Canada is sleepwalking into economic decline. Our once world-class energy sector, long the backbone of national prosperity, is being choked by federal policies favouring political ideology over practical reality. Investment is fleeing. Projects are collapsing under regulatory paralysis. And Canadians are paying the price with higher costs, lost jobs and fractured national unity.
The roots of this crisis are easy to trace. For nearly a decade, Ottawa has treated the energy sector as a political inconvenience. Instead of championing Canada’s immense resource wealth, it has tied the industry in red tape, chased away capital and imposed arbitrary targets disconnected from economic or technological reality. Entire regions, especially in Western Canada, have been sidelined, their contributions diminished, and their livelihoods threatened.
This is no longer just a Western Canada grievance. The consequences of energy neglect are now national. Inflation may have slowed, but Canadians are still grappling with the aftershocks: higher grocery bills, soaring utility costs and a general erosion of affordability.
Meanwhile, Canada’s global influence is fading. While countries like the United States and Qatar have aggressively expanded their energy capacity to meet global demand, Canada remains stalled.
Since 2015, the U.S. has added more than 25 billion cubic feet per day of LNG export capacity. Canada, after years of consultations and delays, has just two LNG projects under construction — a stunning underperformance for a country with some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves. The window of opportunity is closing, and international investors have taken notice.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Canada has the resources, the expertise and the global demand. What we lack is political will. Canadians need a government in Ottawa that recognizes energy as a strategic asset, not a liability. One that moves beyond empty slogans and virtue-signalling, and instead champions responsible development that creates jobs, generates revenue and supports Indigenous economic reconciliation.
Leadership in Alberta, under Premier Danielle Smith, has made it clear: energy security, affordability and economic growth are non-negotiable. Ottawa needs to catch up. We can protect the environment without destroying the economy. We can reduce emissions through innovation, not strangulation.
Energy development is not a partisan issue — it is a national imperative. Canada’s global standing depends on it. So does our domestic stability. And so do the hundreds of thousands of Canadians whose livelihoods rely on a strong and vibrant energy sector. Ignoring this reality is not just bad policy — it is reckless.
In the wake of failed projects like Northern Gateway — now nearly 10 years behind us — Indigenous leaders and communities have redoubled their calls for meaningful partnerships in resource development. Their message is clear: if government steps aside and lets them lead, they are ready to build. The federal government, however, has failed to clear a path.
The current federal election is about choosing a path. One leads to a future where Canada is a confident energy leader: exporting LNG to allies, building pipelines to tidewater and generating the wealth needed to support public services. The other is a dead end, paved with ideology, debt and diminished opportunity for future generations.
Voters must reject the fantasy that Canada can regulate and subsidize its way to prosperity. Energy powers our economy. It anchors our standard of living. And it offers real, lasting opportunities to Indigenous communities seeking self-sufficiency and partnership.
The time for timid half-measures is over. This election is a referendum on our future — on whether we want Canada to be competitive, united and prosperous or divided, stagnant and shrinking.
Canada can lead, or fall further behind. The time to choose is now.
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