The year 2015, like the 12 months we have just lived through, will turn out to be a year of mixed blessings.
The Middle East has shown an extraordinary capacity to keep us preoccupied on that part of the world. Vladimir Putin will help Syria and Iran to keep us focused there while he underwrites separation movements inside Eastern European countries previously under Soviet occupation. NATO needs to prevent these countries from disintegration, as has happened in Ukraine. Canada is not doing its fair share and we will need to decide what our NATO role will be. Our stalled EU trade agreement will be on the table in these deliberations. This affects the merits of building a pipeline to take our oil to New Brunswick for transport to Europe. The potential also exists for Edmonton-based military forces to be deployed to Europe instead of returning to Afghanistan. Our MP will need to be involved with this file.
Nationally, the drop in the oil prices may prove to be a net benefit. OPEC has decided that it will no longer allow shale extraction, offshore drilling or oilsands processing to eat into its market share. Oil prices will remain below the cost of production from these sources at between $58 and $65 a barrel.
On the positive side, Canadian export manufacturing has been given a huge boost. Ontario, in particular, has been greatly assisted as the value of our dollar has dropped along with energy prices. The federal government coffers will be all right as Ontario revenues increase, offsetting the drop in oilsands revenue.
Alberta has been badly hit. We have no national energy policy to help us cope with the ups and downs of oil and gas prices and our oil distribution system is sorely underdeveloped. Accelerating our oil refinery capacity would be nice but we struggle to get our products to market.
The Keystone Pipeline is stalled until Obama leaves office. China’s huge oil and gas contract with Russia has lowered the urgency for a West Coast pipeline. Political lobbying for a TransCanada pipeline flow reversal and upgrading has been maximized. We might be best served in intensifying scientific and engineering research and investment focused on lowering the cost of oil production. Our MLAs have their work cut out for them on this.
At home, the inability of the city to keep Athabasca University in St. Albert is a costly failure. This issue was on the books of the present mayor and city manager(s) for several years. The latest explanations from city hall for having this internationally recognized university exit St. Albert were pathetic. We have most definitely confirmed ourselves as the Best Bedroom Community in Canada to live in. Do we need a bureaucracy and city council of this size and complexity to run this type of municipal operation? This one is up to us.
And I haven’t even mentioned the prime minister, his PMO, Mike Duffy or Pamela Wallin. Or did I just do that?
Alan Murdock is a local pediatrician.
