Canada presents long-awaited sustainable jobs bill for green transition
OTTAWA, June 15 (Reuters) - The Canadian government on Thursday presented a sustainable jobs bill intended to prepare workers for a transition to a lower-carbon economy following years of consultation and opposition from Alberta, Canada's main fossil-fuel producing province.
Canada, the world's fourth-largest oil producer and sixth-largest natural gas producer, is aiming for a 40-45% reduction in emissions by 2030 and net-zero by 2050.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government hopes the sustainable jobs legislation will help train workers for new roles in a future green economy, and attract billions of dollars in investment by creating a skilled clean energy workforce.
"Canada is executing its plan to become the clean energy and technology supplier of choice in a net-zero world," Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a statement.
The legislation builds on Canada's sustainable jobs plan that was released in February.
It includes creating a partnership council to advise the government on job creation and supporting workers, publishing an action plan every five years and establishing a sustainable jobs secretariat to ensure coherent policies across federal departments.
Once passed, the legislation will also hold future governments to account with respect to supporting Canada’s workers by putting in place structures, guidelines, and accountability mechanisms, the government said in a statement.
Trudeau has been promising sustainable jobs legislation since 2019 but the concept, also called a "Just Transition", became a lightening rod for criticism especially in Alberta where conservative Premier Danielle Smith accused Trudeau of wanting to phase out the oil and gas sector. (Reporting by Nia Williams and Ismail Shakil, Editing by Nick Zieminski)