Most people don’t think about energy until it isn’t there when they need it. Just imagine one million people without power to their TVs during last night’s airing of The Walking Dead? Many would be outraged, but- what about the rest of the time? Where, when and how do we talk about energy in Canada, […]

Canada and the United States have generally been on the same side of history in confronting threats to our shared values and interests.   We have therefore often found common strategic purpose in developing oil and gas pipeline infrastructure.  In the 1940s, just weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the two governments agreed on […]

Recent derailments of petroleum-bearing trains have resulted in increased public scrutiny of crude-by-rail. It seems that every derailment is now national news, and train movements are under a microscope. One question asked is: how safe are Canadian railroads? Another question is how often is crude oil or other dangerous goods travelling through Canadian towns? I […]

“Foreign takeover limits are scaring away investors!” Headlines like this one flooded in after a speech given by Mr. Jim Prentice, the CIBC vice chair and former federal Industry Minister, in early October. In that speech, Mr. Prentice particularly singled out the government’s decision to limit investment by state-owned enterprises in the oil sands following […]

American opponents of the Keystone XL Pipeline are understandably concerned about global warming. They think that if they stop the pipeline, they will stop the oilsands, and thereby reduce the growth of CO2 emissions. Their intentions are good, but their reasoning is wrong. This oil can and will get to foreign markets, without going through […]

It is perhaps surprising, maybe even shocking, that Dow Chemical and other petrochemical companies are calling for the denial of export licenses for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from North America to the high-priced Asian economies. This no different than the top-hatted monopsonist in the Industrial Age restricting competition so that they can force down input […]