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Ideas & Insights
Energy Futures Lab Testifies on Canada’s Critical Materials Value Creation Before House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology
Alison Cretney of the Energy Futures Lab provided testimony to the House of Commons INDU Committee on the impacts of U.S. tariffs on Canada’s metallurgical and advanced manufacturing sectors, highlighting the need for a more integrated and resilient critical materials strategy for Canada.
Op-Ed: Canada’s critical mineral diplomacy aims to keep it at the table and off the menu—as U.S. competition looms
MoUs don’t make mines, and partnerships don’t build processing facilities. What happens after the ink dries?
By Ailsa Popilian and Marla Orenstein. Originally published in The Hub, April 15, 2026
Op-Ed: You want to talk defence? Talk energy.
By Marla Orenstein and Ashley Meller When the Prime Minister launched Canada’s first Defence Industrial Strategy a few weeks ago, it was an appropriate response to a rapidly shifting geopolitical reality. But alongside the important elements that the strategy contained, there was a conspicuous, and potentially even fatal, absence: energy. Specifically, domestic energy sovereignty didn’t merit a mention. But a Canadian defence strategy falls short if the fuel for your fighte
Op-Ed: Building industrial strength: a regional approach to Canada’s critical materials
No single jurisdiction has all the ingredients. But by leveraging its collective strengths as a whole, the region becomes competitive. By Alison Cretney Originally published in The Hill Times , Feb. 25, 2026
Before Deep Sky, deep work helped found a culture of innovation in Innisfail
The future of energy is arriving fast, and nowhere more so than in Innisfail. Here's how a year of deep community engagement with the Energy Futures Lab cultivated the culture, confidence, and capacity to seize it.
Op-Ed: Canada’s leverage in a fractured world starts with energy
Man in a hard hat consults tablet while standing in front of a transmission line. By Marla Orenstein and Ashley Meller Originally published in Canada's National Observer , Jan. 27, 2026
Op-Ed: From resource powerhouse to industrial superpower: Alberta’s potential in the global trade order
By Keren Perla and Ailsa Popilian Originally published in The Hub , December 13, 2025
Op-Ed: Beyond pipelines, Alberta is ready to help make Canada a superpower
Think pipelines are the central feature of Alberta and Ottawa's MOU? Think again. There’s a deeper shift underway — one that could reshape Canada’s role in the global energy economy.
Fellows in the Wild: 2025 Fall Fellowship Workshop Recap
Lab Fellows gathered in September for the 2025 Fall Fellowship Workshop to continue to unpack investigations into cross-cutting tensions dampening energy transition efforts and put insights gleaned into action. Fellows Demetria Zinyemba and Jennifer Young recap the workshop's highlights and provide a summary of the processes that led to the creation of the Fellowship's 2025-26 portfolio of initiatives.
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