Kenney visits U.S. capital to pitch province's oil as energy security solution

The Alberta government's all-out effort to become America's preferred provider of oil and gas will face a critical moment Tuesday as Premier Jason Kenney delivers his province's sales pitch to some of the most prominent members of the U.S. Congress.

He'll see some friendly faces, including Sen. Joe Manchin, the swing-vote West Virginia Democrat who has bonded with Kenney over the issue of North American energy security. Others might be less hospitable, like Vermont's progressive standard-bearer Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Kenney is convinced he has common sense on his side.

“Alberta is by far the largest source of U.S. energy imports — 10 times more than Saudi Arabia, and five times more than all of OPEC combined. I doubt there's 100 people in the United States who know that,” the premier said Tuesday in a meeting with Canadian journalists in D.C.

“It is deeply frustrating to us. We don't even seem to show up on the radar screen when it comes to these discussions.”

That's why the government has installed former Conservative MP James Rajotte at the Canadian Embassy as Alberta's U.S. emissary. It is also opening new offices this summer in Denver, Chicago and Seattle and has a slick new Us$6-million ad campaign based on the tagline “Look North.”

It's also why the likes of Energy Minister Sonya Savage and Environment Minister Jason Nixon will be racking up frequent-flyer miles to convince a gridlocked Capitol Hill and seemingly indifferent White House of the energy security solution Kenney believes is staring them in the face.

“I think you can expect to see an Alberta delegation of ministers down here in Washington at least every other month,” he said.

“I was here two months ago, they're going to be here one month from now — we're going to be really picking up the tempo of our presence here.”

The hearing, to explore the “energy and minerals” partnership between Canada and the U.S., will also feature virtual testimony from Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, as well as Nathalie Camden, Quebec's deputy minister of mines, and Electricity Canada president Francis Bradley.

Wilkinson said Monday he expects senators will hear a unified message about the vital role Canada can and should play in securing a reliable and sustainable supply of North American energy.

And it will be in that spirit he will remind the committee of the importance of Line 5, a key energy artery between Alberta and Michigan that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is actively trying to shut down out of fear of an ecological disaster in the Great Lakes.

“Part of what I will be saying to the committee on Line 5 is, `Let's not actually take steps backwards,'” Wilkinson said in an interview.

“This is an important part of North American energy security. Yes, it's important for Canada, but there are American states that also get products off this line. So let's declare that we need to be moving forward.”