Juno News - March 02, 2026


Brett Wilson： Canada needs to get its act together on energy

Topics
clean energy regulations first nations rights in BC climate change extremism
Mentioned
Brett Wilson Papa Trudeau Rupert Mark Carney Smith Ian Anderson Chris Wright Wab Canoe Al Gore Kelowna Maduro Harper Ruth
Canada buys LNG from Australia while ignoring Alberta Indian official says Canada needs 60M more people as Carney visits New Delhi

Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

164.87

Word count

2,589

Sentence count

214

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

9

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode of Dragon's Den, host Brett Wilson sits down with long-time Dragon s Den guest Brett Wilson to talk about the lack of progress on the Keystone XL pipeline, the Australian LNG project, and much more.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 And our guest today is Brett Wilson, longtime businessman and star of Dragon's Den.
00:00:11.400 Welcome to the show, sir.
00:00:12.920 Delightful.
00:00:13.740 I'm glad to be here.
00:00:15.600 Let's talk a little bit about the fact that we're now receiving fuel from Australia.
00:00:22.540 We're actually buying energy from halfway around the world.
00:00:27.780 This surprised some people.
00:00:30.760 But because the fact that we have LNG in our own country, and you would know that having worked in the energy industry for many years, what do you take from that?
00:00:40.840 To be blunt, I think it's a bit bizarre that we can't get our act together and properly.
00:00:46.100 If climate change is a concern, which is why we don't want to build a pipeline, then why are we bringing ships from the other side of the world burning?
00:00:54.760 Anyway, the nonsense in terms of the decision not to have a pipeline, not to, for example, you could drill in a place called Quebec and produce natural gas.
00:01:05.260 Oh, go figure.
00:01:07.060 But they've got their minds wrapped around that.
00:01:09.360 I mean, and also to make a bit of fun of this, we bring 5 million tons of metallurgical coal in from the United States.
00:01:16.380 Well, in the West Coast of Canada, we're producing 30 million tons a year that we ship to India and China and Japan and North Korea or South Korea, probably.
00:01:26.580 But, you know, we just don't have ourselves very well organized in terms of the cross Canada.
00:01:33.020 And I also make fun of this.
00:01:34.320 You remember it was in 1867, give or take, they built a railway that helped bring a country together.
00:01:41.020 Was that just one way or is it two way?
00:01:42.920 I don't know.
00:01:43.420 But it doesn't make any environmental sense either.
00:01:46.660 I mean, if you're bringing LNG from, you know, 25,000 kilometers away, I mean, Alberta is 4,000 kilometers from that docking facility in St. John, New Brunswick.
00:02:02.100 I mean, how does the left justify it from that vantage point?
00:02:05.220 The only argument that a friend of mine thought might be logical is that the LNG project in Australia had surplus capacity and we bought the natural gas for next to nothing.
00:02:19.480 But that didn't stop it from being shipped, didn't stop it from being the cost of shipping and the environmental impact of all those things.
00:02:26.200 So, no, you're absolutely right.
00:02:27.440 And for example, the West Coast LNG projects could ship through something called the Panama Canal, a whole lot closer.
00:02:34.140 And that's if we needed to ship.
00:02:36.360 I'm still a believer in either pipelines or railways.
00:02:40.680 Are you a believer in the MOU that was signed between Smith and Mark Carney?
00:02:46.260 Is that the way forward in your view?
00:02:48.780 It's a huge improvement over where we were.
00:02:52.040 Remember, the Keystone XL and the other pipeline to the north, each of the proponents spent $800 to $1 billion trying to advance the projects.
00:03:03.420 And then died at the, at the, at the, at the planning stage.
00:03:06.540 And so the argument that there isn't a, isn't a builder proposing to move forward is logical.
00:03:13.420 I mean, that's why Carney and Smith said, let's try and get all of the regulatory issues out of the way.
00:03:19.320 And then we'll bring in someone who builds pipelines to actually build the pipeline. 0.83
00:03:24.020 So I'm a fan of the MOU for that reason.
00:03:26.280 Now, the problem with Carney is talk is cheap.
00:03:30.000 Action is expensive.
00:03:31.300 And so there's a gap between talk and action.
00:03:33.740 And that's, that's what we're waiting on.
00:03:35.460 But the other thing not to be lost on, on our nation is that the MOU also destroyed the noise that had been created by Gibault in the clean energy regulations and other things.
00:03:47.900 The fact that Gibault resigned that day speaks volumes for the thoughtfulness of Carney attempting to move this forward.
00:03:54.520 And of course, with, to be blunt, with the, the clean energy regulations disappearing, we're now amplifying data centers and power plants in Alberta, nowhere else, but in Alberta.
00:04:06.780 And the carbon tax is supposed to go way up though, isn't it?
00:04:10.580 I mean, with a 600% or I forget what the number is.
00:04:13.840 Well, 117 to 170, there's, I mean, there's different numbers.
00:04:17.420 We've had an industrial carbon tax in Alberta for 25 years.
00:04:21.500 I've been in the power of business for, well, 20 years.
00:04:25.160 So we've been paying an industrial carbon tax.
00:04:27.860 The question is, how do we allocate the cost of that carbon tax?
00:04:31.640 And of course, it goes back to customers.
00:04:33.700 And there's some, some, somehow a belief sometimes in some of the political parties, the liberal party,
00:04:38.340 that if the corporation pays the carbon tax, the consumer doesn't.
00:04:44.460 And of course that makes no sense.
00:04:46.740 But what about investment capital?
00:04:48.540 And you would certainly be an expert in that field.
00:04:51.740 What if there aren't the kind of investors that you need in order to make a project like this move forward because of the regulatory issues and the history that we have of frankly, discouraging investment in the sector?
00:05:05.220 Well, remember TMX was scheduled to cost $7 billion, ended up coming in $33, $35 billion.
00:05:13.560 And that was because Green and First Nation and other groups along the way all put their fists up and slowed the process down.
00:05:22.080 And that's where the costs just exploded.
00:05:24.280 You know, I know Ian Anderson, the guy who was building TMX before it was sold and his frustration with the bureaucratic processes of provincial, municipal, and federal were, were massive.
00:05:37.520 And that's what drove the cost up.
00:05:39.380 Now, at the end of the day, the economics are still compelling.
00:05:42.180 There's, you know, $5, $10 a barrel, whatever it is, is paying for it.
00:05:46.380 So the, the cost flows back to the consumer, which ultimately migrates back up to the, uh, the producer.
00:05:54.720 So I'm comfortable that even if it's silly, expensive, um, maybe silly is okay. 0.91
00:06:00.240 Stupid's not again, hard to judge that until we get further along in the, uh, the, uh, review processes. 0.95
00:06:06.240 Remember there's talk of first nations, the Alberta opportunity, the Alberta indigenous opportunity corp and the BC first nations. 0.99
00:06:13.300 I mean, I'll tell you a side story.
00:06:15.840 I'm heavily invested in the Yukon.
00:06:17.700 One of our projects it's 55% owned by first nations that my Yukon partners want to invest in Prince Rupert.
00:06:26.960 That's my first nation Yukon partners investing in Prince Rupert because they believe in the future of developing that place.
00:06:34.520 Why would that be what's because the first nations that are local ignore that concept of the coastal first nations, which is an immoral, unethical U S funded, um, green group.
00:06:45.800 It makes no sense at all.
00:06:47.000 They're bribing the local first nations. 0.72
00:06:49.080 I'll say that publicly and I'll defend that.
00:06:51.760 Um, but no, the noise that's being created by first nations, um, is purely tied to economics.
00:06:58.340 They want, they want to be paid properly and that's fair.
00:07:01.820 Uh, Premier Eby has been adamant about opposing a pipeline to the west coast.
00:07:10.400 And, you know, the prime minister has been clear that he's not going to override the views and they're strong in British Columbia, that he's not going to override those views.
00:07:23.540 In other words, it was not going to push through a pipeline over the opposition of, uh, Premier Eby and to what degree is that a problem?
00:07:33.440 It's going to take five years to get this organized.
00:07:35.720 And I can almost guarantee you that Eby will be gone.
00:07:38.460 So that problem disappears.
00:07:40.100 We also have the UNDRIP or the NDIP program in terms of how real estate's owned in BC.
00:07:45.340 There's some real serious issues and Eby has now acknowledged that expanding TMX is logical, economic, worthwhile.
00:07:54.960 And TMX has announced basically that they're going to hit.
00:07:57.520 So that's active.
00:07:58.840 And so Eby's objections, I think are purely mental, not physical, not economic, not thoughtful.
00:08:06.740 Yeah, but they're dogmatic, uh, and yeah, I mean, going back, I think, well, to be blunt, I'm certain he'll be gone.
00:08:16.580 I'd put a lot of money on that bet.
00:08:18.260 I'm certain he'll be gone.
00:08:19.340 The BC people in BC I'm heavily invested in, well, soon Ruth, Prince Rupert heavily invested in, uh, Kelowna and other areas, you know, they're unhappy.
00:08:29.360 I don't know anyone who wants to actively invest in British Columbia under Eby and again, the first nation rights in terms of real estate.
00:08:38.000 There's a lot of confusion that's got to get solved.
00:08:41.080 Well, there's the issue of the tanker ban, of course, and decarbonization.
00:08:45.660 What are your views about those?
00:08:47.860 Carney has admitted that the tanker ban is going to be optimized so that from Monday to Friday, from noon till four, we can have tankers.
00:08:56.000 I mean, he's, they're going to play with the ban.
00:08:57.660 They're trying to keep it as if it is a ban, but it's going to get wiped.
00:09:01.920 I'm absolutely confident of that.
00:09:04.740 Functionally, it'll be right.
00:09:07.080 Sorry.
00:09:09.160 Decarbonization, uh, all the talk about taking the, the carbon, I mean, that's extortionately expensive, isn't it?
00:09:16.200 If you're going to please the environmental.
00:09:18.760 Well, the work that's being done up in the oil sands, the economics are destructive. 1.00
00:09:24.380 Um, to be blunt, they're stupid. 1.00
00:09:27.020 And that's what clean energy regulated CCUS was required. 1.00
00:09:31.700 Carbon capture was required under the clean energy regulation.
00:09:34.480 We got to get that wiped out.
00:09:35.940 And the other thing is it's, I'm seeing this logically all over the place.
00:09:39.940 The, uh, the extremism of climate change and what people think it is, Al Gore is disappearing.
00:09:47.620 He's been claiming this and this and this and this.
00:09:50.060 None of it's true.
00:09:50.740 None of it's true.
00:09:51.900 And we're getting increasing proof that CO2 is not the punishment that's being described.
00:09:57.080 And the earth warming a little bit, well, you know, 20,000 years ago, it was a lot warmer.
00:10:02.080 Cause did you know that we used to have two miles of ice in Calgary right above us?
00:10:06.320 Two miles.
00:10:07.040 Did things warm up?
00:10:08.180 They must have. 1.00
00:10:09.680 The stupidity of some of these arguments is being amplified. 1.00
00:10:12.640 And that's where I think governments are starting to realize we're stuck with some bureaucrats 1.00
00:10:16.540 who have got very myopic perspectives, but I think people are getting smarter with time.
00:10:21.900 On the U S front, I mean, we've got America now having taken steps to arrest Maduro and
00:10:29.000 Trump has been very vocal about bringing in more Venezuelan oil.
00:10:35.060 Uh, to what do you agree, to what degree do you see that supplanting Canadian product, uh,
00:10:40.920 heading South, is that going to be problematic for Canada?
00:10:45.240 There's a potential for overlap and conflict.
00:10:47.460 So yes, I mean, but I don't think it's imminent.
00:10:50.020 And then certainly when you listen to Chris Wright, um, who's the U S minister of energy
00:10:55.300 or whatever his proper title is, um, he is cautious, but he came out of the oil industry.
00:11:00.360 He didn't come out of bureaucracy.
00:11:01.580 He didn't come out of politics.
00:11:02.500 He came out of the oil industry and he's cautious.
00:11:04.880 I saw an interview with him done a couple of weeks ago, and he was cautious about how
00:11:10.000 capital could be allocated back into Venezuela.
00:11:13.900 So people were, they're going to be slow and it's not, it's not imminent that it's
00:11:17.920 happening.
00:11:18.680 It's inevitable.
00:11:20.020 It will, but so's demand for oil.
00:11:22.420 Like we're not declining as the forecast was, we're still growing globally.
00:11:28.260 So the oil will still be valued.
00:11:30.540 Both oils, Canada and Venezuela.
00:11:33.540 Those who are promoting the idea of Alberta separation are going to make
00:11:36.640 their case to Albertans and say, we're going to all be rich.
00:11:40.260 And we won't have to send billions of dollars a year to Ottawa to cover the cost of social
00:11:47.440 programs and Maritimes and elsewhere in Quebec, you know, where they get 13 billion a year or,
00:11:52.760 or whatever.
00:11:53.600 So what degree is that going to sway the people of Alberta who are frankly fed up with the federal government's intransigence on the resource issue?
00:12:05.380 Well, certainly, I mean, it started with Trudeau, dad, Papa Trudeau in 1982.
00:12:10.920 I still remember buying a house in Calgary for a hundred thousand dollars, spending 20, renovating it, selling it for 70, less than the mortgage.
00:12:18.720 They destroyed the Alberta economy.
00:12:21.180 That was Papa.
00:12:22.000 And the son seemed to learn from him.
00:12:23.820 So we had a lot of problems.
00:12:25.020 I wish Harper had been more aggressive doing what he was doing, but here we are.
00:12:29.360 So going back to big picture, you know, I've, I've joked from stage a couple of times.
00:12:34.180 If Alberta was to separate, are we going to build a wall like Trump built across the border with the United States?
00:12:41.280 People go, no.
00:12:42.360 All right.
00:12:42.780 Well, what about a chain link fence up the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan?
00:12:46.600 We don't need it in the mountains because no one can get through there anyway, but are we going to build mountain?
00:12:50.940 Are we going to build walls?
00:12:52.220 And then I had no, no walls.
00:12:54.160 Well, then let's build a moat 20 feet wide, 10 feet deep.
00:12:57.300 How are, I mean, physically we're not separating.
00:13:00.060 We're only changing the business deals and it's paperwork and trying to think about how we could amplify the value of Alberta with this concept of separation.
00:13:12.880 I don't think it's being thoughtful, thoughtfully organized or done.
00:13:16.520 And it hasn't really been talked through.
00:13:18.100 I happen to be a fan, by the way, of guess, why not get Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, BC, and the two Northwest territories in the Yukon to work collaboratively.
00:13:27.120 We got three coasts, a border.
00:13:29.340 We can do anything we want without worrying about what Quebec says.
00:13:34.500 And frankly, Ford doesn't like Crown Royal to hell with him too.
00:13:38.040 I mean, we just don't need Ontario and Quebec the way it's described.
00:13:42.380 Now, the other thing is equalization has to be solved and you know, what's Alberta looking for or what Quebec has our own independent police force, our own independent pension fund.
00:13:53.100 And there's people playing with the numbers, but again, we'll look at the economics, look at what's right.
00:13:57.720 And then quite frankly, frankly, if Quebec were to increase its cost of electricity to its own consumers by four cents, which brings it still under the Canadian average, the equalization payments fall in half.
00:14:15.500 It's that simple.
00:14:16.200 And that's where they've got a very distorted perspective, delusional to be blunt, in terms of their value to Canada when they won't collaborate with the rest of the country.
00:14:27.580 And that's why I keep emphasizing if Western Canada, again, Alberta, Saskatchewan, BC, and Manitoba, I mean, Wab Canu, I'm not convinced of his business knowledge and EB's got to go.
00:14:38.720 So, but again, once we get all of this organized, look what we can do.
00:14:43.800 I appreciate the optimism.
00:14:45.220 Thank you so much for coming on the show, Brett.
00:14:48.960 Pardon the cough.
00:14:50.080 And thank you.
00:14:51.280 Brett Wilson.
00:14:52.560 Thank you.
00:14:53.820 If you enjoyed this show, consider supporting great independent journalism where breaking news stories are told by going to junonews.com backslash straight up.
00:15:02.440 That's the name of this show.
00:15:03.460 Straight up.
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00:15:07.000 It helps us a great deal.
00:15:08.300 Thank you.
00:15:08.720 We'll see you next time.
00:15:15.220 Here we go.
00:15:23.920 Here we go.
00:15:25.900 Beautiful.
00:15:26.220 We'll see you next time.
00:15:27.120 See you next time.
00:15:28.560 Bye.
00:15:29.160 Bye.
00:15:29.780 Bye.
00:15:29.960 Bye.
00:15:30.660 Bye.
00:15:30.800 Bye.
00:15:31.120 Bye.
00:15:31.400 Bye.
00:15:32.000 Bye.
00:15:33.020 Bye.
00:15:33.800 Bye.
00:15:33.820 Bye.
00:15:34.000 Bye.
00:15:34.100 Bye.
00:15:34.640 Bye.
00:15:35.040 Bye.
00:15:37.180 Bye.
00:15:38.360 Bye.
00:15:40.140 Bye.
00:15:41.180 Bye.
00:15:41.900 Bye.