Article content

Maybe you missed it, but Jim Prentice, the new premier of Alberta, did not.

His rush to meet with Kathleen Wynne and Philippe Couillard this week shows the transformative nature of the recent joint announcement by the Ontario and Quebec premiers of a series of agreements and common positions on energy and climate-change issues.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Opinion: The time is ripe for a common Eastern Canadian energy strategy Back to video

The premiers’ actions could signal a new era of cooperation among provinces in the design of energy policies that would address not only energy security, but also energy-related environment and climate-change questions.

The Ontario-Quebec November agreement represents a first step in developing a much needed provincially led Canadian Energy Strategy, which was supported by all premiers at their annual meeting in August. As shown in the Pacific Northwest and Scandinavia, such a common energy and climate-change strategy can deliver significant benefits to all participants when the right balance is found.