A Whitehorse engineer who organized a wind energy conference in Ottawa this week says governments should spend more money on alternative energy industries, not on infrastructure and bailing out car manufacturers.

J.P. Pinard, who hosted the 2009 Wind-Diesel Workshop on Monday and Tuesday, said the federal government cut incentive programs this year for wind energy, including a wind subsidy program and a plan to assist northern communities wanting to supplement diesel-generated power with wind energy.

The federal government's recent show of support for ailing car manufacturers does not send a good message, said Pinard.

"To me, it's pretty obvious they're sending the wrong signal," Pinard told CBC News on Tuesday.

"They're trying to bail out a private company, and yet here's a green industry that could be developed, and they're essentially ignoring it."

Pinard added that the move could hurt Canada's wind energy industry.

"Here we have all these projects that are shovel-ready, essentially, especially in the large-scale ... wind industry," he said.

"There's a lot of projects that are shovel-ready, yet the government has basically failed us in terms of supporting that industry."

Pinard organized this week's conference with the Pembina Institute, bringing together wind energy advocates to discuss the future of alternative energy in Canada.

The two-day event wrapped up Tuesday, the same day the Northwest Territories government announced that it will build four wind turbines in the Arctic community of Tuktoayktuk, N.W.T.

Pinard said the political climate for wind energy in neighbouring Yukon is "not as good, especially when you compare that to the Northwest Territories."

The N.W.T.'s new wind investments should be a wake-up call for the Yukon, said John Streicker, the Green party's federal candidate in the Yukon.

"For example, some of our experts are going to work in the Northwest Territories because that's where they've got the opportunity right now," Streicker said.

Pinard says two Yukon communities, Old Crow and Burwash Landing, would strongly benefit from supplementing their power generation with wind.