Seventy percent of Canadians believe the nation should quickly shift away from fossil fuels, according to a recent survey of more than 1,800 Canadians conducted by Abacus Data.
The survey questioned participants on the results of the recent First Ministers Meeting on climate, during which the premiers from all of Canada’s provinces and territories met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to develop a climate action plan.
The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change includes several actions to be taken at the national and provincial level. Action items include “expanding clean electricity systems, promoting inter-ties, and using smart-grid technologies to phase out the reliance on coal, make more efficient use of existing power supplies, and ensure a greater use of renewable energy,” as well as “setting an example and driving significant reductions in emissions from government operations.”
About 69 percent of Canadians were aware of the meeting, according to the survey, and about 44 percent were pleased with the climate change action plan laid out the meeting. Around 19 percent of Canadians had a negative view of the plan and 36 percent were neutral.
“Assembling a workable public consensus on energy and climate change is the most challenging agenda item in Canadian politics today. These numbers reveal that while no government could please everyone, especially where economic stakes differ and emotions run high, the Trudeau government has laid out a path towards a lower-carbon economy that has alienated few and found acceptance by a large majority,” Abacus Data Chairman Bruce Anderson said in a release from Clean Energy Canada.