Causing a problem and then expecting credit for offering a solution isn’t leadership, it’s willful sabotage.
Last week, a significant amount of attention was directed towards a statement made by Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.
Speaking to reporters, O’Regan said the government would be codifying their ‘just transition’ into law through the “sustainable jobs act.”
He spun it as “workers leading the transition,” and claimed that government was being “accountable.”
“Workers will lead the energy transition.
The Sustainable Jobs Act will hold us accountable to them.
It’s not rhetoric.
It will be law.”
Workers will lead the energy transition.
The Sustainable Jobs Act will hold us accountable to them.
It’s not rhetoric.
It will be law. pic.twitter.com/jxNpSOxntG— Seamus O'Regan Jr (@SeamusORegan) June 15, 2023
Now, the Liberals are clearly trying to reframe their ‘climate policies.’
Objectively, their policies are designed to wreck the Canadian energy sector, reduce our market share, push investment out of the country, drive up the cost of energy, and make jobs in the energy sector evaporate into thin air. This will leave Canada poorer, and leave our allies more dependent on hostile foreign regimes.
If the Liberals were to admit this, it would be massively unpopular.
But, if you call it a ‘climate plan,’ and reframe dealing with the job losses as ‘workers leading the energy transition’ and ‘sustainable jobs,’ you can unfortunately fool a large segment of the population. On top of that, add some moral language like ‘saving the planet’ and many will go along with it.
The problem of course is that there’s no way around the actual reality of what the government is doing. They are deliberately sabotaging a key sector of the Canadian economy, and then seeking to get credit for ‘helping’ those who are negatively impacted by the policies of that very same government.
After all, there would be no need for a ‘sustainable jobs act’ if the Liberals weren’t trying to shut down the Canadian oil & gas sector in the first place.
Contrary to Liberal government spin, the oil & gas sector will remain viable for a long-time
You’ll notice that the Liberals talk about the oil & gas sector as if it is on its last legs. If that’s the case in Canada, it’s only because the government is deliberately making it that way.
Overall however, oil & gas demand is set to remain high.
“The IEA projects that oil demand, which was 94.5 million barrels per day in 2021, will grow to 102 million barrels per day in 2030, and still be 102 million barrels per day in 2050.
It’s a similar outlook for natural gas, of which the world consumed 4.2 trillion cubic meters in 2021. Use is projected to grow to 4.4 trillion cubic meters in 2030 and remain at 4.4 trillion cubic meters in 2050.”
What this means is that many businesses and countries will be making a lot of money selling oil & gas for a very long time. Canada can either be one of those countries, or we can be one of the countries missing out. But make no mistake, this is a choice. If we wreck our energy sector we will be choosing to miss out on massive amounts of money that could enrich our nation. If we chose to unleash our energy sector, we will be choosing to have a higher standard of living.
The Liberals are making the former choice, only they are attempting to obscure the fact that it’s a choice at all. They want to make it sound inevitable, as if they are only reacting to the world around them, when what they’re actually doing is impacting the world around them through deliberate policy choices and then feigning ignorance afterward.
They want to spread that ignorance to the Canadian People, so Canadians will be unsure of whom to blame as our living standards continue eroding and good jobs become harder to come by. This is why we need to keep speaking out in defence of the Canadian energy sector, and why we need to keep explaining to our fellow Canadians why the oil gas sector is something we should be proud of and something that will be essential in ensuring Canada achieves our full potential as a nation.
Spencer Fernando