The Laurentian Elite (LE) is an undefinable, somewhat illusory and informal non-organization. But it's real. And it is one of Canada’s most enduring and influential institutions.It is a congregation of powerful people in Ontario and Quebec who think enough alike to attract the moniker. It is not unfair to suggest that it centres around the federal Liberal Party and is committed to keeping it in power, which is one of the reasons it exercises real and meaningful influence over the affairs of Canadians.The Laurentian Elite is a cohort of Liberal politicians, bilingual senior civil service, a cadre of academics, business leaders, think tanks and institutes and mainstream media, especially the CBC. In other words, it is a big tent of shared values and geography, mostly the Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto triangle. What follows is a couple of anecdotes that illustrate the mindset how the LE thinks and this central Canadian culture is never going to see eye-to-eye with Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC (except maybe in Vancouver.)More than a decade ago, John Stackhouse, recently retired editor of The Globe and Mail, phoned to request a favour. Then a director of the CD Howe Institute (as John is now,) we met at an Institute dinner. Later, John joined our ski group at Whistler to celebrate and discuss his new book about disruption in the media.Soon after, I sent him my research and commentaries about global warming, requesting an introduction to the editors of the Globe and the National Post. He declined, in effect censuring the work, stating that “we have moved past that.” It was disappointing as a simple one line letter would help foster the much needed dialogue between east and west. John did not elaborate on who “we” might be, but given his background and his assumed license to censor my work, perhaps I had just felt the touch of the Laurentian Elite?A more recent event again featured John, now a senior executive in the office of the CEO at the Royal Bank of Canada (described in a recent publication as the “thought leader of RBC.”) This time, he spoke to the Alberta Council for Business. His first words, according to an attendee, “the science of climate change is settled” — the same theme he had expressed to me almost a decade earlier.Well, I hope John has read 'Unsettled,' a bestselling book by former Undersecretary for Science in the US Department of Energy, Steve Koonin. (Koonin served in both the Obama and Biden administrations.) In his introduction, Koonin points out “policy makers and the public may wish for the comfort of certainty in their climate science. But I fear the rigidly promulgated idea that climate science is “settled” (or is a hoax) demeans and chills the scientific enterprise, retarding its progress in these important matters.”Thing is, it also demeans the west and its energy sector. Well into Stackhouse's presentation telling Alberta business leaders about net zero and what Albertans and the sector must do, a prominent person interrupted saying, “many in this room would disagree with you.” A usual occurrence, it reflects there is no appetite in Alberta, Saskatchewan, or northeastern BC to be told a fairy tale narrative of a world without fossil fuels, driven by an uncertain and complex science, in a country with emission levels so small as to be irrelevant.Somewhere there must be some level of logic supporting the federal demands for oil production reductions, especially since it would immediately be replaced from other jurisdictions, likely with lower environmental and human rights standards. It is surprising the LE and many other central Canadians do not understand (or ignore) that only 10% of the emissions chain is the result of finding, developing and producing hydrocarbons (the upstream).In Ontario oil from Western Canada is refined in Sarnia (midstream) and then moved by pipeline to Toronto and Montreal. This flow provides gasoline, jet fuel and the foundation of a myriad of other uses in Canada's industrial heartland (downstream) Inconvenient perhaps, the fact is midstream and downstream activities emit 90% of the total chain. So, if there is a global warming crisis and if Canada must be a global leader, then the solution resides in Ontario and Quebec where the fossil fuels are refined and burned. The best, and maybe only way, to reduce production is to reduce demand.Yet more recent legislation targetted only emissions from the upstream sector, somehow giving Central Canada a pass. This is an unlikely oversight. It looks to me more like another nefarious attempt to confirm the west in its subordinate role, with the Liberal Party and the LE in charge?This is not a personal attack on John, a success by any measure, and a decent guy. But it signals increasing resolve to resist another LE attack of the west. Other manifestations include the Saskatchewan First Act and Alberta’s Sovereignty Act, legal actions to protect provincial jurisdiction, defiance to continual aggressive and damaging legislation and opposition to the unfair equalization program.We in the west lack political power but are beginning to exercise our financial strength, such as the study regarding Alberta’s participation in the Canada Pension Plan. How is it unreasonable for the west to expect the same independence long granted to Quebec? The deliberate or neglectful extension of Keith Davey’s famous election strategy “screw the west, we’ll get the rest” appears to prevail. The fine people comprising the LE, including John Stackhouse, have different values than other parts of our country. Accommodation with Quebec is a workable model, versus attacks on western prosperity, as a model for Canada to function as a federal state. A strong economic and united future requires acceptance of the culture, values and industries of all regions, not just those of Ontario and Quebec.The fight for a western voice is in high gear. This is not a new theme, but a different tone. The days of the west bowing to the LE and its political wing are over. Resistance to the imposition Laurentian Elite values and beliefs is now a fact of life. Dare I say, “we have moved past that”.
The Laurentian Elite (LE) is an undefinable, somewhat illusory and informal non-organization. But it's real. And it is one of Canada’s most enduring and influential institutions.It is a congregation of powerful people in Ontario and Quebec who think enough alike to attract the moniker. It is not unfair to suggest that it centres around the federal Liberal Party and is committed to keeping it in power, which is one of the reasons it exercises real and meaningful influence over the affairs of Canadians.The Laurentian Elite is a cohort of Liberal politicians, bilingual senior civil service, a cadre of academics, business leaders, think tanks and institutes and mainstream media, especially the CBC. In other words, it is a big tent of shared values and geography, mostly the Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto triangle. What follows is a couple of anecdotes that illustrate the mindset how the LE thinks and this central Canadian culture is never going to see eye-to-eye with Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC (except maybe in Vancouver.)More than a decade ago, John Stackhouse, recently retired editor of The Globe and Mail, phoned to request a favour. Then a director of the CD Howe Institute (as John is now,) we met at an Institute dinner. Later, John joined our ski group at Whistler to celebrate and discuss his new book about disruption in the media.Soon after, I sent him my research and commentaries about global warming, requesting an introduction to the editors of the Globe and the National Post. He declined, in effect censuring the work, stating that “we have moved past that.” It was disappointing as a simple one line letter would help foster the much needed dialogue between east and west. John did not elaborate on who “we” might be, but given his background and his assumed license to censor my work, perhaps I had just felt the touch of the Laurentian Elite?A more recent event again featured John, now a senior executive in the office of the CEO at the Royal Bank of Canada (described in a recent publication as the “thought leader of RBC.”) This time, he spoke to the Alberta Council for Business. His first words, according to an attendee, “the science of climate change is settled” — the same theme he had expressed to me almost a decade earlier.Well, I hope John has read 'Unsettled,' a bestselling book by former Undersecretary for Science in the US Department of Energy, Steve Koonin. (Koonin served in both the Obama and Biden administrations.) In his introduction, Koonin points out “policy makers and the public may wish for the comfort of certainty in their climate science. But I fear the rigidly promulgated idea that climate science is “settled” (or is a hoax) demeans and chills the scientific enterprise, retarding its progress in these important matters.”Thing is, it also demeans the west and its energy sector. Well into Stackhouse's presentation telling Alberta business leaders about net zero and what Albertans and the sector must do, a prominent person interrupted saying, “many in this room would disagree with you.” A usual occurrence, it reflects there is no appetite in Alberta, Saskatchewan, or northeastern BC to be told a fairy tale narrative of a world without fossil fuels, driven by an uncertain and complex science, in a country with emission levels so small as to be irrelevant.Somewhere there must be some level of logic supporting the federal demands for oil production reductions, especially since it would immediately be replaced from other jurisdictions, likely with lower environmental and human rights standards. It is surprising the LE and many other central Canadians do not understand (or ignore) that only 10% of the emissions chain is the result of finding, developing and producing hydrocarbons (the upstream).In Ontario oil from Western Canada is refined in Sarnia (midstream) and then moved by pipeline to Toronto and Montreal. This flow provides gasoline, jet fuel and the foundation of a myriad of other uses in Canada's industrial heartland (downstream) Inconvenient perhaps, the fact is midstream and downstream activities emit 90% of the total chain. So, if there is a global warming crisis and if Canada must be a global leader, then the solution resides in Ontario and Quebec where the fossil fuels are refined and burned. The best, and maybe only way, to reduce production is to reduce demand.Yet more recent legislation targetted only emissions from the upstream sector, somehow giving Central Canada a pass. This is an unlikely oversight. It looks to me more like another nefarious attempt to confirm the west in its subordinate role, with the Liberal Party and the LE in charge?This is not a personal attack on John, a success by any measure, and a decent guy. But it signals increasing resolve to resist another LE attack of the west. Other manifestations include the Saskatchewan First Act and Alberta’s Sovereignty Act, legal actions to protect provincial jurisdiction, defiance to continual aggressive and damaging legislation and opposition to the unfair equalization program.We in the west lack political power but are beginning to exercise our financial strength, such as the study regarding Alberta’s participation in the Canada Pension Plan. How is it unreasonable for the west to expect the same independence long granted to Quebec? The deliberate or neglectful extension of Keith Davey’s famous election strategy “screw the west, we’ll get the rest” appears to prevail. The fine people comprising the LE, including John Stackhouse, have different values than other parts of our country. Accommodation with Quebec is a workable model, versus attacks on western prosperity, as a model for Canada to function as a federal state. A strong economic and united future requires acceptance of the culture, values and industries of all regions, not just those of Ontario and Quebec.The fight for a western voice is in high gear. This is not a new theme, but a different tone. The days of the west bowing to the LE and its political wing are over. Resistance to the imposition Laurentian Elite values and beliefs is now a fact of life. Dare I say, “we have moved past that”.
