Keynote speaker Ms. Megan Leslie, NDP Deputy Leader and Environment Critic joined Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) President, Robert Hornung, to speak of the role Canadian wind energy can play in providing economic and environmental benefits for Canada as it needs new electricity supply.

Ms. Leslie said that Canada has tremendous potential and incentive to increase its use of renewable energy, such as wind, and that the electricity sector offers an important opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

CanWEA president Robert Hornung said that wind energy has become a significant and mainstream electricity source in all regions of Canada with another record year for installations expected in 2014. "Wind energy will see strong and steady growth across Canada through 2016," he says.

"Beyond that date we are confident that wind energy will continue to have an important role to play in meeting future electricity supply needs in all of Canada's electricity markets and many provinces are now working to develop and implement the policies that will guide future investment in the sector."

Including current provincial targets and new projects already contracted to be built; Canada will see an average of 1,500 MW of new wind energy projects commissioned annually over the next three years.

Mr. Hornung adds that as provincial governments now wrestle with how future electricity demand will be met, they will need to assess potential new supplies of electricity against multiple criteria, including cost-effectiveness, environmental impact and economic benefits.

"By any objective measure, wind energy is well-positioned to compete and meet this mix of requirements. It is cost-competitive with any other generating technology except for natural gas, but does not face natural gas' carbon and commodity price risks. It is also one of the most environmentally sustainable sources of electricity available, and brings new jobs and investment to rural economies across Canada," he says.