There’s a growing feeling in Canada that some of our most stalwart economic sectors have been overlooked lately, and that it might be time to adopt a more welcoming tone toward Canada’s natural resources industries. In fact, it about time Canada greeted natural resources investment with arms wide open.
How else are we going to support Canadian families while we produce the energy, food, mining and wood products a growing global population needs?
There’s little doubt the current situation needs improvement. Since 2015, Canada has seen nearly $670 billion in job-creating natural resource projects suspended or cancelled.
According to the Fraser Institute’s Ken Green, part of the problem is regulatory burden. Green recently wrote that since 1990, the extractive sector (mining, quarrying, and oil and gas) averaged 17.3 per cent of total non-residential business investment, peaking at 28.7 per cent in 2013.
But business investment in the same sector is off sharply since 2014. Green says, adjusted for inflation, business investment in the oil and gas sector is down as much as 52.1 per cent since 2014, falling from $46.6 billion in 2014 to $22.3 billion in 2022.
These are worrisome numbers, and they fly in the face of a broad Canadian understanding that natural resource industries are both economically vital and likely to remain so.
A recent Nanos Research poll commissioned by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and C.D. Howe Institute gauged Canadians’ views on energy and climate. Among other things, it showed Canadians understand the role oil and gas plays in our economy and in our way of life.
The poll of 1,237 Canadian adults found affordability was ranked as their top energy concern in the next five years, and reliability was second. Lowering CO2 emissions was last among respondents’ energy concerns.
Further, as much as 79 per cent thought it important for the Government of Canada to consult with Indigenous peoples when developing energy development policies.
About two thirds of Canadian respondents – 65 per cent – supported building natural gas export facilities to export LNG to other countries, while only 20 per cent opposed it. Seventy-four per cent of respondents said the oil and gas sector is currently important to Canada’s economy, and just over half (53 per cent) thought it will remain so.
Only 28 per cent thought the Government of Canada is doing a good job meeting Canada’s climate targets, while only 27 per cent thought it is doing a good job ensuring energy is affordable for Canadians.
It’s time we recognized the long-standing potential that exists within Canada’s natural resource sectors, found ways to encourage investment in those sectors and showcased for the world our continuing strong commitment to the very best practices and finest products the world could ever want.
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.
