Canada is known as a leader in oil and gas production, the fourth largest producer of crude oil and the fifth largest producer of natural gas. It’s a huge contributor to our success as a trading nation.
What’s less understood among the public is that global oil and gas demand continues to rise. According to the International Energy Agency, global oil demand is forecast to be 3.2 million barrels per day higher in 2030 than the reporting year (2023) unless stronger policy measures are implemented or changes in behaviour take hold.
There are obvious factors for this – emerging economies in India and greater use of jet fuel and petrochemical feedstocks in China, for example. Nevertheless, the fact remains: The world needs more Canadian energy.
We’re all fortunate that Canada has prospered as a nation by selling oil, natural gas, electricity, mining, forestry and food products around the world to help us pay for imported goods. Natural resources, including oil and gas, make life more affordable for all Canadians. The women and men who make up these industries deserve Canada’s full support and encouragement.
Familiarizing Canadians with our good record and the world’s rising demand for our products are topics my organization has enthusiastically taken on. This year Canada Action reached millions of people through our positive communications strategy, while we distributed thousands of pieces of merchandise and participated in a constant stream of trade shows, speaking events and media opportunities. We think it’s working.
Through regular, national polling we monitor the good and growing understanding Canadians have of Canada’s ranking on social and environmental metrics, and their growing preference for international trade with nations that maintain a strong environmental and social reputation.
Our work goes far beyond disseminating merchandise to help spread the word and attract Canadians to our social channels and website. We also work with a whole network of volunteers in different provinces to keep up to speed on trends in various resource sectors, and to inform and enlist our networks and the public.
It’s also important we communicate with Canadians about a crippling economic trend that saw $670 billion in cancelled or suspended natural resource projects since 2015. After all, every Canadian has a huge stake in how well the resource economy performs.
Whether it’s the cancellation of Northern Gateway or Energy East – pipelines that could have shielded us from protentional U.S. tariffs – or the job-limiting proposed oil and gas emissions cap – itself a kind of tariff on Canadian energy and family prosperity – we need to broaden the conversation.
At the end of the day, every Canadian is worse off when Canada loses new job-creating natural resource investment.
Cody Battershill is a Calgary realtor and founder / spokesperson for CanadaAction.ca, a volunteer-initiated group that supports Canadian energy development and the environmental, social and economic benefits that come with it.
