The Energy Boom

It's a familiar tale. American companies pump Canadian oil and ship the crude to US refineries. There's an oil pipeline south from Alberta, but none east to Ontario and Quebec. The oil boom is creating jobs at the oil patch, but not nearly as many jobs as it could be creating. Meanwhile we provide tax incentives for the oil industry. Our free trade agreement with the US ties our hands in terms of how much oil we sell them, so, for example, if we wanted to slow production until less polluting methods were available, we couldn't.

A recent article in the Canadian edition of Time says that Canada needs to start acting like a global energy superpower, but so far we can't even get past interprovincial squabbling.

Here's a winning election campaign policy that I offer up for free to any party that wants to use it. Make your symbol a banana in a circle with a cross through it. Suggest ways that Canada can become a more advanced economy rather than just a resource supplier to other countries.

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