If we send Alberta’s oil via pigeons maybe that will make opponents happy.
Anti pipeline protestors may not have anything to complain about then if we use birds, after all, they were used to transport secret messages in previous world wars. They can be trained to deliver just about anything.
I offer pigeons as one potential, but we could also send oil via drones, hundreds of thousands of them flying through the air blocking out the sun.
Maybe the Government of Alberta should sign up for Amazon Prime, which allows free delivery. Or even use eBay so that shoppers can pay in bulk or pay lower than market price and Alberta recoupes the money via high shipping costs.
Or maybe we could consider a pipeline that would ensure some stability for Canada.
If anything, it will reduce the risks in transporting oil with trains, which, it turns out have had quite a few derailments as noted in a recent article. While some folks in British Columbia have protested the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, the reality is it’ll help Canada and its provinces financially.
And the risk of derailment seems too great to ignore. Seeing the number of derailments and the potential to cause other issues in the country, the idea of a pipeline becomes more agreeable.
Yes, protestors are also speaking out against using up natural resources, which are arguably going to run out at some point, but for now oil is what’s being used. I do feel as a society we need to start slowly implementing change in how we energize our nations, but that doesn’t mean we should forego oil altogether.
Renewable energy is growing and we should prepare for its inevitable use.
While anti-pipeline protestors are speaking out against a negative oil image, they’re also hurting the country’s access to international markets.
The vast majority of Canada’s oil is going to the United States. Anyone with any business savvy would speak out against this reliance. It’s the putting all the eggs in one basket that’s a cause for concern.
Just because we don’t like something shouldn’t mean that we can’t be flexible to the process. From a market position, there is still demand for oil around the world, and Canada can be a player in that market, if we get better access.
If not, we’re transporting stuff through trains that may derail. Granted there are risks with pipelines, but quite a bit less than with trains if the reports are accurate, which they are.
In the meantime, our oil is going down to the Unites States where the country appears to be falling apart at the seams.
There is a fascinating editorial from the walrus.ca dubbed America’s Next Civil War, by Stephen Marche that points to Canada’s naiveté to United States’ stability. The political turmoil in the U.S. directly affects Canadians and losing market access to our biggest customer without a secondary option is unnerving, if perhaps a little scary.
To quote Marche: “The fact that the premier of British Columbia tried to stall the project in a show of regional power is a sign of a collective failure to recognize how perilous our position is.”
Ain’t that the truth.
jeff.heyden-kaye@ponokanews.com
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