Canada's biggest economic problem has a one-sentence solution | Richard Dias

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Canada is a resource nation. I mean, that's our biggest asset. And the question that we have to ask all the time is is why are we strangling it by regulation? Why are we Why are we not playing our literal Trump card? Like why Like what 14 months into this new government and um we don't even have a decision on a pipeline. And I think, you know, like the the Carney Liberal government got embarrassed by Trump and Danielle Smith when they approved two pipelines going south.

[00:00:25]And yet, we still don't have a a decision on a pipeline.

[00:00:29]Any thoughts on why we're not utilizing our biggest asset? Must be frustrating for a you know, financial analyst as well.

[00:00:36]Yeah, I mean I mean, listen, there's there's hundreds of thousands of kilometers of pipeline that go north-south. So, you know, there are pipelines in the ground. I think there should be loads more of them. I think one of the biggest most obvious best cheapest most efficient way of separating our economy from the US, if that's what you want, is to um basically greenlight, facilitate, fund, pay for, simply get out of the way of a east-to-west pipeline to Pacific tidewater. We saw how effective the TMX pipeline has been in basically doing that. So, we used basically 99% of all of our crude oil exports used to go to the United States via the 450-odd thousand kilometers of pipeline that go north-south. The TMX added just a little bit of egress and it's incredible how that number has basically collapsed because we used to or do, excuse me, sell our oil at a discount. That's the Western Canadian Select. It's a lot cheaper than the WTI.

[00:01:46]Once you add that extra outlet, that egress as you call it, all of a sudden, you know, you get a another buyer for what is the most important commodity in the world. And your question, Jim, as to why Canada doesn't lean into this full stop.

[00:02:01]Sir, if you can answer that question, I'm happy to to happy to to to hear it. I think it's a puzzling many, many people, um especially the people in the energy sector.

[00:02:11]And I know that, you know, like during Trudeau's reign there, they they know and and when Carney reigned with net zero alliance and the G fans and all that, it basically kind of crippled and hobbled many of these oil and gas companies because, you know, like the banks wouldn't even lend to some of these companies with the ESG and that, so they they were basically at the mercy of of net zero and that. But now when, you know, like a couple things well, obviously energy is so important, but then the net zero alliance basically died on the vine, same as G fans when Trump got elected and and energy is everything now and I think that's a policy that the world is adopting.

[00:02:45]Everybody wants cheap, reliable energy cuz not only is it prosperity, but it's also security.

[00:02:50]And uh Canada is it just doesn't seem to get the memo.

[00:02:55]I mean, yes and no. So, you know, Canada's the fourth largest producer of oil in the world after the US.

[00:03:01]They produce about 13 million barrels of oil a day. You know, then Russia and Saudi Arabia jockey for second and third place with 10 or 11 or 11 and 10 or nine or whatever it is. And Canada's the fourth largest producer. We export uh we produce about 5 million barrels of oil a day.

[00:03:18]We um you know, we export the vast majority of it to the United States.

[00:03:23]They refine it and send it back up to us.

[00:03:26]Um ask me how I think that makes any sense. Um and that's the reason by the way, refining is when you add sort of that extra value added. Um so again, I don't think that's very smart. So, to say that Canada doesn't produce oil, I think is wrong. Uh we do. I think we could do a lot more.

[00:03:43]Um you know, it's I would argue that the people who run the Canadian oil companies deserve such an incredible pat on the back because despite all the regulations, the you know, the government intervention, the blatant and outright attacks on them both politically and both from a regulatory standpoint, never mind the financial restrictions they may or may not have, they've been able to produce um oil that is a product again that everybody needs and lower their break-even um rates to level no one would have imagined 15 years ago. Um you know, when it comes to things like natural gas, I mean there was always a business case for it. Um and then also to to export it, but also just from a from a domestic perspective, you know, one of the main reasons the US has been able to continue manufacturing goods domestically before the tariffs and all that stuff was because of the ability to generate lots of domestic um natural gas and basically cheap energy. And that's what manufacturing is ultimately, it's turning and fancy engineering plus cheap energy um and then that's what that's what manufacturing is. And manufacturing is always not just widgets, it's also, you know, um it's chemicals is is is a type of manufacturing. Um you know, paints, solvents, lubricants, all the kinds of things that we take for granted is all part of that sphere.

[00:05:03]And you know, so but but your broader question is why don't we get out of the way? I think there's um this I it's the C-word, you know, it's this climate change stuff that just basically breaks everybody's brain.

[00:05:17]Um the reality is countries like China India and the rest of the emerging world do not care at all about climate change as evidenced by their obsession with coal and Canadians think that um by destroying their Well, Canadian politicians, I should say, think by that by destroying their industrial base they're somehow going to affect uh global emissions when emissions in Canada peaked in 2007. So, I it's just I I I can't explain it. I'm afraid that's a Sorry for a terrible answer, but that's all I got for you.

[00:05:47]>> Let's put that chart up there that shows the the oil production there. And you can kind of see that the Americans have really increased their production.

[00:05:56]>> [clears throat] >> Oh, you know, since 2020.

[00:05:57]>> Oh, yeah, so I guessed right. The numbers I I sort of guessed right.

[00:06:00]>> [laughter] >> Yeah. And Canada's kind of like, you know, there's a trend line upward, but, you know, it's it's um like mild compared to what the United States is doing with their production, right?

[00:06:10]I mean, it wasn't it wasn't an incredible technological revolution. I think people sort of forget how wonderful and amazing it was. The shale revolution really is a remarkable feat of engineering.

[00:06:21]I think that Canada could have and should have a similar type of engineering. I mean, um one of the big lies that we were told for a long, long time is that, you know, crude oil consumption is is falling.

[00:06:33]Um you know, the world consumes 100 200 300 4 million barrels of oil per day. That number is going up um largely because of Asia. Um you know, US consumption's been flat at 20 million barrels forever. Europe is going down cuz they continue to commit um ritual economic suicide. Um and the rest of the world, whether it's Africa and the Asian subcontinent, they continue continue to consume more and and uh fossil fuels are not going anywhere. That that's just the bottom line. And we are an ethical producer in my view. And we have a also a moral imperative to supply the world with something that everyone needs.

[00:07:13]Ian talks a lot about the magic of the of uh um um sorry, the the LNG, like fracking and that. So, maybe I'll let him jump in there right now. So, go ahead, Ian, and Well, I mean, I'm not Well, be done you anything you don't know, but I just like it because I like all the um all the the the small people that were involved. It wasn't like the majors. It was it was a particularly Is he called George Mitchell? That is such an admirable figure who just the tenacity of that man to keep believing in this thing that everybody said was ridiculous it was never going to work.

[00:07:48]And the only other thing I would say about it that's remotely interesting is you talked about um CO2 emissions and the environment. I mean that's probably done more for CO2 emissions to bring them down than pretty much anything else. I mean can you think of a rival? I don't really know if there is a rival.

[00:08:04]Certainly not. I think you made an extremely extremely good point in terms of CO2 emissions. If if you if one believes that that is the single most important challenge of the human being on planet Earth is to reduce emissions then the most screamingly and blindingly obvious next step in order and in order to reduce emissions is by trans is by basically getting all of the coal fired power plants on planet Earth to burn natural gas.

[00:08:33]Um and you would and that's why America was able to cut its emissions as much as it did while um maintaining the strength of its industrial base. Although obviously its industrial base has been under pressure for a long time. Nevertheless um that had and that is it it it was because of natural gas, you know. Um meanwhile in China, you know, they just set a record for um coal fired power plant capacity I think it was 161 gigawatts or something of new coal fired power capacity. If And again if people if you genuinely honest to goodness cared about emissions, you would be doing everything you possibly could to get coal burners to burn natural gas.

[00:09:11]And let's not even talk about nuclear power. Um but yeah, it is it it is a remarkable blind spot for a lot of these people who um you know, ostensibly say that they care about the environment. I I don't believe they do, but that you know, on their own by their own metrics I think they're failing.

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