Sammy Davis Jr. sang “What type of fool am I?” as a man who missed out in life by never falling for each other. Call it a stretch, but those lyrics somehow began swimming through my head a few days ago after i heard that the oil tanker in the U.S. had arrived in Europe. It had been a historic thing because, last December, President barack obama lifted a 40-year ban on the export of domestic oil.
At time, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, energy panel chairman, welcomed the choice, stating that “With crude exports comes job creation, economic growth, new revenues, prosperity, and enhanced energy to safeguard our allies and ourselves.” Too true – and it’s what I have been saying for a long time about the importance for Canada of finding new markets for our oil.
Yet we risk looking foolish ourselves by neglecting to capitalize on our very own export potential while our competitors in the centre East, North Africa and Venezuela – and now the U.S. – capture the foreign markets we want for the own economic growth and prosperity.
Washington’s decision to finally permit oil exports stems from a massive rise in its shale gas and oil production that has made America less determined by foreign imports. America, in fact, has transformed the worldwide energy market by producing more oil than every other country in the world.
You would think that, given the have to promote our very own oil exports, all this might motivate our political leaders to take action to safeguard Canadian interests. Surely they have to understand. We urgently have to build pipelines to maneuver our oil to tidewater and on to foreign markets that want to get new causes of supply.
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Instead, what we are getting from the federal government is way from encouraging. At Davos, Pm Trudeau’s comments gave the resource sector short shrift. Apparently the federal government is considering including climate impact in the scope of National Energy Board regulatory hearings of person projects. That will render a hard process nearly impossible. Also, immediately after the election, the prime minister called for a moratorium on oil tanker traffic on the north coast of Bc, leaving the Northern Gateway project dead in the water, before the moratorium is lifted. Remember that the work, which may transport bitumen from northern Alberta to Kitimat B.C., received approval after a lengthy and comprehensive independent scientific review.
Trudeau’s mandate letter towards the natural resources minister reads like an Ecojustice manifesto
So much for evidence-based decision making. The broader implications are scary. Does which means that the government promises to prohibit indefinitely the export of our oil to Asia? Frankly, that prospect could be so economically disastrous I am unable to bring myself to think it. On the other hand, a rapid proceed to a significantly touted zero-carbon economy would make frozen assets look like a stroll in the park.
Meanwhile, Trudeau’s mandate letter towards the minister of natural resources reads just like a manifesto from Ecojustice. When I held that portfolio, I informed Canadians again and again that our government would not proceed with resource projects unless these were safe for Canadians and safe for that environment. Within that constraint, my mandate ended up being to promote our immense resources for the benefit of Canadians, including our aboriginal peoples. That meant becoming an advocate for a sector from the economy that creates jobs, growth, wealth and revenues to our federal and provincial governments to fund health care, social programs, infrastructure, the military and anything else we depend on governments to do. I continue to believe it is easy to grow the economy while protecting the environment.
Then there are those things of provincial governments. Hydraulic fracturing continues to be going on for more than 4 decades in Western Canada, about 250,000 oil and gas wells fractured and not a single demonstration of drinkable water contamination. Yet a moratorium continues to be put on fracking in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Quebec, provinces that could dearly use the extra revenue.
As well, the power East Pipeline is encountering resistance, in spite of its strong economic case and prior to the completing a regulatory review. Last week, Denis Coderre, Montreal’s mayor, declared the state opposition of the Montreal Metropolitan Community. That project would convert a pipeline from gas to oil feedstock for transport from Western Canada to refineries in Montreal, Quebec City and St. John and would replace foreign oil, including oil carried by tanker along the St. Lawrence River.
Very few countries have vast natural resources like Canada, but when they are doing, they’re actively developing them for that benefit of their people. If we don’t take benefit of our fortune, our oil and gas is going to be stranded in the ground and our legacy will be lost. What type fools would we be? I believe Canadians are way too smart to allow that to happen.
Joe Oliver is former Minister of Finance and Minister of Natural Resources.
