{"id":726525,"date":"2026-06-10T02:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T02:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/726525\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T02:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T02:30:09","slug":"canada-must-build-on-the-success-of-the-oil-sands-hodgson-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/726525\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada must build on the success of the oil sands, Hodgson says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, at the Global Energy Show in Calgary on Tuesday. Mr. Hodgson made the case for both oil and gas pipelines from Alberta to the West Coast.Jeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The industrial success of Alberta\u2019s<\/a> oil sands transformed Canada, and that prosperity should be built upon during the global energy crisis, federal Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Mr. Hodgson\u2019s distinctly pro-fossil fuel development remarks, which opened the Global Energy Show in Calgary, were a stark display of how much the Liberal<\/a> government has shifted its position toward the oil and gas sector under Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnergy does not make us prosperous when it is sitting in the ground. Resources do not strengthen our sovereignty if we cannot move them to market,\u201d Mr. Hodgson said, making the case for both oil and gas pipelines from Alberta to the West Coast. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s partly why the federal government established the Major Projects Office, he said, which aims to expedite regulatory approval for megaprojects deemed to be in the national interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sends a message: Canada is back as a serious energy country. Canada is back as a place to invest capital. And Canada is back as a country that intends to build big things again.\u201d <\/p>\n

Opinion: Mark Carney\u2019s oil policy isn\u2019t a political gambit. It\u2019s an economic imperative<\/a><\/p>\n

Calling the oil sands \u201cone of the great industrial achievements in Canadian history,\u201d Mr. Hodgson said the sector created prosperity for the entire country. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s \u201cnot something to apologize for, it is something to build on,\u201d he added, particularly amid the global energy crisis stemming from the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot pretend the world no longer needs oil and gas. It does,\u201d Mr. Hodgson said. \u201cConventional energy is critical to domestic and international energy systems and will remain that way for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Mr. Hodgson\u2019s comments on Tuesday underscored marked support for the oil and gas sector, he said the countries that succeed in what is becoming a very different global energy market<\/a> will be the ones that can supply product in a lower-emissions environment. They must also avoid pitting one fuel source against another, whether it\u2019s oil, gas, renewables or nuclear.<\/p>\n

He also stressed that reducing greenhouse gases associated with fuel production is crucial, which is why the oil sands must move forward with the Pathways carbon-capture project in northern Alberta. <\/p>\n

But Jon McKenzie, the chief executive of Calgary-based oil sands giant Cenovus Energy Inc.<\/a>, called Pathways \u201ca project with no revenue\u201d at the conference on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Cenovus is part of the Oil Sands Alliance, whose members together produce the lion\u2019s share of crude in the region. The other members are Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., ConocoPhillips Canada, Imperial Oil Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. <\/p>\n

Several years ago, the alliance proposed the Pathways project: a 400-kilometre-long pipeline, funded largely by industry, to transport carbon trapped at oil-sands facilities to an underground hub near Cold Lake, Alta.<\/p>\n

Mr. Carney has been unequivocal that a new oil pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast would be conditional on the construction of the Pathways project. <\/p>\n

But on Tuesday, Mr. McKenzie said Pathways \u201cis simply another cost burden that will be borne by industry and the two levels of government.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

He also took aim at industrial carbon pricing, which Ottawa and Alberta recently agreed would reach $130 per tonne by 2040. <\/p>\n

\u201cIndustry has been clear that the industrial carbon tax is insidious and it should be revoked,\u201d Mr. McKenzie said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Hodgson\u2019s comments come three weeks before July 1, when Alberta is aiming to submit an application<\/a> to the Major Projects Office for a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. The federal government will then decide whether to designate the pipeline as a project of national interest by Oct. 1. <\/p>\n

Alberta Energy Minister Brian Jean confirmed at a separate event in downtown Calgary on Tuesday that the pipeline submission will be made \u201cin the next few weeks.\u201d <\/p>\n

On the sidelines of that event, hosted by energy industry group Enserva, B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix said the pipeline project \u201chas significant fundamental challenges.\u201d <\/p>\n

Alberta has floated a series of route options<\/a> for the one-million-barrel-a-day proposal, according to draft maps. Mr. Dix said \u201cit\u2019s pretty late in the process to have five different routes.\u201d <\/p>\n

He added that current expansion projects on the Trans Mountain and Enbridge Mainline pipeline systems are more cost-effective and they have \u201cactual\u201d proponents, unlike the new pipeline plan from Alberta. <\/p>\n

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith<\/a>, speaking later in the day at the Global Energy Show, said her government and Ottawa are committed to creating conditions that would enable the private sector to invest in a new bitumen pipeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recognize that putting it on paper is one thing, execution is another,\u201d she said, referencing an energy agreement signed by Ottawa and Alberta<\/a> in November. \u201cBut I think the fact that we put it on paper, signed an agreement, demonstrated that we\u2019re both committed to achieving that outcome,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ms. Smith said she has heard B.C.\u2019s concerns about a West Coast bitumen pipeline and proposed ways Alberta can address them. But the decision to approve a pipeline fundamentally lies with the federal government, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, at the Global Energy Show…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-726525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}