Ontario to its rightful status as the engine that drives the Canadian economy — an engine powered by clean, renewable power.

— Gasparro is Managing Director, The Green Tomorrow Fund