EnergyCouncilCanada_web

BVM: TheEnergyCouncil seems to includegroups thatmayhavemutuallyexclusiveagendas.Howcan it operateeffectivelyinthatmilieu? Campbell: “Weaddress thehigher level,horizontal issues.Andwe findthat solutions tothe issuesareoften well-addressedbyamulti-sectoral approach.So,the issueof sustainability,for example.Rather thanfavor- ingnuclear,or favoringcoal,or favoringnatural gas, wewouldsaysomething like:‘Weneedtodoenergy differently–wecan’tdo it thesamewaywe’vealways done it;weneedall sourcesbecauseof thedemand andtheavailablesupply;weneedtobalance that and there’sprobablyanopportunityto integrateacross the various sectors tomake thebestuseof renewables,the bestuseofnuclear,thebestuseofnatural gas,tomake thesystem,overall,moresustainable.’ “Another examplewouldbesocial license.If apower companywants tobuildaplant inacommunity,and thecommunityismadat it,wewouldn’t intervene in that situation.There’sahigher level dialoguebetween government and industrythatwouldsay:‘Weneedthe power,wecanpositionandmanage itproperlysothat theenvironment’sprotected;wecando it inacost-ef- fectivemanner,andherearesomeoptions,someways that canbedone.’ “Withrespect topipelines-wewouldsaythat there’s awaytodoconsultations; there’sawaytoengagewith Aboriginal,FirstNationcommunities; there’sawayto takeaccountof their interestsandbuildthings together inastep-by-stepapproach.Wewouldn’tnecessarilysay THE ENERGY COUNCIL OF CANADA whetherweare infavorornotof aparticularpower line or aparticularpipeline.” BVM: So,youdon’t actuallyadvocate forparticular positions likemost tradeassociationsdo? Campbell: “Advocacydoesnotfigureintoourlexicon;di- alogue,findingcommoncause,workingtogetherwiththe playerstocreateanenvironmentwhere informeddiscus- sioncantakeplace insteadofanacrimoniousdiscussion isthetypeofmilieuthattheEnergyCouncilofCanada playsin.Honestbroker,convener,objectiveinformation provider.Thattypeofroleiswhatwe’rerecognizedfor. “Also,ifyou lookat theaverage industryassociation, theirprimaryrole is toadvocateonbehalf of their sectors.Differentiatingus fromthem,is the fact thatwe havegovernmentwithinour activemembership,so everythingwedo,whether it’sanevent,or aworkshop, orour leadershipawardevent,isall donewiththe full participationof governmentpeople.So,rather than beinganadvocacygroup,wherewewouldadvocate certainpoliciesandpositionsandhopegovernment wouldfollowthem,weactuallyworkwithgovernment totryto informthediscussion,talkaboutoptions,de- bate theprosandcons,andbuildupanagreedconsen- sus tothings that could,or should,bedone that affect theenergysector,goingforward.” BVM: Whatwouldyousayare theECC’smajor strengthsasanorganization? Campbell: “Withourmembership-multi-sectoral in- dustry,government,andsupport associations-wehave a tremendousbaseof expertise todrawonwhenwe