The Canadian Auto Workers and Council of Canadians are circulating an article implying the government should ignore international trade obligations to protect local content requirements in Ontario's renewable policies.
Trade ruling could hurt green jobs:
The embattled Green Energy Act is about to be pummelled once more, this time by the World Trade Organization. The big loser will not be the McGuinty government, but the thousands of workers who have found jobs in Ontario's newest industry, and the very concept of sustainable development.article continues at the Windsor Star:
How the Ontario and federal governments respond to this WTO loss will be a key test of their seriousness about creating good Canadian green jobs for the future.
A preliminary WTO panel ruling in the challenge by Japan and the European Union against local content rules ("buy local" provisions) in Ontario's landmark renewable energy policy has leaked out a month before anyone expected it. According to reports, the WTO has ruled these buy-local requirements in violation of global trade laws that forbid governments from treating imported goods less favourably than domestic goods
I disagree with the column for a number of reasons.
Here's one: Most of the jobs on the solar side would be unaffected by the ruling. Where the content requirements don't exist in Feed-in Tariff regimes, the far cheaper solar creates more service sector/installation work.
And more solar capacity
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