Alberta’s consumers, businesses and governments were responsible for $31.4 billion of Ontario’s total interprovincial trade in 2016 alone
By Mark Milke and Ven Venkatachalam Canadian Energy Centre “All politics is local,” as 1980s-era U.S. House of Representatives leader Tip O’Neill put it. O’Neill’s point was straightforward: Voters care about what affects them. That, naturally, is where politicians then aim their promises and rhetoric. What’s true in politics is also true of the economy:…
The importance of oil and gas extraction to Canada’s GDP, jobs, incomes or tax revenues can’t be understated
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre No matter how you slice it, Canada’s oil and natural gas sector has been one of the nation’s most significant contributors to jobs, gross domestic product (GDP) and tax revenues over the decades. Even in down years, such as 2016, the oil and gas extraction sector…
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre When forecasting future oil consumption around the world, many people have opinions and agendas. Forecasts rooted in facts and technological capabilities are more rare. An example of an informed opinion comes from Vaclav Smil, professor emeritus of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Environment. Smil is…
While oil and gas investment has grown substantially in other parts of the world, Canada has failed to keep pace
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre Over the past decade, one oft-heard claim is that oil and gas is a ‘sunset’ industry, where investment in Canada can be expected to decline given a worldwide flight from oil and investment. However, international data (available from 2009 to 2017) show no such worldwide flight…
The gap between expectations and existing policy is wide. Closing that gap will cost thousands of jobs and devastate whole economic sectors
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre Aspirations are important in life but it’s always helpful to be clear on the means to the desired end, especially if others are involved. A case in point: General commitments by governments in Canada to significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2030, i.e., the Paris commitment. In…
Most B.C. and Alberta First Nations favour oil and natural gas development. So why do we let activists claim otherwise?
By Gregory John and Mark Milke Canadian Energy Centre A common tactic of anti-oil-and-gas activists and some international organizations over the past decade is to group all Indigenous people under the false narrative of broad opposition to energy development. Those with anti-development agendas ostensibly enlist Indigenous allies as the easiest way to delay or stop…
There’s no easy way to spur economic opportunity for every remote reserve. But resource-related development will help many
“In less than a decade, the Haisla Nation has leveraged the strategic location of its traditional territory to go from a Nation on the verge of remedial management to an eagerly sought-after partner and key stakeholder in several multi-billion-dollar LNG projects.” – The Haisla First Nation on its website Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian…
The opposition to fossil fuels such as natural gas is driven by magical thinking and is against all empirical evidence
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre As the lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic ends, provincial and federal governments will still face the reality that arrived in its wake: a recession, and one made worse by a domestic energy sector that never really recovered from multiple injuries already in play. Those injuries included:…
Oil and gas revenues can be used by tyrannies, autocracies and dictatorships to oppress their populations
Why would consumers treat tyranny oil differently than blood diamonds or clothing made by child labour? One of the more bizarre reactions to bare facts came recently after a colleague and I analyzed oil-and-gas-producing countries and their degree of freedom – the Tyranny Index, as we labelled it. Some argued such tracking is irrelevant because…
Despite claims by some that ‘oil is dead’ and that the sector is heavily subsidized, the evidence suggests otherwise
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre In the ongoing debate over whether Canada’s oil and natural gas industry will or should survive, one argument often advanced is the notion that oil and gas activity in Canada survives only due to massive subsidies from taxpayers. The debate has been fuelled recently by comments from…
By Mark Milke and Ven Venkatachalam Canadian Energy Centre “All politics is local,” as 1980s-era U.S. House of Representatives leader Tip O’Neill put it. O’Neill’s point was straightforward: Voters care about what affects them. That, naturally, is where politicians then aim their promises and rhetoric. What’s true in politics is also true of the economy:…
