Meeting Summary: Key Points and Action Items
Participants
EAC participants: Andrew Leach, Annette Hester, Allan Fogwill (EAC co-chair), Ben Brunnen, Brad Griffin, Colleen d'Entremont (EAC co-chair), Channa Perera, Ericka Wicks, Louis Beaumier, Krista Nelson, Saad Sarfraz, Sonia Hernandez
Statistics Canada (StatCan) participants: Anil Arora, Christine Poon, Greg Peterson, Ziad Shadid, Mary Beth Garneau, Jennifer Johnson, Rene Beaudoin, Angelo Elias, Kristin Daley, Brent Wakeford
Federal observers: Eric Sancartier (NRCan), Nick Macaluso (ECCC), Karen Morton (CER)
Regrets: Samantha Morton, Bruce Lourie
Introduction from the EAC co-chairs
The Committee co-chairs welcomed members and advised the group of the newest member of the EAC, Sonia Hernandez, Director, National Bank of Canada.
Opening address from the Chief Statistician
Anil Arora, Canada's Chief Statistician, made opening remarks to the EAC members, discussed the importance of each member's insight and advice towards the support of the Canadian Centre for Energy Information (CCEI) as it achieves its objectives. The Chief Statistician spoke to the success of the Centre and addressed that member insights are essential to address long-term gaps to inform decision making. Mr. Arora also spoke to the substantial impact the energy sector has witnessed due to the pandemic. Mr. Arora thanked the committee members for their time and commitment to the initiative.
Action Items:
- StatCan will provide a copy of the Chief Statistician's opening remarks to EAC members.
Strategic update
StatCan presented an update on the federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) collaborative governance and priority setting process and DM approval of the CCEI work plan for the next 12 months, in addition to providing an overview of new energy information products produced by StatCan and an early look at new content and tools to be added to the CCEI website in 2021-22.
Members were supportive of the process to establish the CCEI priorities and work plan and were particularly interested in new, upcoming products to be released under the CCEI umbrella this year. Specific questions were raised with respect to the availability of these products in open formats and the timeliness of data to be released (e.g., data to be released under the Natural Resources Satellite Account and the Report on Energy Supply and Demand both have a reference year of 2019). StatCan spoke to the work being undertaken to improve the timeliness of the supply and use tables – this would enable more timely Physical Flow Accounts that connect energy and environmental data. A member asked if it would be possible to expand supply and use tables to the municipal level, and some members indicated they are interested in municipal-level data, while others preferred StatCan focus on provincial data with less data suppression. While there are no plans to extend supply and use tables to a municipal level, StatCan is currently working with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to identify high-priority items, but will follow up with members to have a discussion on methods to allocate data to the municipal level.
Members were extremely pleased with progress on the CCEI website, and wanted to know more about upcoming additions, including the expanded energy end use web page. StatCan indicated that foundational pieces are currently being developed, and that the website will continue to grow, integrating new interactive elements, and integrating data external to StatCan over the coming years. StatCan invited members to provide feedback on the current website or the information housed, as well as suggestions for future improvements, which are welcome at any time. StatCan reiterated that feedback such as this is critical to the continuous improvement of the website.
Committee members were also interested in recent StatCan's federal Budget 2021 allocations related to the environment, and how it relates to the work of the CCEI. StatCan provided a brief overview on the new Census of the Environment, which will allow StatCan to measure the condition of ecosystems and goods and services derived from ecosystems. In addition, StatCan indicated that other Budget elements are also complementary to the CCEI, including items related to disaggregated data and the measurement of social inclusion.
Action items
- A separate meeting will be set up with two of the EAC members to discuss methods to allocate provincial data to the municipal-level.
- Members will provide any additional feedback on the CCEI website or recommended future improvements.
CCEI engagement and communications
StatCan provided an overview of planned engagement and communications activities for the CCEI to seek strategic advice from members, including how best to reach specific stakeholder groups and Indigenous communities.
Members recommended that the CCEI communicate more frequently with the EAC and better leverage members when looking to share new product releases, as they could re-share social media and they may also have their own platforms to assist with re-broadcasting content related to the CCEI. One member offered to be the CCEI's interface with the modelling community. The EAC advised StatCan to be cautious when promoting energy information products on special days such as Earth Day, as the selection of specific days to feature may be perceived as biased. StatCan will continue to work with their communications team on the CCEI's communication strategy to mitigate the risk of unintentional bias.
The EAC recommended that the CCEI consider developing webinars to go along with product releases to increase visibility of the CCEI – cognizant of capacity limitations. Members also suggested that the CCEI leverage energy organizations or EAC members to provide the content.
With respect to Indigenous engagement, several members offered to make connections for the CCEI. StatCan was cautioned that Indigenous groups and individuals must be compensated for their time to provide data input.
Action Items:
- StatCan will provide members with details on the social media platforms that StatCan are currently using for EAC members to follow, and will provide more frequent communications to members on product releases.
- StatCan will provide members with tailored write-ups on the CCEI that could be used in meetings or in publications to promote the CCEI by their respective organizations.
- Meetings will be set up with individual members to further explore opportunities for Indigenous engagement and regional engagement.
Data suppression
StatCan provided an overview of strategies being explored to address the challenges of data suppression in the energy space, while ensuring full compliance of the Statistics Act, such as seeking waivers from companies to enable access to their suppressed data.
Members agreed that data suppression is an important topic, and not one that can be easily resolved. Members thought that there is a real challenge related to confidentiality and privacy and that it becomes an issue of national interest if a sector is dominated by only a few players. Often, there is better data on Canada from the U.S., and Canada should be exploring options to reduce suppression, including the pursuit of waivers. There was agreement that there is a need to revise the Statistics Act to better reflect the needs of the digital age and to ensure critical information is available to inform on pressing issues. It was also suggested that the federal government explore single window reporting, which would create less burden for respondents, and build good will for them to provide the additional data.
StatCan explained that although the Statistics Act (s. 17.2) does provide exemptions where data can be released where it would otherwise be considered confidential, it does not necessarily apply to the energy sector. A key strategy to increase access to data, when StatCan is legally bound to suppress it, is to seek waivers from companies. While some companies are not necessarily opposed to release of information, they sometimes have competing priorities – members can support StatCan in this area by leveraging their networks and providing opportunities to discuss these challenges directly with the companies to facilitate obtaining waivers.
The CSAC representative informed the EAC that CSAC has a working group looking at the Statistics Act to identify specific limitations on what can currently be done within the legal bound of the Act, and will be making recommendations to the Chief Statistician.
Action items:
- Members will explore how they can leverage their existing relationships and networks in highly concentrated industries to emphasize the importance of waivers to increase access to data.
- StatCan is collaborating with an external partner holding a workshop on data suppression challenges, strategies and to identify options to improve data access and availability in Fall 2021, and will reach out to EAC members to ensure the participation of key stakeholders.
Roundtable
The committee welcomed Sonia to the committee and for her participation today. StatCan reminded members that any additional comments related to the meeting topics or regarding the CCEI website more generally can be sent directly to the CCEI mailbox.
Conclusion and Next Steps
StatCan thanked the Committee members for their continued support and participation, noting that this is just the beginning of an ongoing dialogue.