In response to a June 2026 demand by the “Elbows Up for Climate” mayors and councillors, a new Friends of Science Society video proposes “Let’s Make Ottawa the Pilot Project for a Clean Energy Grid!” to test the national grid demanded by the “Elbows Up” city mayors. As Communications Manager for Friends of Science Society, I was appalled at the hubris of the “Elbows Up…” climate mayors and councillors, who claimed to represent half the population of Canada — constituents they never consulted before issuing their climate manifesto to the federal government. That’s why Friends of Science Society issued a video, “While You’re Lined Up at the Food Bank…" and a report in July 2026, deconstructing the arguments of the “Elbows Up” mayors and their “Climate madness manifesto.”In a July 23 op-ed of mine in the Western Standard, the “Elbows Up” mayors were taken to task for their delusional stance on climate change and advised to “Fix potholes first!” Likewise, I was stunned to think that city mayors and councillors would be so blind as to insult the twenty-two million American tourists, most of whom visit Canada’s major cities every year. “Maybe this is how the “Elbows Up…” mayors and councillors plan to reduce their emissions — by cratering the tourism industry!”But what’s all this about Ottawa as the net-zero pilot city, you ask?Despite power generation being under provincial authority, Canada has established a national electricity strategy titled, “Powering Canada Strong,” proposing to build out a clean energy grid east-west-north at the cost of some $1 trillion. The plan proposes to support industrial growth as well as “electrification of transportation, industry, and buildings (e.g., electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps).”In a series of interviews with retired professional engineer Randy Stubbings, who has 45 years of experience on the Alberta power grid, he suggests the plan is challenged by economics and Canada’s low population density. The federal government plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on subsidies and tax credits for the power grid plan. This hides the cost burdens related to the unreliability and intermittency of wind and solar generation and transmission costs from consumers..In this Friends of Science Society interview clip, “What are the challenges of an east-west power grid?,” Stubbings points out that between Toronto and Calgary, there is not one city of over a million people. North-south grid connections between Canada and the US are due to economics. Though the European Union’s heavily networked power grid is cited by the Canadian government report as a model for networking Canada, the population density there is many times that of Canada. US EIA data shows that electricity is traded back and forth between Canada and the US, largely benefiting grid stability for both countries.Stubbings noted that normally before building things at scale, a pilot project is done to see what works and what does not. Stubbings suggested that a city be designated as a 5-year pilot project for a Wind-Water-Solar powered city. The plan should exclude the use of all fossil fuels. Ottawa (population 1.2 million) is Canada’s capital city. It has a net-zero plan estimated to cost $30 billion, making Ottawa the ideal pilot project spot, says Friends of Science Society.Diana Fox Carney, wife of now-Prime Minister Mark Carney, championed Ottawa’s low-carbon city climate action activism surrounding the “Elbows Up” climate mayors and people advocating that cutting ties with the US could severely impact Canadian cities, like Vancouver. Hydro-rich British Columbia has been in drought conditions for several years and has been importing power from Washington State for eight of the past 15 years, according to this February 27 article in Business in Vancouver.Likewise, Canada’s industrial heartland could find itself in a financial mess over the “Elbows Up” climate mayors’ demands for clean energy. In a recent Friends of Science Society report by retired energy economist Robert Lyman, “Ontario’s Uncertain and Costly Electricity Future,” he argues that Ontario’s grid operator, the IESO, “…and its predecessors have a history of misjudging demand trends and justifying excessive investment in generation.” With the present trade war with the US, the 2026 IESO “projected that provincial electricity demand will rise by 65% to 2050” may be a costly overestimation; a large part of the overestimational base relies on US trade.The push for net-zero targets stems from the fear of a climate emergency that was based on an implausible climate science scenario, now officially sidelined. In an Open Letter to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), Canada’s banking regulator, Friends of Science Society recommends that Guideline B-15 on climate risk reporting be reconsidered to REcarbonize Canada..Canada’s leading physicist, Prof. William van Wijngaarden, debunks net-zero science and economics in these presentations. Next time you need a keynote address for your “Elbows Up Climate Mayors” gatherings, invite Prof. van Wijngaarden!So, “Elbows Up Climate Mayors” — what will it be? Will you walk the talk on net-zero? And before you take a single step on that walk, will you consult first with your constituents?Canada is presently spending $476 billion on climate action, and millions of people are at the food bank, while our largest trading partner, the USA, is throwing out every climate and energy policy based on the flawed, implausible climate catastrophe scenario and related hype driven by well-funded environmental groups who run the same fear-mongering racket here.What will it be? Elbows up or down?
