Varcoe: Ottawa's new resources minister promises clean slate, but oilpatch looks for 'concrete actions' on new projects
In a world of political messaging, Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to build, baby, build.
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Ultimately, it will be concrete action — not just words — that will determine how the relationship between Tim Hodgson and the Canadian oil and gas sector unfolds in the coming months.
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In his first major speech since taking over the portfolio, Hodgson sent a clear signal Friday to a Calgary business audience that he wants to reset the often-testy interaction between Ottawa and the country's largest export industry.
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More significantly, he plainly backed the idea that Canadian oil and gas can grow the economy and be a tool for global stability, supplying other countries with energy.
'I want to be very clear. In the new economy we are building — Canada will no longer be defined by delay. We will be defined by delivery,' Hodgson told the Calgary Chamber of Commerce audience — twice, in case anyone missed it the first time.
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'Energy is Canada's superpower. It gives us an opportunity to build the strongest economy in the G7.'
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It was a stark contrast to the general indifference, or active hostility, that seeped out of the pores of the Trudeau government, which had little desire to see Canada significantly boost oil and gas output or build export infrastructure.
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'He really extended an olive branch to the energy sector,' said Sonya Savage, a former Alberta energy and environment minister in the UCP government.
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The previous Trudeau government did get the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project finished, with federal government money required to buy and build it. But other pipeline projects, such as Northern Gateway, Energy East and Keystone XL, floundered.
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Contentious Liberal government policies such as the Impact Assessment Act and the incoming oilpatch emissions cap also fractured the relationship and broke any trust.
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