Anti-energy policies hurting Canada’s economy, reputation

It’s a problem that will undermine the prosperity of future generations if we leave it unattended. Since 2015, Canadian real GDP has grown by 13 per cent, but this growth has been driven entirely by government spending, consumer spending, and residential investment. Much of this growth has been funded by debt, and it has masked stagnant growth in Canadian business investment.

Alarmingly, between 2015 and 2019, weak business investment reduced Canada’s GDP growth by an average of  — 0.3 per cent. The lack of business investment is undermining Canada’s economic growth and future prosperity.

This is unsustainable.

One of the impediments to business investment growth is Canada’s growing reputation as the nation where it’s difficult, if not impossible, to get large projects completed.

Global investors noticed when the Trudeau government killed the Northern Gateway Pipeline in 2016, Energy East in 2017, the Teck Frontier mine in 2020, and at least 15 LNG projects. With growing demand for secure sources of energy, it’s particularly worth noting the cancellation of the Énergie Saguenay liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Quebec.

Canada has lost out on billions of dollars worth of investment that could have created better-paying jobs, more disposable income and more economic activity.

In particular, Bill C-69 is preventing energy companies from building the infrastructure Canada needs to export large volumes of responsibly produced energy, including LNG to Europe and elsewhere. In fact, in the three years before Bill C-69 came into effect in 2019, a total of 112 major natural resource projects worth $196 billion in Canada were either suspended, cancelled, or put on hold.

The federal government’s punitive approach towards the energy industry, including their proposed emissions cap and the extreme increases to the carbon price they have planned will undermine the industry’s competitiveness and sends a negative message to investors. If these ill-conceived policies are implemented, they will push production and emissions to less stable countries and to Canada’s adversaries to the detriment of energy security, the environment, and the Canadian economy.

In light of Vladimir Putin’s unjust and illegal invasion of Ukraine, Canada has a moral imperative to provide the world with alternatives to Russia’s blood oil. But when our closest allies fly halfway across the world to secure clean, safe, ethical energy, the prime minister and his NDP allies tell them “there is no business case.”

In reality, there are commercially viable projects proposed on all three Canadian coasts. Canadian resources are superior to Russian resources across environmental, social and governance measures.

In Alberta alone, the Pathways Alliance of oilsands producers has voluntarily committed to achieving net zero by 2050. We have an internationally recognized methane emissions reduction framework and our largest companies pay into the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Fund supporting the development and implementation of new emissions-reduction technology. Our government and our energy industry have been working to lower emissions responsibly for years

In spite of this, the Trudeau government’s ideological, anti-energy policies are stifling business investment, job creation, and natural resource development in Alberta, and across Canada. If this is allowed to continue, Canada will be viewed as an unreliable trade partner and an unreliable ally, affecting every trade-dependent sector and ultimately the standard of living for all Canadians.

To secure Canada’s future, business investment must be allowed to grow.

Travis Toews is president of the Alberta Treasury Board and minister of Finance.