‘Clarity’ will help boost investment in sector: PM

HOUSTON Boosting confidence in both the energy industry and the environmental regulators who oversee it will help attract investment in Canadian natural resources over the long run, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday as he wrapped up two days in the U.S. energy heartland.

“The one thing I have heard consistently from leaders in the energy industry is the need for clarity,” Trudeau said Friday in Houston, where he attended an influential gathering of politicians and energy executives.

Trudeau was at the CERA-Week conference to deliver a keynote address — a first for a Canadian prime minister — to pitch investment in the Canadian oilsands and other energy sectors while also making the case that natural resource development needs to be done alongside steps to protect the planet.

On Friday, he made it clear that his Liberal government believes the thoughtful development of both renewable and traditional energy sources, coupled with suitable environmental oversight, is the road to economic prosperity.

Once that happens, “we are going to see many people invested and interested in partnering in drawing on Canadians’ great natural resources,” he said.

Those steps in Canada include a carbon-pricing plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which means the Liberal government is heading in one direction while U.S. President Donald Trump moves away from environmental regulations and promising to boost fossil fuel production.

Critics of the plan, including the Conservatives, argue it would put Canada at a competitive disadvantage, especially as lower crude prices and the quick growth of shale oil prompt global energy giants to reconsider their investments in the Alberta oilsands, which are costly and carbon-intensive to produce.

Trudeau is showing no signs of changing course, however, and argues the future benefits will outlast any growing pains as Canada transitions to a low-carbon economy.