Time to unclog the pipes
Getting Canadian oil to market is a burning platform for policy-makers. With various well-publicized setbacks, increased pipeline export capacity has been kiboshed or delayed. Facing constrained transport, Alberta has moved on Band-Aid measures to address the stranded supply glut and price discount. However, for the medium and long term, the federal government must get the […]
Market (in)access for Canadian oil: lessons for other resource sectors?
The government of Alberta’s decision to impose production cuts in the oilsands in an effort to buoy prices is the latest surreal twist in the saga that has become the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. Getting Canadian oil to international markets beyond the United States has proven frustratingly elusive for producers. Are there lessons to […]
Appealing to ‘the base’ may be a recipe for electoral failure
“It’s all about the base.” That was the refrain of the Conservatives under Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2015, when policies were examined through the perspective of right-of-centre Conservative partisans. Whether suppressing scientists from speaking publicly, changing the rules for the long-form census, supporting the Likud government in Israel, or cutting development funds […]
Rachel Notley getting the knives out, cutting the ties that bind Alberta NDP to Trudeau Liberals
Rachel Notley went on a good old-fashioned federal government bashing tour of Ottawa and Toronto last week. The premier—a sometimes ally of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—has figured that given the state of the oil industry in Alberta coupled with a provincial election in the spring, it is time to take the gloves off. Frankly, what […]
Natural Resources Minister Sohi calls oil market access an ‘urgent priority’ as Indigenous consultations continue on Trans Mountain
Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi says the government is focused on “ensuring that every barrel of Alberta oil gets its full value.” In an email Q&A interview with The Hill Times, Mr. Sohi (Edmonton Mill Woods, Alta.) said “we need to look at how can we help today, how can we help next year, and what […]
Eastern promises: Canada should look to Asia to shift away from a sole export market, say experts
With a rapidly dropping oil price, experts suggest looking across the Pacific Ocean to divest its traditional, north-south oil trading route, but the delay in pipeline construction inhibits Canada’s oil and natural gas reaching B.C.’s coast. A backlog of oil is the result of low pipeline capacity, creating a lot of supply and driving down […]
‘Eagle Spirit’ pipeline gaining momentum as other projects stonewalled, says proponent
As Alberta faces low oil prices and other pipeline projects struggle to be built, the president of a company proposing a multi-billion-dollar Indigenous-led pipeline project that includes plans for a western “energy corridor” says federal politicians should be paying more attention to his idea. While a number of factors have to fall into place for […]
In talks to address cuts to francophone services, feds should not be so quick to cast first stone
Doug Ford’s purposeful neglect of Ontario’s francophone minority has sparked howls of outrage, especially from Ottawa. Without question, Ford’s recent decisions—even if he has walked back from them a bit—to relegate the standing of Franco-Ontarians to little more than an expense Ontario can no longer afford should be condemned in strong terms. But federal politicians […]
French is an asset to Ontario, the bigots be damned
OTTAWA—It has been a long couple of weeks for Franco-Ontarians and their supporters. It began with the announcement by Premier Doug Ford that the French language services commissioner would be eliminated and plans for a French-language university would be scrapped, both as cost-saving measures. Considering the Ontario government inherited a deficit from the Wynne Liberals […]
Feds must halt Site C dam construction before Indigenous cultural sites lost forever
The Site C dam under construction in northern British Columbia is a completely unnecessary project that will overload the B.C. power grid, killing demand for less ecologically destructive and more socially just energy projects proposed by First Nations. Yet the B.C. government is going ahead anyway, despite the enormous significance of the Peace River valley, where […]
