RNNR Committee Report

Dissenting Report: Liberal Party of Canada

Cross Canada Benefits of Developing the Oil and Gas Industry of the Energy Sector

Geoff Regan, Member of Parliament
Vice Chair, House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources

To start, we would like to thank all the witnesses who shared their time and expertise with the Committee throughout this study. Their testimony and first-hand accounts have helped shed some light on the very paramount issue of developing our energy economy, something that is critical to our country’s economic development going forward.

We also must apologize to those witnesses who were forced to restrict their testimony to fit the narrow focus adopted by the Conservative government and members of the Committee. The original motion called for a study of the benefits experienced across Canada from developing the energy industry, with a focus on oil and natural gas. That would have included the benefits of hydro, wind, tidal, nuclear, biomass and other renewal and clean energy resources. Unfortunately, the Conservative majority forced the Committee to restrict the study to only look at the “benefits” of the oil and gas sector. The Conservatives were determined to eradicate any suggestion that oil and gas projects might occasionally have deleterious impacts along with their economic benefits. Instead of simply allowing cheerleading for oil and gas, a more complete discussion of Canada’s energy risks and opportunities would have been more beneficial and been viewed by the public as more balanced.

Nevertheless, many of the witnesses have made clear that there are significant opportunities for Canada’s energy sector. There is an increasing demand for oil and gas especially in Asia-Pacific markets, and Canada needs to take advantage of these opportunities to remain globally competitive. According to Terrence Hubbard of the Department of Natural Resources: “It is a global market that we're competing against. If we don't move forward and capitalize on this opportunity we have here in Canada, our competitors will. There are significant opportunities and significant proposed investments, in the United States, in Australia, in other countries, in terms of oil and gas development. The market for these products is limited, so those first to market are going to capture those long-term opportunities presented by the growing demand, in the Asia-Pacific region in particular.”[1]

Assistant Deputy Minister Jay Khosla further noted that “Canada has both an opportunity and an imperative to diversify energy markets in order to continue reaping the key economic benefits that we enjoy today.”[2]

The key is for Canada to maximize the benefit of these opportunities by developing our oil and gas resources sustainably and responsibly. The prevailing ideology is that strict climate change policy comes at the expense of profitable oil and gas development. University of Alberta professor Andrew Leach has disproved this in his research. He found that “[oil sands] projects are very robust to low carbon scenarios and to significantly more stringent carbon policies at home than those they face today.” He also noted that “Canadians are generally told that they have to pick either climate change policy or oil sands development. Our research suggests that this is not necessarily the case.”[3] The government also needs to place equal importance on developing renewable energy resources – something this study has failed to do.  There are significant opportunities for Canada to benefit from renewable energy technologies, but these opportunities are being overlooked. Université de Montréal professor Normand Mousseau explained, “Canada's renewable and non-renewable energy resources vary greatly from region to region. Canada can't simply focus on fossil fuels, which aren't renewable. It also has to support renewable energy resources.”[4]

Responsible development of our oil and gas resources also requires obtaining legitimate social license from First Nations communities. Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation – whose testimony was repeatedly curtailed because it did not simply talk about benefits of the oil and gas sector – pleaded that “we need to come up with a strategy whereby first nations people are heavily engaged in the process of developing a regulatory process for protecting the ecosystem and yet can continue to build an economic platform.”[5]  The government needs to make sure that First Nations communities are reaping the benefits of nearby oil and gas projects, and are not being failed by our regulatory system.

In conclusion, Canada would benefit from a more balanced approach to developing our energy resources. There are obvious benefits to every region of the country and future economic growth and job creation depend on a strong energy sector which requires international investment and access to diverse global markets. The government must start taking action with respect to both sides of the equation – benefits and risks – if Canada is to realize the full potential of our world-class energy resources. And we must place an equal emphasis on renewable and non-renewable resources. As Dr. Leach noted, “Canadians deserve a similar assessment of the risks compared with the benefits that you're hearing about and the risks to oil sands development that arise from climate change policies here and abroad.”[6] A study that focuses only on the positives while ignoring any negatives creates a report that lacks credibility.