News Analysis
The saga of Canada’s land-locked oilsands has a certain parallel to an old Chinese story.
It goes like this: A farmer has a prized horse. One day the horse runs away. The farmer’s neighbours console him, but he replies indifferently, “That’s life.”
One day the prized horse returns, bringing a beautiful wild horse with it. His neighbours all congratulate him for his good fortune, but he replies indifferently, “That’s life.”
Soon after the farmer’s oldest son falls off the new horse, breaking his leg. Again the neighbours come to console the farmer, but he remains unmoved. “That’s life,” he says.
A few weeks later war breaks out and all able-bodied men are conscripted. The farmer’s son is left behind and is one of the few young men not killed in the war. The neighbours praise the farmer’s luck, but he just says, “That’s life.”
The story reveals that sometimes its hard to tell whats a benefit or loss without the context of events still at play.
Alberta’s conventional oil is a bit like that prized horse. Conventional crude production has dwindled to less than a quarter of Alberta’s oil production. But production came back with the oilsands, a wild but lucrative resource.
But unlike that farmer, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government have been anything but indifferent to the gift horse.
Some even blame Harper’s zealous efforts to get oilsands crude to market for the plethora of challenges facing every pipeline now being proposed.
Breaking the Horse
This week, an article in Maclean’s teased on its front page: “Blame Harper: How Canada’s energy dream died.”
The five-page article inside, titled “Oil’s worst enemy,” argues that “in trying to promote the industry and protect it from emissions regulations, the Harper government has done more harm than good for Canada’s pipeline efforts.”
Essentially, says author Chris Sorensen, Harper’s unrestrained enthusiasm for the oilsands and refusal to put a price on carbon or take other measures to appease climate change concern has galvanized environmental opposition.
