Canada’s War on Prosperity

“We're supposed to go along with shutting down our energy sector, shutting down our natural resources.”In February, I sat down with former Canadian Conservative leader Candice Bergen, who detailed the absurdity at the heart of Canada’s politics: a government scorning the very resources that made the nation wealthy. It’s a story that should resonate in Australia, because we’re following the same script.Bergen says that before 2015, Canada had a thriving oil and gas industry. Investment was strong, jobs were plentiful, and energy exports were a pillar of the economy. Then Justin Trudeau came to power. His government declared war on fossil fuels — imposing a federal carbon tax, cancelling major pipeline projects, and introducing legislation so hostile to development it became known as the “No More Pipelines Bill.” One partially built pipeline was nationalised using taxpayer money. Hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment fled to the United States.Between 2015 and last year, Canada’s per capita Gross Domestic Product grew at just 0.4% annually, productivity flatlined, business investment collapsed, and the nation’s income fell from 80% of U.S. levels to just 70% — a wealthy country shrinking itself and declaring it a virtue.And the energy industry bosses? They caved.“They almost immediately had Stockholm syndrome and started to go along with the government,” Bergen told me. “We had the CEOs of the five major oil companies stand up and say, ‘Yes, we think a carbon tax is a good thing, and you’re right — we are kind of dirty, aren’t we?’ Then they would come to [Conservative politicians] and say, ‘We can’t say it, but would you please stand up and defend us?’”So now, a country rich in resources imports oil on one coast, bans exports from the other, and penalises the very people who keep it running — farmers, truckers, miners, and energy workers.When this interview was filmed, the Conservatives had entered the election year riding high in the polls. Trudeau had been forced to stand down, and his Liberal Party was in the process of installing former head of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, Mark Carney, as leader. Carney is now Prime Minister and the election is afoot.I raised the prospect that President Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada might damage the Conservative cause, and Bergen agreed she was worried about it. So it proved to be.Despite Trudeau’s resignation — and the dumping of the consumer carbon tax — the Liberal Party is now resurgent. Fuelled by a backlash against threats and taunts from the U.S. President, the Liberals have turned the election into a referendum on “Canada vs Trump.” The Conservative surge has stalled.“The Liberals are quite happy to have this conflict with Donald Trump,” Bergen said. “When any country is threatened by anyone, the majority of its citizens don't like it.”The same dynamic is now playing into Australia’s federal election, as an aggressive and unpredictable ally takes aim at friends and foes alike.But Bergen’s central message — of a resource-rich country run by people who think resources are embarrassing — still stands. Canada and Australia are voluntarily surrendering prosperity and sovereignty to satisfy a global carbon-cutting agenda that major emitters like China and the U.S. are ignoring.Canada is not a warning to Australia. It’s a mirror. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.powerlines.au