Power politics

In the wake of the late ’70s oil price shocks, Joe Clark’s Conservative government made it a priority to encourage energy self-sufficiency in Canada. As a result, it was expected that the development of the tar sands, northern drilling and conservation would buffer Canadians from global energy volatility for decades to follow. Today however, energy prices are skyrocketing.

“Knowledgeable people have told us that self-sufficiency may not be attainable, at least by 1990. I believe that goal is attainable.”
PRIME MINISTER JOE CLARK, in 1979, says foreign oil imports can be eliminated in just over a decade

“Why spend billions of taxpayers’ dollars subsidizing oil companies to find new reserves and then export the oil?”
FRANÇOIS BREGHA of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, in 1982

“Canadians are going to realize that we are not as flush in energy as we thought.”
RICHARD ZARZECZNY, president of Toronto-based Canadian Enerdata Ltd., in 1991

“The energy story in Canada is a continental one when it comes to energy, borders matter less and less.”
MICHAEL PHELPS, chairman and CEO of Westcoast Energy, in 2000

“I really think Canadians need to begin to really talk about energy self-sufficiency and energy security.”
ONTARIO ENERGY MINISTER DWIGHT DUNCAN, in 2004, calls for national coordination

“Even the best environmental policies will not help much as long as Canada is locked into exporting 70% of its oil and 56% of its natural gas to the United States.”
GORDON LAXER, director of the Parkland Institute in Edmonton, in 2006

Steve Brearton