Canada's navel-gazing on energy security needs to stop

I read with interest, and concern, David Crane’s opinion piece in The Hill Times (July 24): “Dear government, don’t be pressured by the hype from natural gas producers and pipeline owners." In it, he argues that our inability to export our LNG to our allies does not affect the West’s energy security, and that prioritizing a strong oil and gas sector in Canada is not in our national interest. It deserves a response. I am a Wet’suwet’en woman, a former chief of my nation, and chief executive officer of the First Nations LNG Alliance. Am I who Crane has in mind when he describes “special interests” using their “privileged access to the corridors of power” to “pressure government to boost their own revenues"? I have been working to enhance the economic opportunities of my community and those of my Indigenous neighbours for more than a decade because I know the transformative power that good jobs, successful businesses, and own-source revenues can have on First Nations. I am not sure if Crane knows it, but in Canada, Indigenous Peoples are themselves “natural-gas producers and pipeline owners.” We’re working on growing our share of the industry even as organized activists work on shrinking it. I came into the natural-gas sector looking for benefits for Indigenous Peoples in its production and export. But I have since had the opportunity to learn how other nations see it from a consumer perspective. I have had the opportunity to go to Asia and Europe and hear first-hand how important affordable energy is to their economic well-being and political stability. I have met with the ambassadors from the G7 countries, and been assured that Canadian supply was far preferred to that from Russia and other authoritarian regimes. I believed them when they told me there is demand and a business case for Canadian LNG for the long term, but that political factors have made Canada a risky and slow supplier, forcing them to look elsewhere while they wait for the political uncertainties to change here. As an Indigenous woman, I am also concerned about the environment and the world we will leave for our children. I do not understand those who focus on British Columbia emissions and provincial targets, instead of global emissions and global targets. LNG is an affordable energy source with a fraction of the emissions of coal, and has shown beyond a doubt since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to be essential to the energy security of our allies. These are not talking points; they are self-evident truths. I am tired of the navel gazing that blocks us from seeing that our natural gas—produced in and transported across First Nations territories—cannot only enhance our prosperity, but also help our allies and the environment. The oil and gas industry doesn’t have special power in Canada; quite the opposite, from what I’ve seen and experienced. We couldn’t even get the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, the minister of foreign affairs, or even the minister of natural resources—the person then responsible for Canadian energy—to so much as show up at LNG2023 in Vancouver earlier this month, the biggest LNG conference in the world. Instead, the headliner was the minister of energy from Qatar. This was embarrassing to me and to many others. True, the tourism minister attended, and, speaking about LNG exports, said that “Canada must keep pace because we cannot afford to fall behind.” Does that signal a change of priorities in Ottawa? Hard to tell, as the environment minister then doubled down on proposals for an oil and gas sector emissions cap. I see political support for natural gas exports in Australia, Norway, and the United States, who are all growing their production at pace, while we have to fight for the right to develop here in Canada. We will face even more competition for LNG exports, with new American LNG plants in view, and Mexico planning West Coast facilities that would compete with British Columbia LNG. Crane, it takes “special interest” to ignore the concerns of Indigenous communities and millions of Canadians who see our economic opportunity—such as that provided by LNG development—being frittered away. Karen Ogen is the CEO of the First Nations LNG Alliance, a society of First Nations in support of responsible LNG development in Canada—with a priority on the environment, and on First Nations consultation and engagement. The Hill Times

Canada’s navel-gazing on energy security needs to stop

I see political support for natural gas exports in Australia, Norway, and the U.S., who are all growing their production at pace, while we have to fight for the right to develop here in Canada, writes Karen Ogen, CEO of the First Nations LNG Alliance.

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Canada’s navel-gazing on energy security needs to stop

I see political support for natural gas exports in Australia, Norway, and the U.S., who are all growing their production at pace, while we have to fight for the right to develop here in Canada, writes Karen Ogen, CEO of the First Nations LNG Alliance.

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