This week, Oshawa MP Colin Carrie and I are hosting a business development luncheon in Oshawa with leaders from across Durham. The topic of the luncheon is the resource industry in western Canada and the guest speaker is a leading executive from Alberta. Now, this might seem like a curious event for two Ontario MPs to host in a city that once had the motto “the City that Moto-vates Canada”. There are no oil derricks in the Durham region and the only energy that our area is known for is the electricity generated from nuclear power. So, why did we want to discuss the Alberta resource economy in Durham? We did it because the resource industry in western Canada is just as important to the Ontario economy as the auto industry.
Ontario remains well known for our world class auto assembly and auto parts industries, but in recent years Ontario jobs connected to the resource economy have been just as important. In fact, during the depths of the global economic recession of 2008/09, when the auto industry was on the edge of collapse, it was the resource economy in Alberta and Saskatchewan that kept Canada afloat. There we more jobs in Ontario attributable to the resource industry than the auto industry in those years and the health of our economy allowed the Conservative government to restructure and save GM and Chrysler. Since Durham is an automotive hub for Canada, we should not forget any of this. This is why Colin and I are working with our Alberta colleagues to facilitate more ‘East meets West’ conversations.
In the last few years, Ontario businesses have secured contracts in the oil sands and the wider western resource economy in the $2 Billion range every year. Two years ago, Durham area businesses benefited from $50 million in direct contracts and more is possible if we look west to diversify our economy. The resource sector accounts for about 10% of our Gross Domestic Product and is one of the largest direct and indirect employers across the country. The royalties and tax revenues received by governments from the industry also help contribute to our social fabric and programs we rely upon like healthcare. In fact, as the largest single contributor to the GDP of Canada, you could say that the oil sands help pay for the social programs we all enjoy.
This is not to say that there are not challenges with this sector. Green house gas production, water usage and environmental issues more broadly are challenges facing the resource sector. The good news is that technological advances in recent years have mitigated these impacts dramatically. While the oil sands started as open-pit mining operations two generations ago, Canadian innovations in the use of drilling technologies and the use of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAG-D) have allowed for the extraction of resources with less of an impact on the environment than in the past. We must continue these innovations but shutting down the oil sands – as advocated by Trudeau and several leading Liberals on occasion – is absolutely foolish.
In fact, the Trudeau government has worked against the resource industry from its first days in office when Trudeau mocked the sector in his first trip overseas. The Liberals went on to cancel the Northern Gateway pipeline, they introduced a more cumbersome regulatory process that a Trans-Canada pipeline executive confirmed led to the cancellation of the Energy East pipeline. Foreign investment dollars have been leaving Canada and an impression is being left that Canada is a high tax, anti-development jurisdiction that is closed for business. The situation has become so dire that Trudeau was forced to spend $4.5 Billion of taxpayer money to buy the Trans-Mountain pipeline from the company that was leaving Canada.
Canadians must realize that the success of Canada’s resource sector benefits all Canadians. Manufacturing, professional services and support jobs in Durham and across Ontario already depend on this sector and there is potential for more growth from looking west. Ontarians must also realize that pipeline debates are not just about the west, but they are about the future of Canada. This year, Canada will receive $15 Billion less in revenue for our resources because of the fact that the lack of pipelines means we accept a discounted price for these finite resources. $15 Billion fewer dollars for healthcare, critical infrastructure or support for the vulnerable. Getting Canadian resources to market should be viewed as a critical issue for Ontario just as much as it is for Alberta and that is why we are starting this conversation.
Read: MP Erin O’Toole’s Speech discussing Opposition Motion – Energy East Pipeline Project
Read: MP Erin O’Toole’s Speech discussing Trans Mountain Expansion Project
