It took an extreme event—the U.S. capture of Venezuela’s Nicholas Maduro and U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil resources—to get Canadian voices across the political spectrum to finally agree to stop talking and start doing something about Canada’s oil resources. This alone might count as a minor miracle.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stated the obvious, noting that if we don’t get a pipeline to the Pacific we may lose a great many jobs, a lot of tax revenue, some sovereignty (in terms of having a captive market for Canadian oil in the United States), and more. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she’s working diligently on a proposal for an oil pipeline to the Pacific and wants the federal government to “move forward with urgency.” And Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Canada needs more pipelines, built in every direction, with Canadian workers and Canadian steel to move Canadian oil around the world. The business community has long since been ready for this: a poll by KPMG of 151 energy and natural resources executives found 87 per cent think “it’s time to build a west-to-east pipeline to reduce reliance on moving Canadian oil and gas to the United States.”
Considering the sources, of course, none of these statements are unexpected. But now, shockingly, the Globe and Mail editorial board apparently concurs. “The single biggest step that Ottawa can take in diversifying exports,” they write, “is to ensure a new bitumen pipeline to the West Coast is constructed.” They recommend that Ottawa expedite expanded capacity for the Trans Mountain pipeline and begin construction this year. They also want Prime Minister Carney to limit the impact assessment process for said pipeline to two years (which is only an aspirational commitment in the recent Ottawa/Alberta MOU deal) and make it clear that “consultation” won’t get in the way of getting a pipeline built.
The most shocking thing about the Globe editorial was this admission: “The economic logic [for the pipeline] was unassailable before the U.S. seized Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.” This from the newspaper that reliably backed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he of the “no economic case” for Alberta oil.
So, it may have taken an act by the oft-vilified Donald Trump to do it, but there is, at least for a moment, agreement from varied political wings that the federal government should stop messing around, admit what has been unassailably logical for years, and approve and enable construction of a pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia to get Canada’s (apparently no-longer evil) oil resources out to new markets abroad.
Let’s hope Prime Minister Carney, fresh off his vaunted speech to the world in Davos, gets the message and replaces his talking with action. As the Globe and Mail observes, there’s not a moment to lose.
Kenneth Green is a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.
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