After a 14-year career in provincial politics, Prince Edward Island’s Steven Myers has emerged in a new role, as vice president of partnerships at cleantech accelerator Foresight Canada.

Myer’s career shift was brewing for some time. He was P.E.I.’s housing minister until early October when he announced his decision to leave the post. He also vacated his seat in the legislature, as representative for the district of Georgetown-Pownal. In exit interviews, he was open about feeling burnt out and looking for a change.

He was also clear about what had come to energize him.

Before Housing, he had been the Island’s minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Action for more than three years. In that role, Myers launched a provincial climate adaptation plan and celebrated the opening of the province’s first net zero school—a project he’d promoted from an early stage, beginning years before. Myers’ personal interest in environmentally-friendly infrastructure and climate change response drove him to complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA, Energy and Sustainability) from the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom while still at Environment.

Net zero, clean tech… “That’s kind of where my heart is at,” he told Atlantic Business Magazine. It was a realization that was top of mind as he started to consider a different kind of future for himself.

Enter David Sanguinetti, currently the interim CEO of Foresight Canada. The organization bills itself as the largest clean tech innovation and adoption accelerator in Canada. Sanguinetti felt Myers had done “some amazing things” in his environment and climate role. After Myers changed portfolios, and after some internal changes in Foresight’s senior executive ranks, Sanguinetti decided to reach out.

“We had coffee. An hour-long coffee took two hours, just because it was great conversation,” the CEO said.

It was a pivotal meeting for both. Myers had other offers, but this one drew him in. “It was before I left government that the opportunity came, but I thought it was too good an opportunity for me to pass up. Not only from a personal perspective but from a climate future perspective,” he told Atlantic Business Magazine.

It’s a role with national scope that will allow him to remain based in P.E.I. That’s a detail he said was important to him, with young twins at home.

For his part, Sanguinetti said Myers wasn’t just picked up for his existing knowledge, networks and political connections. It was also because of what he sees as a passion for climate change response that “aligns with Foresight’s vision.” That involves a focus on creating economic opportunities through the introduction and expansion of use of technologies.

The CEO said there’s a problem in Canada where businesses tend to fall back to the idea of letting others invest first and take on risks first. The problem, he said, is it leaves Canadian companies behind in innovation and ultimately in things like productivity, affecting long-term success.

Connecting with about 350 businesses of all sizes in the past year, he said, Foresight Canada works to help tech developers grow, while working with governments and industry to understand tech options and adoption risks versus rewards.

“We need Canada to be a leader, especially in this area,” Sanguinetti said.

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