Welcome back to This Week in Canada, where one of our most abundant natural resources is finally being exported after 40 years of political and regulatory roadblocks. Leading a protest against government overreach might get you locked up for years, but joining ISIS probably won’t. And more. Let’s jump into it!
Imagine being home to the world’s fifth-largest natural gas reserves, yet failing for decades to capitalize on that potential. Instead of seizing the opportunity to become energy independent, Canada let political delays, regulatory roadblocks, and lack of federal support stall progress—while the rest of the world moved ahead.
Finally, though, Canada has officially entered the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. A tanker ship called the GasLog Glasgow arrived in South Korea on July 17, carrying Canada’s first major shipment of LNG. The haul originated in Kitimat, British Columbia, the home of LNG Canada, a $40 billion export facility backed by Shell and several Asian energy giants.
LNG Canada is the first of several such terminals planned on Canada’s western coast—and a “better late than never” breakthrough in efforts to diversify Canadian energy exports beyond the United States.
Canada’s reliance on the U.S. has long been seen as a vulnerability. More than 90 percent of Canadian oil and gas exports head south. Efforts to develop LNG infrastructure in British Columbia began as far back as 1982 with a proposal for a plant in Prince Rupert. It wasn’t until 2019 that the project received final approval.
When the tanker filled with LNG headed for South Korea on June 30, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Canada can become the “world’s leading energy superpower,” exporting energy to “reliable partners” and “diversifying trade.”
