News that EnCana is leaving Canada hit Calgarians like a punch in the gut, but not all citizens of the dominion are mourning with us..I was in a trendy Vancouver café the morning the news broke, sitting beside a blue haired local who read the news around the same time. His reaction was less than encouraging. .“We did it! We are actually winning!”.And he’s not wrong. They are winning. Canadian oil and gas companies are leaving. Some slowly, some fast; and with them a whole range of related firms indirectly tied to them. .EnCana’s move is not purely economic. It is inherently political..I couldn’t help but ask the blue-haired man, “Who is winning?”.After all, Encana has a strong environmental track record. They recently replaced more than 450 high emitting pneumatic devices, reducing more than 1.4 million tons of CO2e emissions. Encana is also electrifying natural gas processing facilities, and has electrified its three largest gas processing facilities in British Columbia using hydro-generated power. This shift reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 860,000 tons per year..So ‘who is winning?’. .Ottawa’s slow strangling of Alberta is there for all but the willfully blind to see, and Albertans have a right to do something about it..When an auto plant in Ontario closes, politicians from all parties flock to throw money at the problem. When Bombardier jobs are at risk in Quebec, the federal government treats it like a national emergency. But when jobs are lost in Alberta – often as a result of Ottawa’s policies – we get little more than thoughts and prayers..Misinformation about Canadian oil is regularly repeated by politicians and activists without so much as a fact check. Like the schoolyard game ‘telephone’, information is corrupted by each passing of hands, to the point where the final message has the blue haired man celebrating that Alberta workers have lost their jobs. .How much more can Albertans take? Our federal government and many provinces are willfully exacerbating Alberta’s economic crisis, and some are even celebrating it. The veil of ‘environmental policy’ is wearing thin, and Westerners are more so than ever checking out of this country. . Trudeau on WE scandal: Case closed .So ‘who is winning?’. .“We are”, he replied, ostensibly meaning the Earth. .Encana leaving Alberta may be a win for those out to destroy Alberta’s economy and those jealous of her success, but any environmentalist without ulterior motives should not praise the loss of a leader in environmental protection. They would recognize and appreciate the significant contributions Encana made. .Thank you for the good times, Encana. Keep Alberta’s phone number. In a few years, we may be a great new country to invest in.
News that EnCana is leaving Canada hit Calgarians like a punch in the gut, but not all citizens of the dominion are mourning with us..I was in a trendy Vancouver café the morning the news broke, sitting beside a blue haired local who read the news around the same time. His reaction was less than encouraging. .“We did it! We are actually winning!”.And he’s not wrong. They are winning. Canadian oil and gas companies are leaving. Some slowly, some fast; and with them a whole range of related firms indirectly tied to them. .EnCana’s move is not purely economic. It is inherently political..I couldn’t help but ask the blue-haired man, “Who is winning?”.After all, Encana has a strong environmental track record. They recently replaced more than 450 high emitting pneumatic devices, reducing more than 1.4 million tons of CO2e emissions. Encana is also electrifying natural gas processing facilities, and has electrified its three largest gas processing facilities in British Columbia using hydro-generated power. This shift reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 860,000 tons per year..So ‘who is winning?’. .Ottawa’s slow strangling of Alberta is there for all but the willfully blind to see, and Albertans have a right to do something about it..When an auto plant in Ontario closes, politicians from all parties flock to throw money at the problem. When Bombardier jobs are at risk in Quebec, the federal government treats it like a national emergency. But when jobs are lost in Alberta – often as a result of Ottawa’s policies – we get little more than thoughts and prayers..Misinformation about Canadian oil is regularly repeated by politicians and activists without so much as a fact check. Like the schoolyard game ‘telephone’, information is corrupted by each passing of hands, to the point where the final message has the blue haired man celebrating that Alberta workers have lost their jobs. .How much more can Albertans take? Our federal government and many provinces are willfully exacerbating Alberta’s economic crisis, and some are even celebrating it. The veil of ‘environmental policy’ is wearing thin, and Westerners are more so than ever checking out of this country. . Trudeau on WE scandal: Case closed .So ‘who is winning?’. .“We are”, he replied, ostensibly meaning the Earth. .Encana leaving Alberta may be a win for those out to destroy Alberta’s economy and those jealous of her success, but any environmentalist without ulterior motives should not praise the loss of a leader in environmental protection. They would recognize and appreciate the significant contributions Encana made. .Thank you for the good times, Encana. Keep Alberta’s phone number. In a few years, we may be a great new country to invest in.