(first published in The Niagara Independent)

There was a prophetic line in the first Jurassic Park movie, said by the Jeff Goldblum character, that “life finds a way.” It was a response to the claim by the scientists creating dinosaur clones that supposedly couldn’t reproduce that they really couldn’t control the outcome of their dangerous experiments. As anyone who has seen the movie knows, this truth was demonstrated in epic fashion. 

There is a comparable business analogy. Although the Trudeau Liberal government worked very hard to squelch Canada’s enormous oil and gas industry potential in his years in power, business has been finding ways to end-run the government. It so happens it is almost exactly three years since former prime minister Justin Trudeau made the ridiculous statement that “there has never been a strong business case” for Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) exports to Europe after former German chancellor Olaf Scholz came to Canada to ask Trudeau for LNG to help Germany reduce its reliance on natural gas from Russia. 

Of all the foolish things Trudeau said over the years, this whopper takes the cake. U.S. LNG exports in the same time frame surged from 15 million tons annually in the 2018-2021 period to 55 million tons by 2023. Contrary to Trudeau’s clueless comment, it appeared there was actually a very good business case for LNG exports to Europe, and Canada was much the poorer for being prevented from taking advantage of this by its own government. 

Some recent developments show that creative Canadian businesses are finding ways to do end-runs around government restrictions, to the advantage of their firms and Canada as a whole. A recent example was Tourmaline Oil Corporation, Canada’s largest producer of natural gas, which has finalized an eight-year supply agreement with German energy company Uniper. The arrangement is for Tourmaline to supply 80,000 MMBtu/day (millions of British Thermal Units per day) of natural gas to Uniper. Delivery is scheduled to begin in late 2028. 

As the Canadian government continues to oppose pipelines within Canada to facilitate such exports, Tourmaline will route the gas through a trading hub in Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, then on to Europe. It is ludicrous that our businesses should be forced to make such circuitous arrangements, but that is the current situation. Good for Tourmaline to find a novel way to open up new markets for Canadian LNG and contribute to job creation and the domestic economy in the process. 

Although relatively new Prime Minister Mark Carney has made some noises about possibly approving a pipeline sometime in the indefinite future, anyone who has read his book Value(s): Building a Better World for All has to doubt that will happen. There is no evidence to date that Carney has abandoned his “net-zero” fixation to attempt to achieve logistically impossible emissions targets by 2050, no matter the devastating impact on our economy and Canadians’ standard of living. In that book, Carney states that businesses that do not conform to his extreme climate objectives will become “climate roadkill.” Given Carney’s often-expressed dislike for the oil and gas sector, he would likely think that Tourmaline, a very successful and innovative Canadian business, should end up in that roadkill category and their many well-paid employees left jobless. 

Another different approach to developing Canada’s energy exports has been taken by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. As you may recall, it was not only Germany’s chancellor who came to Canada seeking LNG, but also Japan’s former prime minister Fumio Kishida. When Kishida came to Canada to request assistance with reducing Japan’s reliance on Russia energy sources, Trudeau gave a condescending lecture on decarbonizing. The irony is that if Canada had developed its natural gas resources more competently in recent years, it would not only have come to the assistance of our allies but reduced the influence of problematic countries such as Russia and made a significant contribution to world peace. 

This past March, Smith secured an LNG deal with Japan, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Ichiro Takahara, CEO of the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security. Smith expects the agreement will generate good jobs for Albertans as well as attract investment to Alberta. Bilateral trade between Alberta and Japan exceeded $3 billion last year, making Japan the province’s third-largest export market. 

It is unfortunate that our federal government’s intransigence in developing Canada’s lucrative oil and gas market has meant that businesses and provincial governments are having to jump through hoops to make deals that should be easy and immensely rewarding for Canada. It is, however, encouraging that deals are being made. We can only hope the federal government smartens up soon and begins to take advantage of our immense natural resource wealth for the benefit of all Canadians. In the interim, business will find a way.

Catherine Swift

Catherine Swift is President of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers & Businesses of Canada (CCMBC). She was previously President of Working Canadians from 2015-2021 & President & CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) from 1995-2014. She was Chief Economist of the CFIB from 1987-1995, Senior Economist with TD Bank from 1983-1987 & held several positions with the federal government from 1976-1983.

She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.

She has an Honours BA and MA in Economics.