War position fosters Western alienation
Claudia Cattaneo
Financial Post
Friday, March 21, 2003
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With his decision to turn his back on the United States, Jean Chrétien not only sacrificed Canada's friendship with our closest trading partner, but misfired on his already troubled relationship with Alberta.
Ottawa's position may be popular elsewhere, but Albertans have different views. They were accurately articulated by Ralph Klein, Alberta's Premier.
"Albertans deplore war," he said Wednesday. "But we also value freedom and security. I wish to express my thanks to the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries who have committed themselves to achieving these goals."
In some quarters here, anger with Ottawa is, once again, overflowing. "People are ashamed," said one business leader who asked not to be named. "They find [Chrétien's] behaviour disgraceful. They find it disloyal, and from a business point of view, they find it very unwise."
Already, there's concern Ottawa's position will fuel Western alienation, joining a heap of issues like the Kyoto Protocol and the gun registry that have made Albertans feel like they don't belong.
"This may be yet again another national issue in which the West, particularly Alberta, finds itself at odds with Ottawa, and we will be portrayed as not only the spoilers of the environment, but also pro-Bush war imperialists. It just seems that whatever big issues come up, Alberta finds itself offside," said Roger Gibbins, president of the Canada West Foundation, an independent think tank.
Alberta's dismay with Ottawa's stance has less to do with fear of U.S. trade retaliation -- the province and its dominant energy sector are the least likely in the country to feel any impact from Mr. Chrétien's misstep -- and more with its historical closeness to the United States.
U.S. bashing is not only foreign to Albertans, it's offensive.
Herb Dhaliwal, the federal Natural Resources Minister, may have fatally undermined his credibility in the oilpatch -- and any future dealings on energy with Washington -- when he said this week: "The world expects someone who's the president of a superpower to be a statesman. I think [George W. Bush] let not only Americans, but the world, down by not being a statesman."
Contrary to Mr. Dhaliwal's assessment, there are no doubts in Alberta about Mr. Bush's statesmanship.
His own, though, is being questioned, particularly because of the huge American presence in the industry and the fact that the oilpatch is in his portfolio.
"Here you got [the oil industry], one of the biggest revenue earners [for Canada] ... and you got a federal minister running around taking pot shots at the U.S.," said energy newsletter writer Ian Doig.
American energy companies have worked side by side with Canadians for more than half a century. They now account for half of Canadian oilpatch activity, fueling not only cars and trucks, but shared values. In Calgary alone, one in 10 residents is of American background, making it one of the top American communities outside the U.S.
Albertans' support for the United States also comes from their knowledge of oil. They just don't buy the anti-war rhetoric that says this war is about oil. Said one oil executive, "If this was about oil, [the U.S.] should have invaded Canada, because we need a regime change, too."
Despite its concerns, Alberta is in the best position to weather any damage, and will no doubt lead any move to patch things up.
Some 70% of Alberta's trade with the U.S. moves by pipe, making it largely immune to the border delays that are crippling other industries, particularly in Ontario and Quebec. While Canadian businessmen are rightly concerned about the future of Canada/U.S. trade, Alberta's energy community knows its relationship with the U.S. is largely unassailable.
Canada is the top foreign supplier of both oil and natural gas to the U.S., making American dependence on Canadian energy too great for even the Americans to mess with. Energy security, in fact, is expected to be at the top of the agenda when Mr. Bush visits Ottawa on May 5.
"Our government was disappointed in Canada not taking an active role in the coalition," said U.S. energy lawyer Richard Powers, head of the Washington, D.C., office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP. "But we have to remember the big picture: Canada is our most loyal energy bedfellow. From an energy standpoint, the most secure sources of energy we can have are in North America, and Canada is an important part of that."
It's telling that while Mr. Chrétien has decided to sit this one out, a group of well-blowout specialists with Calgary-based Safety Boss Inc. are on standby, eager to be recruited to help put out any Iraqi oilfield fires. If they are, they may well be the only Canadians in this war's front lines.
Unlike Mr. Chrétien, Albertans have no qualms about where they belong.
ccattaneo@nationalpost.com
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