St. John’s MP takes on challenge of oilpatch discontent
In a largely unanticipated move, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday announced that his longtime friend Seamus O’regan, the Liberal MP from St. John’s, N.L., would serve as the next natural resources minister.
The appointment puts O’regan in charge of a sensitive portfolio at a time when the oilpatch is struggling and the Liberals failed to win a single riding in either Alberta or Saskatchewan. As minister, his responsibilities will extend beyond energy to developing policies around all natural resources, including mining and forestry. All three sectors contribute to Newfoundland and Labrador’s economy, which has also supplied a portion of the workforce for Alberta’s oilsands.
O’regan, who holds a Master of philosophy from the University of Cambridge and previously worked in media, is not strongly associated with the resources sector. “He is best known to Canadians for his 10 years as co-host of CTV’S Canada AM,” the bio featured on his government website had read until Wednesday afternoon.
O’regan was swept into office as a Liberal in the 2015 election, winning 58 per cent of the votes, and then won re-election this fall with 51 per cent of the votes in his riding.
Amarjeet Sohi, the previous minister of natural resources, hailed from Alberta, but failed to retain his riding last month. That left an open question as to whom Trudeau could name as the next minister of natural resources, given that Western Canada’s resources sector has been struggling.
Winnipeg MP Jim Carr, who previously held the role, was not appointed to a cabinet post because he is battling cancer. But Trudeau designated Carr a “special representative” for the Prairies, who can advocate on behalf of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
“I think that at this point, the fortunes of the domestic oil industry depend first and foremost on global oil prices, and next on getting one or more of the pipelines completed,” said Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
The Keystone XL pipeline would carry oil from Alberta’s oilsands to Nebraska, but Porter said its future is largely dependent on what happens in the U.S., where Democrats in the House of Representatives have called for a review of the federal agency that would regulate it in the wake of an oil spill in North Dakota.
Meanwhile, the Crownowned Trans Mountain Pipeline would twin an existing line that carries oil from Alberta to the coast, and is under construction.