This week was the first time Tom Simons had travelled to the U.S. in eight months because of the pandemic, and he just happened to be in Texas on election day.
Simons is the chief executive of CES Energy Solutions, which is based in Calgary but has most of its operations in the U.S.
He said that while meeting with staff, he was struck by the way some colleagues said they had filled out their election ballots. People may see the oilpatch as staunchly Republican, he said, but some of his employees said they just couldn’t cast a ballot for the incumbent, U.S. President Donald Trump, who they felt was often embarrassing the nation.
“They’ve had enough of Trump offending [their] love of country,” he said. “So they voted Republican all the way on the ballot and then they didn’t vote on the president.”
Simons himself may not want Democrat Joe Biden in the White House based on some of his campaign promises, but he’s keenly aware that the energy sector has more pressing problems than politics.
A truck begins to pull away after filling up with mud at the AES Drilling Fluids facility in the town of Kermit, Texas. The firm is owned by Calgary-based CES Energy Solutions. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
Oil prices hit record lows this summer and remain depressed, companies are struggling to attract investor interest, and demand for fuel hasn’t recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several mega-projects have been shelved and thousands of oil workers have lost their livelihoods.
Companies of all sizes are struggling to turn a profit right now.
Even if possible impacts from the U.S. election are relatively small, some in the Canadian oilpatch are nervous because the sector is already under severe financial pressure.
“A lot of Canadian oilfield service companies have Canadian and American employees and there has been cash flow and profits generated [in the U.S.],” said Garnet Amundson, president of Calgary-based Essential Energy Services.
“If there are anti-oil policies put in, such as frack-banning or anti-Canadian protection policies, it will further hit the Canadian oilpatch and lead to more job losses and sectoral damage.”
Pipe is ready to be used for the construction of the Canadian leg of the Keystone XL in near the town of Oyen, Alta., in September. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
The actions of a Biden White House — assuming he were to win the presidential election — would be watched closely.
Biden has vowed to make policy changes that critics argue would be a setback for the oil and gas sector, such as preventing new drilling on federal land in the U.S. and cancelling the presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that would help deliver Alberta crude to the U.S.’s Gulf Coast refineries.
Biden hasn’t wavered in his opposition to the pipeline project, but that doesn’t mean its fate is sealed.
WATCH: Being in Texas on election day:
Tom Simons, CEO of CES Energy Solutions, on traveling to Texas during the election and what the mood is like in the oilpatch. 1:36
For one, Keystone XL may be a way for Biden to show support for blue-collar workers and create much-needed jobs as the U.S. tries to recover from the pandemic.
“There are many reasons that may give him cover to say, ‘Look, we can actually approve Keystone XL and continue with it because it is in the greater national interest of the United States today in a way that it was not in 2016,” said Gary Mar, who was Alberta’s representative in Washington, D.C., from 2007 to 2011.
Alberta’s government is no doubt hoping that’s the case since it is financially committed to the pipeline project through $1.1 billion US in equity and $4.2 billion US in loan guarantees.
Those who’ve been fighting Keystone XL expect Biden will stop the project.
“It is my expectation, and I don’t think I’m alone in that as well,” said Anthony Swift, an attorney based in Washington, D.C., with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Everything I’ve seen from Biden suggests to me that he is … someone who follows through with his commitments.”
Opponents have voiced concerns about the environmental impact they fear the project could have along the route during and after construction. Many are also worried about the climate impact of locking in long-term expansion of carbon-intensive oil sources.
“I think the reality is a project that has a 50-year timeline that enables new expansion of tarsands development during that time is just mathematically inconsistent with a 2050 net-zero trajectory for North America,” Swift said.
Many Canadian oilfield companies operate in the U.S., including Citadel Drilling, which has rigs in Texas and New Mexico. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
As for the ban Biden has pledged on new oil and gas permits on federal lands, such a move could crack open the door for more Canadian crude exports.
Stephanie Kainz, a senior associate with Enverus, an energy data analytics firm, said if such a strategy slows down production in the U.S., it could see more interest in investing in Canada’s energy sector.
“It could possibly open up more investment into the Canadian oil sector, and even the gas sector itself,” said Kainz, who is based in Texas. “You have a really deep inventory in Canada and years and years of production ahead of you.”
There is no doubt if the Keystone XL project is delayed or halted, it would sting the Canadian oilpatch, but with other pipeline projects under construction such as Enbridge’s Line 3 and the Trans Mountain expansion, there are other export avenues being developed.
Biden’s other proposed policies could create more turbulence for the industry, but will be muted if oil prices recover and fuel demand picks up, among other changes in the market.
That’s why Biden in the White House would be just one of many uncertainties for Canada’s oil industry.
WATCH: Work on Keystone XL provides economic boost for Alberta town:
Despite economic challenges from low oil prices and the pandemic across Alberta, Oyen, a small town near the Saskatchewan border, is experiencing a miniature boom because of the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. 2:02
What do you want to know about the U.S. election? Email us at Ask@cbc.ca.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
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