Canada's Energy Crossroads: Seize Global Opportunities or Succumb to Internal Sabotage?
Global Energy Show and G7 offer ample opportunities to rebuild after a decade of decline. Carney's cabinet, and B.C.'s premier, appear to have other ideas.
By Geoff Russ, Special to the National Citizens Coalition and the Energy Affordability Now campaign

It is a historic moment for Canada as the Global Energy Show in Calgary packs up and many of the same folks head west to Kananaskis in the Rockies for the G7 Summit.
Could there be a better opportunity for Canadian energy to start realizing its full potential? Not if the radicals in Mark Carney’s government get their way and continue their quest to damage and destroy Canadian oil and gas.
Held from June 10 to 12, the Global Energy Show truly demonstrated the size and ingenuity of the Canadian energy sector. Over 30,000 people attended to see hundreds of exhibitors, many of whom demonstrated the innovation of the industry, such as carbon capture, LNG, and oil technologies.
Premier Danielle Smith said Alberta is ready to lead Canada into a new era of economic prosperity and global power, and hammered home the need to build “nation-building” infrastructure like pipelines and energy corridors.
This is the worst time for uncertainty and regulatory mazes to bog down those aspirations. Time is of the essence for Prime Minister Mark Carney, who ran on a platform to make Canada an “energy superpower,” which went against his anti-oil and gas record.
Despite his new public support for infrastructure expansion, his cabinet’s mixed messages erase any goodwill it might have created.
Steven Guilbeault, former Environment Minister and now Heritage Minister, has been steadfast in his opposition to growing the energy industry and recently said Canada should make the most of its existing infrastructure before any new expansions. This is wilful obstruction, and Guilbeault’s real goals are evident from his push to create new national parks along potential pipeline routes, especially those heading east.
British Columbia Premier David Eby is positioning himself to be Guilbeault’s top mercenary. The premier has come out against another pipeline to the Pacific, and has been granted a veto over new energy projects by Carney’s insistence on “consensus” for any new project.
Demanding “consensus” along abstract lines, despite public opinion widely in favour of new energy projects, is a convenient excuse to make sure nothing is built.
At the Global Energy Show, Premier Smith of Alberta warned of that situation. She said important pipeline projects will continue to stall and investor confidence will remain low if federal policies like the tanker ban and emissions cap are not addressed.
This is the moment for change. Democracies around the world cannot rely on authoritarian and autocratic regimes for energy any longer.
When the leaders of the G7 arrive in Kananaskis, they will be looking for a reliable, moral energy partner to supply them with energy to grow their economies. Japan, the European Union, and others want Canadian oil, and it is ironic that the biggest obstacles to that are found within Canada, rather than abroad.
If Eby and Guilbeault get their way, Russia wins. It is as simple as that.
Internal sabotage, complacency, and reluctance threaten to ruin this special moment in Canadian history despite this opportunity. Canada can never be too resilient, and boosting our energy sector is one of the smartest ways to accomplish that.
Diversifying our trade with the world goes hand in hand with that, and new pipelines are the best way to make that happen.
Should the Liberals continue to block and delay, they will fuel another crisis here at home. Alberta separatism has never been stronger, and Ottawa’s hostility to the lifeblood of their economy will only worsen the alienation between Canada’s energy powerhouse and the federal government.
Alberta’s government wants to be an economic leader, both for Canada and itself, which is their right. The potential is there to be fulfilled; all that is required is the will.
Whether or not the Liberals have it could make or break the country.
Geoff Russ is a policy manager in the resource sector and contributor to several national publications across Canada, the United States, and Australia. Read his work in the National Post, the Spectator Australia, and Modern Age.

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