Ezra Levant – Friend of China, but Foe to Canadians by Richard Komorowski – December 31, 2011

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Putting the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers above Canada

CFN – There are many economic gains to be made in exploiting the Tar Sands, and limited production could actually benefit Canada and go a little towards assuring our future in an increasingly uncertain world. But there are also many major short term gains to be made from exporting this oil to Asia, especially China.
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According to Canadian economist Jeff Rubin (one of the few economists who actually understands economics and the role of energy), Canada is losing over $1bn per month in revenue, because they are selling the product at West Texas Intermediate price, rather than world price, as they would to China. However, even Rubin falls a little short on this one, as he fails to note that these companies pay very little tax anyway, compared to their income, and most of the profit leaves the country. Exporting oil to China would actually push Canada’s economy further down.

Exporting Western Jobs to Communist China

Why is it that Levant, his Conservative government, and his beneficiaries at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers want to support the unethical communist Chinese regime, who only recently imprisoned two writers who dared criticise the regime? Giving China access to the tar sands oil puts Canadians, our land, and our seashores at risk. In the long term, we won’t even profit from the oil, except for the minimum in royalties and taxes Sinopec might eventually pay. The Chinese will get the oil for their cost of production, not for the world price most others have to pay, and they will also get all the profits from their operation. Not only that, it strengthens them economically against us, and the oil we ship over there will not be available to run our emergency services and military when OPEC (or perhaps simply Peak Oil) decide it’s time to bring us down.The major reason China controls the world economy is through its low labour costs, along with low shipping costs. However, as energy costs increase, making it more expensive not only to manufacture, but also to ship their goods, this advantage disappears. Eventually rising energy costs will balance China’s virtual slave labour costs, and the West, in spite of having to pay decent wages, will compete equally because we can use energy much more efficiently.Although Levant and the echo chamber of self-appointed science deniers do not want us to know about CO2 and climate change, burning tar sands oil in China will be even worse for the world’s future climate than burning that same fuel here. The reason is that here in the liberal-democratic West we are learning to use energy more efficiently. We are following Europe’s lead, by driving more fuel-efficient cars, insulating our homes so less energy is wasted, and looking seriously at the cost of energy and transportation in the bottom line business equation.

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The Chinese, on the other hand, insulated from the liberal west by their extremist dictatorship, which allows them to flout all human and labour rights, are not feeling this crunch quite as hard…, yet…, so there is less incentive to modernise their own industry. On the other hand, the Chinese government, not being stupid, and having no real interest in the survival of the West except under their terms, are busy raiding the world for its remaining natural resources. Why is it, then, that the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and their poster boy Ezra Levant want to subsidise the Chinese economy at the expense of our own? Surely having our jobs return from China to Canada and the West would be more beneficial to all of us than the relatively few that would be created around Fort McMurray.

Wishful Thinking

It is important to note, however, that, contrary to Levant’s wishes, Canada is no superpower, either economically, militarily, or in the energy world. Although it is true that Canada is the world’s sixth largest oil producer, we are nowhere even close to the three giants, Russia, the Saudis, and the US. With our 3.9% contribution to the world’s oil supply and consumption of 87.5m barrels per day, all that makes us is the third biggest midget, with almost no influence to control or decide anything once supplies start tightening up and demand becomes critical. What Levant also forgets is the forecast demand in energy. According to his friend and official CAPP spokeswoman Janet Annesley, world energy demand is expected to double by 2050, i.e. to about 175m barrels per day. Tar Sands production is forecast to reach 3.5m bbl/day by 2025. If somehow this figure could be doubled by 2050, to 7m bbl/day, this would leave Canada with still only about 4% control over the world’s energy pie.Of course, none of the oil companies believe that oil production could ever reach 175m bbl/day – there just isn’t enough economically recoverable oil left in the world (i.e. Peak Oil). As it is, world producers are struggling to keep pace with current demands of 87.5m barrels, and as reserves (and therefore the amount of oil that can be extracted) are inexorably declining, the task is hopeless, even with the Tar Sands. However, if Big Oil were ever to admit this fact, their share prices would tumble to nothing – Shell paid a considerable fine for overstating its reserves in order to keep its share prices high.Canada’s contribution will become almost as futile as trying to save the Titanic with a portable Wajax fire pump. On the other hand, using Annesley’s guess, Canada’s current 2.2m bbl/day oil consumption would double to about 4.4m barrels by 2050. If we build the right infrastructure, (i.e. a pipeline to the east), we could have enough to be self-sufficient for the eventual transition to sustainable energy sources, without having to turn to even dirtier coal, and perhaps also have some left over for our friends in Europe and the US.

Remember too that the Titanic set sail with too few lifeboats. Levant’s wish to sell our natural resources (at less than cost) to China would be akin to putting this country’s small number of lifeboats in a yard sale.

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12 Comments

  1. Happy to see that there are some people out there who are trying to put the brakes on the race to the bottom. Nothing that Mr. Levant doesn’t have coming to him.

  2. Just a few thoughts.
    Re Ezra Levant: He has made lots of friends and money simply by being a loud-mouth and a very public a$$whole. From publishing offensive cartoons of Allah in his now defunct Western Standard “newspaper”, to bringing Ann Coulter, one of Amerika’s favourite hate-speechers, into Canada for a cross Canada gong show, he never fails to please his knuckle-dragging followers. He drives a Hummer because, 1: He is filthy rich, and can afford to. 2: He is supporting the Tar Sands and the oil companies. 3: He enjoys p!ssing off environmentalists. And 4: Because he is an a$$whole. He played a big part in the success of the Reform Party, which now has majority rule in Ottawa.
    Re trade with Communist (bad) China, or our “land of the free” (good) American friends. The good ol’ USA has a higher percentage of its citizens locked up in prisons than any other country in the world! And they happily kill lots of them too.
    I know next to nothing about the pricing and marketing of crude oil, but I have to wonder why it can’t be refined in Canada and exported as a finished product. Same with our softwood lumber.

  3. Edit: Ahhah should be Muhammad.

  4. Charging world price would aslo mean we the user will be paying more, either from products, shipping or from the refinery, anyone ready for that?
    Furtz, Canada has about 10 refineries, at issue with transporting finished products are combustion or reduced stabilization – http://membernet.capp.ca/SHB/Sheet.asp?SectionID=7&SheetID=263

    Before we start connecting dots with Reform and communism, wasn’t the great liberal Chretien close with China? Trudeau with Cuba?
    Anyway, how about harnessing 1 tenth of the power used to fight the federal level, and use it to help taxpayers in this province against the provincial level?

  5. Rick
    With the growing need in Asia and China we still can make out for the better. The only reason they can over take us economically is not from oil, but technology and electronics and our belief that all of it is actually necessary, or our own greed.

    Also I do believe Alberta would have a say in where the money goes more so then Canada. Ralph through them out once before for not playing by Alberta rules, much to the chagrin of Canadian politicians.
    Your distrust in peak oil is somewhat misguided I believe. If we look at history regarding eliminating our reliance in Oil, much of the road blocks come from downstream manufacturers and not big oil alone. Automotive manufacturers would be a huge culprit in your big oil conspiracy. In 1996 General motors came out with the EV1 (Electric Vehicle 1) which was used in California. Pretty efficient as well, 10 years later they were gone. They could not be bought but only rented, GM destroyed all of them.
    In 1997 Nissan Hyper mini electric cars were out in Tokyo. Pasadena California used this car for all professional officers. In 2006 the lease ran out, Nissan would not sell the cars took them back and destroyed them.
    Toyota RAV4-EV, it had actually been used since 1997, but in 2005 the lease ran out, Toyota tried to retrieve them but American citizens founded don’t crush and pressured Toyota for three months. They won the suit and those having rented them could now buy them.
    Even Arnold Schwarzenegger is for the environment, His hummer is a hydrogen burning car
    The production of this car was halted and the batteries never recovered. Texaco Chevron merger bought all the batteries and dismantled the factory.
    The issue you often miss about big oil is just how much they are used in everyday life aside from producing oil for energy. Your PC, your dishes and bowl, your TV…the medicine we are prescribed.
    Big oil will endure and really have no worries should we actually put batteries in our cars of solar panels in our homes. They make or own everything else.

  7. 40% of Mc Kay River which is hardly full control of anything

  8. Did you read the story, smee? 40% + 60% = 100%.
    Pretty basic math.

  9. Smee?… Are you still here?… No reply?…

  10. stull here futz, receive regulatory approvals are still outstanding..they were hung for that under Ralph. Korea is having the same issues. They bought rights to the sands and with it a refinery in eastern canada. Neither of which are running due to regulations

  12. Levant commented on the video yesterday. He didn’t like it!

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