Canada’s next federal government has an opportunity to help define a strategic, long-term vision for the growth of Canada’s oil and natural gas sector, one that promotes jobs and a healthy economy for all Canadians, while being part of the solution to meet growing global energy demand with responsibly developed energy, states the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).
“Canadians know how important the oil and natural gas industry is to the country,” says CAPP President and CEO Tim McMillan. “Our values are shared values. A vote for energy is a vote for Canada’s future and sends the message Canada can, and should, be supplying energy to the world.”
CAPP believes Canadian energy reflects Canadian values: environmental innovation; Indigenous reconciliation; community engagement; and, leadership in labour and human rights. Using Canadian oil and natural gas is about more than meeting energy needs – it is about using the best product to displace less responsibly produced ones.
In its 2019 federal energy platform, Oil and Natural Gas Priorities: Putting Canada on the World Stage, CAPP outlines opportunities for all of Canada’s federal political parties to address the issues facing the oil and natural gas industry, including market access, regulatory policy, Indigenous prosperity, climate and innovation, and fiscal and tax policy.
The job of the next federal government is to create the conditions necessary for Canada to play a key role on the world stage. The Government of Canada needs to create the conditions to:
- Support the completion of currently proposed major pipeline and liquefied natural gas projects;
- Supply Canada’s domestic oil and natural gas needs with domestic production;
- Increase participation in Indigenous communities and businesses in Canada’s oil and natural gas sector;
- Double current investment in the sector within the next four years, to return to or surpass 2014 levels; and,
- Grow Canada’s contribution to global oil and natural gas supply.
It is also the federal government’s job to enable national prosperity with a regulatory regime that assesses oil and natural gas projects in a timely manner, and provides certainty to Canadians and investors. Bringing investment back to Canada, and building a growing oil and natural gas industry could yield significant socio-economic benefits across the country.
In the upcoming federal election, it’s important all Canadians vote for energy at the ballot box, adds McMillan.
“It should be a priority for the next federal government to position Canada for success by supporting the completion of major pipelines and LNG projects and making Canada globally competitive again,” he says.
