The oil sands continue to put a target on Canada’s back
Development of this resource chips away at "good guy" image
University of Alberta associate professor and Alberta Oil columnist Andrew Leach appears in today’s Edmonton Journal. I bring this up because in a story penned by Mike De Souza, Leach is quoted wondering why ethical oil and bitumen booster Alykhan Velshi is choosing to rail against undemocratic and repressive petrostates, but isn’t acknowledging that many big Canadian companies – like Suncor (Syria, Libya) and Nexen (Yemen, Nigeria) – have no problem operating in these states.
It’s an interesting point and Leach thinks Velshi’s – let’s just call it “aggressive” – campaign to pitch Alberta’s oil sands as some morally superior source of petroleum could put these companies in an uncomfortable position. You can just imagine the conversations Suncor’s Rick George might have with government officials in say, Syria, when they see they are being publicly dissed by Canada.
But putting aside the effect the current uproar will have on the Suncors and the Nexens, this controversy is the latest sign that the emphasis Stephen Harper’s government and Alberta political and business leaders are putting on developing the oil sands is eating away at this country’s positive international reputation – one that took several decades to build.
Once upon a time, Canada was viewed as one of the good actors on the international stage. We were the peacekeepers, the honest brokers, a nation willing to come to the aid of other countries in need. Never mind that we might also have been looked on as a tad boring and timid, most Canadians took great pride in this image.
However, I think the oil sands are altering how the world sees Canada. The numerous critiques over the environmental impact of the oil sands, the role they’re playing (and will play) in climate change, the protests and opposition of the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines, and now this ethical oil stuff, is turning Canada into the bad guy.
That isn’t to say oil sands growth should be abandoned just because it’s creating some image problems for Canada. But it’s worth noting what is being lost as the nation’s leadership grapples with how to develop one of the world’s greatest sources of hydrocarbons.
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Entries
Darren:
Thanks for the post, as it’s a critically important topic to the future of not only Canada’s economy, but our global standing.
The most important factor in people’s opinion about the oil sands will be the environmental performance of the industry – here in Canada.
That’s not to say that we can’t make valid comparisons about other oil producing jurisdictions.
It’s entirely legitimate for ethicaloil.org to say that compared to jurisdictions like Saudi Arabia, Canada wins in terms of important social factors – women’s rights, war vs. peace, social justice, etc.
This is important, because we know the world will continue to use oil for the foreseeable future (as the IEA and others have predicted).
It’s not the only factor, but it is something we can be proud of as Canadians that we are improving on environmental performance, delivering a product the world needs AND leading the way on many social values.
Cheers,
Tim Shipton
Hi Tim:
Thanks for the note. The companies certainly are doing meaningful work to reduce the environmental impact of their activities. But I don’t think Alykhan’s campaign is doing those companies any favors on that front. It’s a point of view that will only work on the converted and will turn off the undecided. At least that’s my view.
Again, thanks for the thoughtful comment.
Cheers,
Darren