CAGC

Dylan Jones President and CEO of Canada West Foundation The following speech was presented to the annual symposium of The Energy Council, in Regina, Sask., on June 20, 2014. As you all know, the greatest challenge to the further development of energy resources is climate change. My remarks today are going to be about why our current approach on climate change will fail and what we can do about it. But before I do that, I want to tell you a bit about the foundation I lead. The Canada West Foundation is one of Canada’s great think tanks. We focus on the long-term prosperity of western Canada. You could name any important topic, and we have likely researched it, commented on it, stimulated debate about it, and made practical recommendations to improve it. Our Centre for Natural Resources Policy champions the responsible development of the West’s abundant resources. Our Centre for Human Capital Policy champions the development of a skilled and productive workforce. And with o...

From MNP, Oilfeild Service News June 24, 2014 By: David Yager, National Leader, Oilfield Services Russia Secretly Funding Anti-Frac Movement?  It’s right out of a James Bond movie. A news story in the June 20 Financial Post was titled, “Russia in secret plot against fracking, warns NATO chief”. NATO. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. You know, the quasi-military alliance of western powers formed to protect Europe from a Russian invasion. NATO secretary general Andres Rasmussen was quoted as saying, “I have met with allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organizations – environmental organizations working against shale gas – to maintain Europe on imported Russian gas. That is my interpretation”.  The idea that other producing jurisdictions are exploiting Canada’s open and transparent society to lobby against growing our oil and gas production is ...

From MNP, Oilfeild Service News June 24, 2014 By: David Yager, National Leader, Oilfield Services Northern Gateway Approval an Important Step, Outcome Remains Unknown The federal government did the logical thing on June 18th when it ratified the National Energy Board’s (NEB) decision on the approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline, subject of course to the sponsors meeting the NEB’s short list of 209 conditions.  The reaction from all sides was predictable. Those who support the project applauded. Those opposed threatened court challenges, obstruction and possibly civil disobedience. This odyssey is approaching ten years with more years assured. Some predict oil will flow by 2017. Others say never. The current Canadian record for pipeline approvals is Mackenzie Valley which took over three decades from concept in 1973 to approval in 2010. A 2010 CBC News report indicated the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline was 37 years from proposal to approval. By the time it go...

From The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary By: Robert Skinner Canada and the United States have generally been on the same side of history in confronting threats to our shared values and interests.   We have therefore often found common strategic purpose in developing oil and gas pipeline infrastructure. In the 1940s, just weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the two governments agreed on plans to build the Canol Pipeline from Imperial Oil’s Norman Wells field in the Mackenzie Valley to Whitehorse in the Yukon, and on to the Alaskan coast to support the war effort against Japan, which at the time had gained the upper hand in the Pacific war. In the early 1950s, during the Korean War, the U.S. government determined that oil supply to the west coast was at risk and asked Canada for assistance.  The Canadian Parliament passed an Act to expedite the approval and construction of the Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline from Edmonton Alberta over the mou...

From the Daily Oil Bulletin By: Pat Roche In Canada’s four-way bitumen pipeline race, Trans Mountain will finish first, Northern Gateway will finish last and either Keystone XL or Energy East won’t get built. After prefacing his remarks with the caveat that no one knows what will happen, this was how Wood Mackenzie analyst Michael Wojciechowski predicted the race will finish. “Everybody needs to have a base case and this is our base case. Certainly open to debate and discussion,” the Houston-based energy analyst told a press briefing in Calgary on Friday. “But there are other scenarios that may be … equally as plausible.” Trans Mountain first out the gate The British-based global consultancy expects Kinder Morgan ’s expansion of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline across the Rockies to be in service first because the route follows an existing right-of-way. However, Wojciechowski cautioned this doesn’t guarantee successful negotiations with First Nations or clear the...

By: Michelle Stirling-Anosh Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations can't seem to stop themselves.  Maybe it's time to heed the words of people such as U.K. MP Douglas Carswell ("We're spending money that we don't have to solve a problem that doesn't exist at the behest of people we didn't elect") rather than those of unelected and unaccountable ENGOs which continue to ramp up climate hysteria in an effort to induce government, industry and the public into agreeing to a carbon tax. American ENGOs, for example, recently issued a report called Omitted Damages: The Social Costs of Carbon, which claimed the use of fossil fuels and the emission of "carbon pollution" (i.e.. carbon dioxide/CO2) will have disastrous consequences unless we take "climate action" now. They say carbon pollution costs society in terms of extreme weather, illness, deaths and displacement.  Let's look at the facts: According to a repor...

With the start of the Stanley Cup Finals under way, I've considered the question: Why does it matter so much to Canadians? Well, for many Canadians, their favourite players or team may be involved, for some it’s simply something they’re interested in because they enjoy the sport to levels people in other countries rarely do, some may feel some sort of obligation to know what’s going on in the playoffs because it’s part of Canada’s heritage, and then there will be the individuals who watch or pay attention only to fit in with nearly everyone else in the country. No matter what segmented audience you fit into, you’re more than likely to know a little bit about what’s going on. At least more so than what’s happening with the Blue Jays, who despite being in first in the AL East by five and a half games, many people probably have no idea. During the playoffs, there is so much emphasis put on goaltending. I constantly hear statements such as: “Goaltending and defense is the most ...