On paper this looks like we should have energy security, but the oil is not distributed evenly.  Oil from Hibernia on the East Coast is exported, as is Athabasca bitumen crude.  Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces rely on oil from Angola, Nigeria, Venezuela, Norway, Kazakhstan, and Saudi Arabia.  In fact, 100% of the oil used in Quebec and the four Atlantic Provinces is imported.

In hearings before the House Natural Resources Committee, I heard executives from the oil industry say that if there was a disruption of supply to get oil to Eastern Canada, they could send tankers down through the Panama Canal to get to Eastern Canada. The U.S. also has a Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ensure security of supply.  Does anyone find it odd that Canada does not?  I think we should have a plan to ensure energy security for Canada.  To do so, we would need to reverse some existing pipeline flows and invest in upgrading some of the existing pipeline infrastructure.

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The irony is that if Canada continues to ship out bitumen crude as fast as humanly possible, it is Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces that must continue to depend on imports from Angola, Nigeria, Venezuela, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan. Fifty-five per cent of the oil used in Canada is imported. Meanwhile, bitumen crude is shipped to other countries for processing.

Every barrel of crude shipped out of Canada ships out jobs with it. The distortions from the Conservatives on the question of oilsands expansion, raw product export and risky tanker traffic keep trying to limit discussion to environment versus economy. The truth is that it is not in Canada’s interests — in terms of energy security, the environment or the economy — to follow the Harper agenda.

Elizabeth May
MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands
Leader, Green Party of Canada

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