A new poll released Friday shows the majority of Canadians assume development in the Alberta oilsands has a much larger impact on nation’s economy than it actually does.

According to the poll, conducted by Environics and commissioned by Environmental Defence, 41 per cent of Canadians believe the importance of the oilsands to the economy is six to 24 times higher than it actually is. And a full 57 per cent of Canadians overestimate the value of oilsands to the country’s economy.

The oilsands, according to Statistics Canada, account for only 2 per cent of the national GDP.

Despite the misconception, however, 66 per cent of Canadians still support a transition to a cleaner economy that would limit dependence on the oilsands.

In addition, 76 per cent of Canadians believe that, in light of climate change, the country should shift from fossil fuels to cleaner energy.

A recent report from Natural Resources Canada, released quietly at the end of June, said Canadians can expect more floods, storms and other extreme weather to affect the country as climate change increases. The report also claimed governments aren’t doing enough to adapt to a destabilized climate.

The report noted in Canada there have been “relatively few examples of implementation of specific changes to reduce vulnerability to future climate change, or take advantage of potential opportunities.”

The federal government has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to advertise the important of the oil and gas sector, and especially the Alberta oilsands, to the Canadian economy and domestic energy security.

The efforts to shore up the reputation of the oilsands have been met with criticism, however, because the federal government has not released long-awaited regulations for the oil and gas sector.

The oilsands are Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Canada committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020 under the Copenhagen Accord, although a recent Environment Canada report showed Canada’s current weak emissions reduction measures will prevent us from meeting that target.

Last month Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott publicly criticized governments for taking action on climate change.

Prime Minister Harper said, “it’s not that we don’t seek to deal with climate change. But we seek to deal with it in a way that will protect and enhance our ability to create jobs and growth, not destroy jobs and growth in our countries.”

“No country is going to undertake actions on climate change, not matter what they say, no country is going to [take] actions that are going to deliberately destroy jobs and growth in their country. We are just a little more frank about that,” he said.

In late 2013 the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), the country’s largest oil and gas lobby body, claimed concerns over the oilsands were “ideological.” The claim was made in support of arguments against stronger regulations, documents released under Access to Information legislation show.

Another Environics poll released in November of 2013 showed Canadians are losing confidence that governments will take meaningful action to prevent climate change. Although Canadians feel it is the government’s responsibility to take the lead on emissions reduction, very few feel current governments will actually do so.

A poll by Ipsos Reid released in May showed 76 per cent of Albertans are in favour of stronger greenhouse gas regulations for industry facilities.

Recently in the prestigious science journal Nature a panel of experts called for a moratorium on new oilsands projects until Canada can properly assess the total environmental and climate impacts of development.

Today’s new Environics poll demonstrated Canadians might support that expert recommendation, saying the federal government should work on an economic strategy that reduces dependence on the oilsands and moves towards cleaner energy.

The poll asked 1,011 adults in an online survey the following question:

“Q1: Approximately what percentage of the overall Canadian economy do you attribute to the Alberta oil sands?”

The potential answers were: “2 per cent, 6 per cent, 12 per cent, 24 per cent, 48 per cent, Don’t Know.”

Image Credit: Alex MacLean, copyright. Used with permission.

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Canadians are losing confidence that governments will take the lead in battling climate change, all the while becoming more certain that humans are behind global warming, according to a new poll by the Environics Institute, in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation.

The belief that governments will take a lead role battling changes has dropped to 53 percent from 59 percent in a year, according to the poll, which comes as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government faces rising criticism at home and abroad for inaction concerning greenhouse gas emissions.

"Canadians have for decades looked to their governments for leadership on addressing climate change and other environmental problems," Keith Neuman, executive director of Environics, said in a statement. "This latest survey shows a noticeable drop in the public's confidence in governments' capacity to play this role, and this may well be because citizens haven't seen any evidence of leadership, especially at the federal level."

The survey found that a majority of Canadians accept that climate change is the result of human activity while the number of people that believe in the conclusiveness of climate science continues to grow. "Most Canadians believe something can be done to address climate change, including shifting energy requirements from fossil fuels to cleaner renewable forms of energy," that survey found.

Some 60 percent of Canadians say that climate change is real and caused by human activity, up marginally over the past year but part of an upward trend dating back to 2010. "Those not yet certain about the science remain divided on whether it is best to take action now or wait until we know more," it said.

The relatively large poll of more than 2,000 adult Canadians was taken in early October, ahead of the new global climate talks underway in Poland this week and also before this month's devastating cyclone in the Philippines. Cyclone Haiyan struck earlier this month, leaving massive destruction and death in its wake, while also raising concern that global warming was behind the world's increasingly erratic weather.

The survey also comes as the Canadian government, which pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2011, delays rules to rein in growing greenhouse gas emissions. The Harper government is strongly backing the development of the Alberta oilsands, considered one of the world's most environmentally destructive fuel sources.

Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq told the Globe and Mail that Canada remains committed to meeting its 2020 target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, promising the Conservative government will introduce long-delayed regulations to tackle emissions in the oil and gas sector.

“We are committed to achieving Canada’s targets, and our leadership and our actions and our investment demonstrate this,” she told the Globe and Mail before leaving Ottawa for the climate talks. Environment Canada said in a report last month that Canada's emissions will total 734 megatons in 2020, or some 20 per cent higher than committed to at the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009.

The Suzuki foundation said the poll results show Canadians are looking for stronger action from the federal government. "The results underscore the need for the Canadian government to change its past practices and become a constructive global citizen at the UN climate change summit in Warsaw," said Ian Bruce, science and policy manager at the Suzuki Foundation. "Canada's job in Warsaw should be to collaborate with countries around the world to come up with an effective and binding international agreement to reduce global warming emissions."

The Environics survey was based on telephone interviews with 2,003 Canadians between October 1 and 17, 2013 and is considered accurate within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points in 19 out of 20 samples.

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