Western Standard - O’Toole silent as Trudeau starts shutting down energy industry

00:00:00.000 Nobody should be surprised that Justin Trudeau used the COP26 summit as a platform to announce

00:00:12.880 an emissions cap targeting Western Canada's oil and gas sector. Trudeau campaigned on imposing a

00:00:18.900 cap and the climate summit provided him an ideal international stage from which to announce it.

00:00:25.000 The Trudeau family's disdain for the West and our energy sector is well established.

00:00:29.280 Pierre Trudeau castrated the oil and gas sector with his national energy program back in the 80s.

00:00:33.660 When the Western yokels became upset, he responded by literally giving Western protesters the middle

00:00:38.340 finger when he later passed through the region. It was later known as the Trudeau salute.

00:00:41.760 Justin Trudeau sees the prairies as nothing more than a flyover country that bores him as he looks

00:00:46.500 out the window of his Challenger jet en route to a solemn beach vacation. To see Justin carrying on

00:00:51.900 a legacy of assailing Western Canada's energy sector is not shocking at all, or at least it shouldn't be.

00:00:57.680 What is surprising though, is the federal conservative leader Aaron O'Toole's complete silence on this.

00:01:04.220 Trudeau's act of international virtue signaling at the expense of the West's oil and gas sector provided

00:01:11.600 O'Toole an opportunity to demonstrate some leadership and backbone. God knows we've been looking for it out of

00:01:16.060 them. A thoughtful and strong rebuttal to Trudeau's short-sighted emissions cap could have established

00:01:21.140 Trudeau as an opposition leader willing to take on a debate with Canada's interest in mind. Instead, O'Toole is

00:01:27.060 avoiding the issue at all costs and is focused on the issue of Canada's flags being lowered while Remembrance Day

00:01:31.940 approaches. Perhaps somebody should tell Aaron it's time to take on more than one issue at a time. It is possible to do it.

00:01:37.440 The flag issue is pressing and it's an emotional one, but it's short term. Trudeau is likely going to raise the flag

00:01:42.740 shortly before Remembrance Day so they can be lowered symbolically and he'll paint himself as a hero who's sensitive to both

00:01:47.480 Canada's First Nations community and veterans. Whether it works or not, we'll see. O'Toole's stance on the

00:01:52.360 flags though will be forgotten within weeks while the emission cap he let go unimposed could damage

00:01:57.320 Canada's economy for generations. O'Toole is terrified of upsetting the precious voters within Quebec and

00:02:03.960 Southern Ontario. Indeed, the CPC is going to have to make serious inroads within Central Canada if they

00:02:08.200 hope to win the next federal election. Opposing Trudeau's proposed emissions cap on the oil and gas sector

00:02:12.920 doesn't mean sacrificing Central Canadian voters. The emissions cap is going to harm Canadians from

00:02:18.200 coast to coast as inflation is growing and energy poverty is looming for all of us. O'Toole could

00:02:23.720 have been critical of Trudeau's plan without being regionally divisive, but it would have taken time

00:02:28.600 and effort to make the case that the plan is bad for all Canadians. O'Toole chose to try and hide from

00:02:34.520 the issue rather than show leadership on it. Energy security. It's going to be a pressing issue for all of

00:02:39.640 us in the very near future. The fate of Enbridge's Line 5 is very questionable right now. If it's shut

00:02:45.000 down, both Ontario and Quebec are going to suffer immediately and dearly with energy shortages.

00:02:49.400 Europe is currently increasing its coal consumption while Russia is expanding their production of oil

00:02:53.880 and gas in order to feed the ever-hungry energy consumers of India and China. President Joe Biden

00:02:58.920 is begging OPEC to increase output due to skyrocketing energy prices. Even Norway is unapologetically

00:03:05.080 increasing its oil exploration and production in order to meet world demand. There's no better

00:03:10.440 time than right now. To point out Canada's clean, ethical, petrochemical products are available to

00:03:16.040 fill North America's growing energy needs. We're here. We've got it. An emissions cap targeting oil and

00:03:21.400 gas within Canada, though, is going to chill investment and slow production. Energy demand isn't going

00:03:27.640 away. Thus, Canada is going to be finding itself importing more oil than ever from nations with terrible 0.88

00:03:33.240 environmental and human rights standards. We're going to be paying a premium for oil while literally

00:03:37.960 shutting down our local supplies. It's self-destructive and it's ludicrous. Why can't Aaron O'Toole make 0.61

00:03:43.720 this case? Why is he refusing to? Western Canada's energy sector has been working to reduce emissions

00:03:49.000 intensity for decades and has had great success. Between 2008 and 2011, the emissions from a barrel

00:03:54.360 of oil produced in the oil sands have been reduced by 22 percent and they're continuing to drop.

00:03:59.240 Carbon capture and hydrogen technology have made incredible advances in reducing emissions thanks

00:04:05.160 to research done by Canadian energy producers. We can increase energy output while still keeping

00:04:10.520 the emissions under control. A responsible opposition leader like O'Toole should be celebrating

00:04:17.240 those accomplishments. Energy producers hardly feel incentivized to continue investing in emission

00:04:22.040 reduction technology if they can't even get positive recognition for it, much less a fiscal reward.

00:04:28.360 O'Toole could have opposed Trudeau's plans without taking regional sides. He could have been a force

00:04:33.240 for Canadian unity, actually, as he made a case for the entire nation on the benefits of embracing our

00:04:37.880 clean ethical oil and gas sector. In his silence, O'Toole has actually fed regional division within

00:04:43.000 Canada. Oil and gas producing provinces rightly feel they have no allies left on the federal front

00:04:48.040 and they're being left out in the cold by O'Toole and the Conservative Party of Canada. While Western

00:04:52.760 Canada contributes heavily to the Conservative seat count, they still get the cold shoulder from the

00:04:56.600 party leadership in times of need. It almost feels like our equalization payments. We keep paying

00:05:01.880 and we don't get anything back, whether in dollars or respect.

00:05:05.960 Aaron O'Toole had the chance to stand out as a leader willing to put it all on the line for Canada.

00:05:11.160 He could have taken the tough but principled road in defending our oil and gas sector against Trudeau's

00:05:15.480 incursions. O'Toole instead decided to hide from the issue and Western Canada is going to pay

00:05:20.280 dearly for his cowardice. It's time to stop supporting a party that won't support us. Come to think of it,

00:05:25.480 it's getting near time to stop supporting a nation that won't support us. But that's fodder for a whole new column.

Western Standard - November 03, 2021

O’Toole silent as Trudeau starts shutting down energy industry

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