Shockproofing Canada: Why the Keystone pipeline is just the start of making us energy self-sufficient – Financial Post

Brad Wall

Apr 14, 2020

A series in the Financial Post is examining how Canada can become more secure by becoming more self-sufficient — particularly in the area of natural resources. In a recent article, reporter Geoffrey Morgan examines Canada’s oil and gas industry, and in particular, the decision in Alberta to begin long-overdue construction on the Keystone XL pipeline, with the financial support of the provincial government. As Geoffrey Morgan explains, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the nation’s energy sector — from our export pipeline network to the lack of options for storing oil (like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the U.S.). The author reaches out to a number of industry experts for commentary, including Brad Wall, a Special Advisor in the Osler Calgary office and former Premier of Saskatchewan. Brad acknowledges that in these “extraordinary times” governments must focus on helping people who have lost their jobs, but stresses that plans have to be put in place for the eventual economic recovery.

“This is not the time for ideology, but for prompt action,” he says. “We need a very bold short-, medium- and long-term plan.”

In the short term, Brad elaborates, Alberta and Saskatchewan require liquidity to weather the current slump in oil prices. Long-term, he continues, projects like the Keystone XL pipeline will be critical to developing the sector’s infrastructure.

Geoffrey Morgan ends his article with a quote from Alberta Premier Jason Kenney: “We’re in a crisis environment with a crash in prices, but the pandemic will end and global demand will return. When we reach that point, we absolutely must have a major pipeline in commission. That’s what this is about.”

Learn more by reading Geoffrey Morgan’s full article, “Shockproofing Canada: Why the Keystone pipeline is just the start of making us energy self-sufficient” in the April 3, 2020 edition of the Financial Post.