Parliament resumed sitting on September 18th. I took the first two days of the week in Calgary, as we hosted the World Petroleum Congress for the first time in 23 years. The event was a showcase for Canada’s oil and gas industry and our role in the emerging energy needs facing the whole world. Its theme – ‘Energy Transition – the Path to Net Zero’ – coalesced some of the brightest scientific and economic minds, who work in this essential industry, on the solutions to the world’s environmental challenges.
It’s enlightening to find people gathering in our city, from around the world, to discuss the approaches to global issues – and discuss how they balance the effects of the emissions from the global oil and gas industry with the benefits it provides – to economic development (including advancing the world’s poorest); to fueling technological advances; to providing the means for many of life’s basic necessities; to the social good it provides to society – indeed, for human progress. The advancing solutions to addressing the environmental effects of this vital energy source are illuminating.
It was a refreshing couple of days, where I had discussions and meeting with realists – those is charge of actually solving the problems the world is defining, and rise above the divisive and non-sensical narrative that continues to surround Canada’s political approach to ignore the necessity of balancing the world’s needs with our contributions to environmental advancements.
I owe gratitude to the organizers for the invitation to the event. The event reinvigorated my resolve to bring perspective to the Canadian government’s missteps respecting the value our oil and gas industry brings to the world.
The only detraction from the positive messages delivered by world leaders was the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources. I know he has his speaking lines, and that he needs to stay in line with his government’s biased and naïve approach to our contribution to energy and the environment. But he needed to know his audience; this was not a crowd that benignly absorbed aimless virtue. I had numerous conversations with international leaders – in government and industry – that were amazed at how ignorant our Canadian government’s representative was on this vital file – for the world’s needs, and for global security. Again, in front of our international peers, the Canadian government appeared simplistically naive.
Thankfully, the Minister’s nonsensical speech was followed by an uplifting one by Premier Smith. If there is a moment that defines the disconnect the world sees between a federal government that has no real solutions for the world’s energy needs, and the leadership delivered by Alberta’s Premier – this was it.
PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH
Please get in touch if there’s anything my office can do for you.
Share This:
