By Martha Hall Findlay
September 18, 2019
French version originally published as part of federal election series in La Presse, September 18, 2019
Global oil prices jumped on news of the drone attack on Saudi Arabian oil production. Saudi Arabia produces about 10 per cent of the entire world’s supply. Based on newsroom and social media chatter, Canadians worried about whether this would increase the price of gas at the pump at home.
Yet Saudi oil production is more important to Canada than many realize. Canada imports more oil from Saudi Arabia than from anywhere else except the United States – most of it goes to the Irving refinery in New Brunswick. That’s more than 10 per cent of all of the oil we consume Over $3.5 billion Canadian dollars go to Saudi Arabia each year – and that number is increasing.
Less than a year ago, prompted by the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi (and many other human rights abuses), many Canadians pushed the Canadian government to stop commercial engagement with Saudi Arabia. The focus was on Canada’s sale of armoured trucks to Saudi Arabia; concerned Canadians demanded that we stop. Yet there were few if any calls to stop the flow of Saudi oil to Canada – worth several multiples more than the armoured truck contract. Indeed, our imports from Saudi Arabia keep increasing. The inconvenient truth is that we Canadians use a lot of oil. And we import an awful lot of oil from Saudi Arabia, as well as other major human rights abusers like Algeria and Nigeria and Iraq – and from the US, where the GHGs per barrel are now similar to Canada’s.
We want to fight climate change, but too often we look to blame others, such as the oil sands, or cement plants, or even agriculture, while we conveniently – and hypocritically – choose to ignore the facts about our own energy use. If Canadians are really serious about stopping oil, why don’t we stop importing Saudi oil? Or US oil? Because although we may be concerned about the environment and human rights – we’re also pretty selfish. We’re worried that a drone attack halfway around the world might make it cost a little more to fuel up at home.
There is no shortage of energy hypocrisy in Canada. Now consider pipelines.
BC Premier John Horgan came into government promising to stop the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Yet Mr. Horgan conveniently ignores the fact that most of the gasoline used in BC comes from Alberta – and it comes via the existing Trans Mountain pipeline. Indeed, BC just won an injunction against Alberta’s “turn of the taps” legislation (which was never used). Mr. Horgan called the legislation “a significant threat to our economy and to our people” – without batting an eye at the hypocrisy of supporting the use of the Trans Mountain pipeline for BC’s own use, but denying the expansion to sell product abroad, important for the “economy and people” of, in particular, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Premier François Legault of Quebec, in the same breath as he recognized that Alberta is the biggest supplier of oil to Quebec and its refineries (44% of Quebec’s oil comes from Western Canada), claimed that there was no “social acceptability” for any pipeline to carry Western oil across his province. The Quebec government then passed a motion, unanimously, that reinforced the point.
What hypocrisy if Alberta were to say, for instance, that while many Albertans like to eat Quebec’s OKA cheese themselves – it won’t let trucks carrying the cheese to pass through to British Columbians.
Quebec is fortunate to have an immense supply of “clean” hydroelectricity. But fully 41% of the energy Quebecers use is actually petroleum products. And while sales of cars have gone down in Quebec, sales of SUVs, light trucks and pick-ups have increased, according to a recent study at HEC. Quebec takes – and uses – Western Canadian oil, and Quebeckers benefit from refining and related jobs. But Quebec blocks Alberta and Saskatchewan from selling that same oil to New Brunswick and beyond. Just like British Columbia, the message is, “We’ll happily use it ourselves, but we won’t let you transport it across our province to sell it beyond.”
But it’s not just BC and Quebec – we all need to be much more honest about our own energy use. A car is, for many people, their biggest personal contribution to pollution and GHGs. A recent study shows that we’re actually making things worse. And electric vehicles are only as ‘clean’ as the source of the electricity used, which varies across the country.
None of this means that we shouldn’t push hard on reducing Canada’s GHG emissions – we should. And there are some incredible technological advances being made that may soon result in all sorts of emission reductions: solar panels that are part of roofing material; commercial buildings that are net producers of energy; small, safe and cost-effective modular nuclear power; even zero-emissions oil and gas extraction. These and many others are amazing advances. But let’s at least be honest in our discussion about who is doing what, where and how to truly address the challenges of climate change.
Martha Hall Findlay is the president and CEO at the Canada West Foundation and a former federal liberal MP.