The Prairie provinces have had a complicated relationship with the federal government. The source of the West’s traditionally stormy relations with Ottawa can nearly always be traced back to jurisdictional control over the West’s natural resources. In similar fashion to Quebec’s neuroticism over issues of cultural identity, federal incursion into Alberta’s energy affairs has irrevocably shaped its political consciousness. The evolution of this feud can be encapsulated by three separate [Read more]
Canadian Infrastructure: A Private Stake in a Public Good
Since the global financial crisis, the governments of developed nations have struggled to jump-start their economies in the face of anemic growth. Across the Anglosphere there has been a renewed call for massive infrastructure investment to boost productivity, create new jobs, and cut the costs for business. Canada is no exception. Federal government funds dedicated to financing infrastructure projects has lagged far behind what industry analysts have been calling for. Canadian infrastructure [Read more]
How Mexico plans to revitalize its energy industry through privatization
For the past 78 years, Mexico’s energy industry has been closed off to private investment. The constitution Mexico adopted in 1917 bestowed sole ownership of country’s subsurface resources to the government. The Mexican government also maintains the exclusive right to develop the resource through its state-owned oil corporation PEMEX. This has not always been the case, prior to 1938 production rested largely with a select group of large multinationals. Upwards of 90 per cent of Mexican [Read more]
The Recipe for a National Climate Change Strategy
On October 10th 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that by 2018 there will be federally mandated floor price on carbon. This price will apply to all provinces and territories that have not instituted, or met the floor price by the 2018 deadline. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna made it clear that this measure is intended to serve as a “back-stop” for climate laggards. The proposed policy includes a carbon price of $10 per tonne starting in 2018, increasing $10 per year until it [Read more]
Forthcoming payments from energy companies to First-Nations could cause a politically explosive situation
There is an ongoing debate in this country around First-Nations’ self-governance and their relationship to the Crown. Under Prime Minister Harper, the previous Conservative Government made a concerted effort to fundamentally redefine this relationship. Harper’s unique approach to Aboriginal relations permitted Canada to reach new milestones in its long and complicated history with its Indigenous peoples. Some of the most admirable steps taken included the Government’s formal apology for the [Read more]
Once upon a time the National Energy Board was nonpartisan
As of late, Canada’s energy regulator has come under fire by critics charging that the regulator favours business interests over environmental concerns. Critics say the Board’s composition and administrative procedures render it incapable of making impartial, evidence-based decisions. The opposition was on full display when Denis Coderre, the outspoken Mayor of Montreal, stormed out of the Energy East hearings just as he was set to provide testimony to the Board. This legitimacy crisis could not [Read more]