Beyond petroleum
Growth is shifting from the oil-producing west back to the traditional economic heartland. Political power could shift with it
“THE oil industry isn’t remotely the entire Canadian economy,” declared the prime minister, Stephen Harper, on January 22nd. That is not a startling statement. Production of crude oil represents just 3% of Canada’s GDP. The surprise is that Mr Harper felt he has to state the obvious. In an economy dominated by services, Mr Harper and his Conservative Party have cast themselves as champions of the oil industry, which is centred in Alberta, his adopted home province.
He pulled Canada out of the Kyoto protocol on climate change and promoted the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry Alberta bitumen to refineries in the southern United States. He has likened the development of Alberta’s tar sands to building the Great Wall of China. Canada, the fifth-largest producer of crude oil (which makes up 14% of exports), is an “emerging energy superpower”, Mr Harper has proclaimed.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Beyond petroleum"
From the January 31st 2015 edition
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