Canadians should be hopping mad.
Mad at successive federal governments that have allowed foreign oil interests with large pockets and no allegiance to Canada to disrupt the economic well-being of our country.
Mad at willing Canadian participants taking this money who don’t care where the money originates.
Mad at provincial governments that toady to special interests at the expense of our economic well-being.
Mad at federal governments that have allowed the Canadian recipients of this foreign money to bring the oil industry to a standstill and side rail our economy as they claim these funds as charitable donations.
Oil is 20 per cent of the Canadian economy. Oil, while it made Alberta rich, has also allowed Canada, through transfer payments and the resulting economic boom, to have one of the highest standards of living in the world.
Canada is a resource-based country. If we wish to maintain our standard of living we must maintain our resource industry.
Meanwhile, during the last decade, the U.S. has gone from a major importer of foreign oil to a net supplier of oil to the world. It has seen an economic oil boom with billions and billions spent on development of oil, pipeline expansion to ports and refineries that has allowed the U.S. to become energy independent.
Energy independence means no one can hold you hostage or bring your country to a standstill over a currently necessary commodity that turns the wheels of industry. It also makes your country rich and raises the standard of living for its citizens as the past history of oil in Canada has shown.
Today, industrial plant investors from around the world are converging on an area in southwest Louisiana with investments in building a petrochemical and transportation infrastructure network reaching $117 billion.
Other unrelated plants are moving to the area as they need the resulting infrastructure and ease of supply being generated. Some 15,000 construction workers are currently working on building many large-scale industrial plants and another 10,000 construction jobs are coming on stream this year from all over the country.
Meanwhile in Canada, foreign and U.S. money is working to shut down the tanker industry on the coast thus effectively ending the ability of Canada to market its oil to the world.
Oh, we can still sell it to the U.S. — at a rock bottom price.
Elvena Slump
Penticton