Climate change activists pose a “credible threat to the health and safety” of Canadians. That’s according to a memo by the RCMP to the Harper government. The document has climate change activists wondering if they will now face surveillance under proposed anti-terrorism laws. The 44 page intelligence assessment of Canada’s environmentalist movement, dated 24th January […]
Comment: How $40/barrel oil could impact the country
What does Canada’s economy look like with oil prices at $40 a barrel? Certainly it won’t be the energy superpower envisioned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. If $40 a barrel still seems a ways off, consider that the benchmark price for oil sands crude is already trading in that price range. What’s more, if production […]
Comment: Prosperity in Canada relies on healthy oil industry
It’s been 30 years since Mancur Olson, wrote The Rise and Decline of Nations. The premise is the longer a society enjoys political stability, the more likely it is to develop powerful special interest groups that erode economic prosperity. His words have proven prescient as we witness Europe’s debt-burdened stagnation and degeneration of the U.S. […]
Quest to sequester, a Shell Canada first
To paraphrase a famous observation, “Everybody talks about climate change, but nobody does much about it.” Indeed, media reports and scientific publications may be thick with discussion of this extraordinary environmental phenomenon but practical proposals for directly dealing with it are thin on the ground while full-scale initiatives are even more scarce. It is worth […]
Comment: Canadian crude is an attractive alternative to imported oil
Canada has the third-largest oil reserves in the world, but we import large volumes of oil from foreign sources into Eastern Canada, including Quebec, every day. Oil refineries in Quebec and Atlantic Canada import more than 600,000 barrels per day from foreign sources. But with Canadian oil production growing, using Canadian crude oil in Quebec, […]
Comment: How to ignore an environmental catastrophe
The explosions that rocked BP’s Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 set in motion a series of environmental events that captured the attention of the world for much of the year. Media coverage of the environmental harm caused by the disaster, however, was sporadic — as were reactions to […]
Comment: Pipeline east little benefit for Ontario
The Northern Gateway Project, promises to keep British Columbia mired in debate for years to come. Despite the National Energy Board’s recent approval, staunch opposition from First Nations groups and environmentalists looks set to suspend the pipeline in a state of legal limbo. Across the border, meanwhile, the high-stakes world of pipeline politics means U.S. […]
Comment: Let’s make use of our natural resources
I am appalled by the many frivolous lawsuits filed against the Northern Gateway pipeline project by various interest groups. If these groups had lived in the 1880s, when the Canadian Pacific Railway tunnels were chiseled through the Rocky Mountains, or in the 1950s and 1960s, when the Trans-Canada Highway, the longest in the world today, […]
Poll: Canadians think oil sands more important to economy than they actually are
A new poll by an environmental group indicates Canadians, may overestimate the economic benefits from the oil sands. Statistics Canada reports that production from oil sands accounts for no more than 2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Yet the survey by Environmental Defense said 57 percent of respondents overrated that value, including 41 […]
First Nations rights vs national interest
The federal government may have to get more involved in oil and gas development in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling giving title to aboriginals in B.C. That’s the result of a new study done by the Fraser Institute. The court’s unanimous landmark ruling last month brought an end to a thirty year long […]