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U.S. envoy calls for North America to reduce Middle East reliance Ambassador says Western Canada is well-placed to play an important role, but discourages talk of linking energy trade with unresolved softwood lumber dispute Gary Park PNA Canadian Correspondent
Paul Cellucci, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, has made a plea for North America to move away from dependence on the Middle East for its energy.
Speaking to the Vancouver Board of Trade Jan. 11, the former Massachusetts governor said that Western Canada Sedimentary Basin is well-positioned to play an important role.
Cellucci said the untapped resources of the Yukon and Northwest Territories and British Columbia’s massive oil and gas reserves and its endless sources of hydro-electric power are all poised to benefit.
As well, the oil sands of northern Alberta “offer huge potential. There’s more reserves there of oil than in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“It is clear we must reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern energy,” he said. “It is clear that the economies of the United States and Canada are inextricably linked. Therefore, we must make sure that energy is available to keep the economics of both countries growing.”
But Cellucci warned that any attempt by Canada to link energy exports to the export of other goods, especially softwood lumber, should be discouraged.
Lumber, energy, shouldn’t be linked “Why would you want to hurt your energy companies here by linking? I don’t think linkage helps anybody.
“I think we just have to work harder to find the common ground on softwood lumber,” he said.
More than 10,000 Canadian forest workers, particularly in British Columbia, have lost their jobs in recent months after the U.S. Commerce Department imposed duties totaling 32 percent on Canadian lumber exports, claiming the Canadian industry is unfairly subsidized.
Frustrated with the slow progress of negotiations to solve the dispute, some critics have called for Canada to withhold energy exports, which meet more than 15 percent of U.S. oil and gas consumption, to hasten a solution.
The Canadian government has rejected the idea of linkage and Cellucci warned of the consequences.
“If we don’t have the energy to fuel the U.S. economy that’s going to hurt the Canadian economy and it’s going to hurt the Mexican economy,” he said.
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