Anyone who thought U.S. President Donald Trump would turn out to be one of Canada’s top nation builders may take a bow. Bonus points if you also had him potentially significantly advancing the prospect of Indigenous reconciliation in Canada. Though I personally know of no one who predicted this turn of events, recent pronouncements may indicate that Trump has handed Canada a golden opportunity to build our country for the future.
The storm south of our border has sent politicians throughout the country scrambling to find an appropriate response. Whether that’s a “Team Canada” approach or more individualized provincial responses, the only thing clear is that doing nothing is not an option. The existential threat posed by Trump’s threatened tariffs seems to have focused minds and made everyone face up to the reality of what drives Canada’s economy.
Two main points stand out. First, politicians who for years have dumped on our energy sector are suddenly very keen to highlight just how important the four-million barrels of oil we send south of the border on a daily basis are to the U.S. economy. Second, there now seems to be wide agreement that our valuable resources remain largely captive to the U.S. market, and that we desperately need to diversify how those resources get out to the wider world.
Showing that times of war make strange bedfellows, politicians throughout the country have suddenly rekindled the old flames of mothballed infrastructure projects.
In an astonishing development last week, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, suggested that Canada needs another pipeline to the West Coast and that Northern Gateway, which was mothballed in 2016 following fierce opposition — notably from Chief Phillip himself — should be reexamined. Though Chief Philip later recanted, it is still extraordinary that he uttered support in the first place. Such a pronouncement was unthinkable even a few months ago.
Also last week, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston called for the immediate approval of the Energy East pipeline that was cancelled in 2017 by TC Energy following the usual foot dragging, regulatory delays and uncertainty, which have become the hallmark of large Canadian infrastructure projects.
Canada — and B.C., in particular — must not miss this opportunity to grow up and stand on our own two feet. While governments spend billions of dollars on programs with dubious impact, development of our natural resources is a clear and obvious opportunity to make our country richer.
Finding innovative ways for First Nations to participate in multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects, which would bring economic prosperity for generations to come, should also be considered and supported. The government can partner with First Nations and private enterprise to create an ownership structure that will allow the royalties that flow from pipeline tolls to end up in the bank accounts of the nations along pipeline routes.
Our mentality of pipelines taking 10 years to build must be jettisoned. Huge projects have previously been proposed, permitted and built in only slightly more time than Trump has remaining in office. Phase 1 of the Keystone pipeline was proposed in 2005, approved in 2007 and oil flowed from Alberta to Steele City, Neb., 3,500 kilometres away, in 2010. It’s inconceivable we should be unable to beat that timeline by a large margin when only B.C. and Alberta are involved.
The energy and resource sectors are our country’s most important economic engines, and represent the best opportunities for economic reconciliation with First Nations. Over 10,000 Indigenous people work in the oil and gas sector. While many government jobs and economic promises fail to deliver, the resource sector doesn’t.
Donald Trump’s bluster has highlighted our economic vulnerabilities as a country. These cannot continue. Our resources must find new markets, and for that to happen, we need new infrastructure like pipelines to get our resources to the world markets.
The moral imperative to include First Nations in this economic development is clear. Donald Trump has given our entire country a jolt of reality, which we must use to build our nation into a stronger and more mature one. If we take the message to heart, the beneficiaries will be our companies, provinces, First Nations and Canada as a whole. It is an opportunity we simply cannot afford to miss.
National Post
Adam Pankratz is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business and a board member of Rokmaster Resources.