Peter Julian has seen the oil-and-gas industry from the 'shop floor' during his days as a labourer in a B.C. refinery. It's not a job or career he pursued, instead moving to social enterprises and eventually representing Burnaby-New Westminster as an NDP member of Parliament. Before being handed the portfolio of energy and natural resources shadow minister, Mr. Julian watched over treasury board, international trade and transportation. The varied experience, Mr. Julian says, allows him to appreciate the energy sector's impact on the wider economy. In a wide-ranging talk with FP energy editor Yadullah Hussain, the MP spells out the NDP's stance on the country's energy sector. Here are edited excerpts from the interview. Q The federal government believes oil sands is crucial to its economic strategy. Given your stance on the oil sands, what would be the key pillars of your energy strategy? A We have to get the policies right so we are looking at the overall contribution of the oil sands. We want to see prosperity for average families right around the country and allow us to transition to a green-energy economy because we need to go where our major competitors are going. One of the concerns I have is the emerging and growing green-energy gap between Canada and other industrialized countries. In 2011, in one quarter in the U.S. there were 600 patents for sustainable-energy innovation; in Canada we had 10. The overall green sustainable-energy sector is estimated to be about US$3-trillion by 2020 -- Canada