Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

DAN ALBAS – What Can Canada Do?

 

What can Canada do? This raises the question as to what can Canada do to restore peace, stability, and respect for democratic sovereignty to the Ukraine? The atrocities of Vladimir Putin’s regime, as it continues to take the lives of innocent Ukrainians, remains a serious international concern for democratic nations.

Our Federal Government continues to explore and identify new actions to assist Ukraine, as well as targeting new measures to sanction Russia.  The Government and all Opposition parties remain in support of these ongoing efforts.

At the same time, we also recognize that there is only so much impact one country -- the size of Canada, can have. Canada’s sanctions against Russia are further complicated by the fact that we have overall, very limited dealings with Russia.

This raises the question as to what can Canada do both in the short term and the long term to restore peace, stability, and respect for democratic sovereignty to the Ukraine?

In the short term, aside from efforts already underway, Canada could also join with other European countries and allow Ukrainians to travel to Canada without requiring a visa. This measure is supported by the Official Opposition however the Government thus far has not agreed to implement this policy.

In the longer-term Canada should no longer ignore that Russia supplies 40% of Europe’s natural gas as well as a significant amount of oil. This dependence on Russian oil and gas has limited Europe from taking more proactive stances against previous instances of Putin’s aggression in the Ukraine.

Further by purchasing Russian oil and gas the proceeds from the sale of these natural resources are used by Putin to finance the Russian military campaign currently committing war crimes again Ukrainians.

This should not be tolerable. If Canada was able to get our natural gas and oil to the Atlantic via pipeline, we would become a valuable alternative energy supplier for Europe to displace Russian oil and gas.

Likewise, if the Keystone XL pipeline was built the capacity of this pipeline would more than offset the current levels of Russian oil imported into the Unties States annually. This would result in USA importing more energy from its trusted ally and closest trading partner here in Canada instead of looking to countries such as Iran or Venezuela for increased energy supply.

The major obstacle to doing this is of course politics.

Killing pipelines here in North America has become a hallmark of progressive politicians both here in Canada and in the United States. These policies have been to the benefit of Russia, and potentially now Venezuela and Iran.

None of these countries have an environmental record or regulatory regime anywhere near approaching what exists here in Canada.

We must also not overlook that even within North American when pipelines are not built, we instead see a greater reliance of foreign oil and gas importations as well as greater use of oil by rail with our domestic oil and gas.

My question this week:

Do you believe Canada should play a great role in exporting our oil and gas to displace the European reliance on Russian oil and gas?

I can be reached at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll free 1-800-665-8711.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FORSETH -- Focus on the nine things I mentioned. That’s what will allow the Conservative Party to win the next election

IMAGE CREDIT:   Darryl Dyck, the Canadian Press. I thought I had already made up my mind who I would be ranking on my ballot, in the Conservative Party of BC leadership race; now I am not so sure.  That means that, at least for me, and perhaps many others, it’s a good thing voting hasn’t already taken place. There were initially only one or two of the candidates that I thought might be a little too right of centre for my liking, now it seems that list is growing. I consider myself more closely aligned with what used to be called a Progressive Conservative, regardless, I feel more than comfortable within the Conservative Party of BC.  Some, however, in messages to me on my political Facebook page, have been rather, shall we say, a bit mean-spirited in comments they’ve made about my ‘purity’ as a conservative. To tell you the truth, I really don’t care! Some leadership candidates, in comments made online, have also been raising the issue of who is a pure enough conservati...
Post a Comment
Read more

WARD STAMER -- Those are REAL forestry numbers, not just made-up numbers

The following is a condensed version of remarks Kamloops – North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer’s made, regarding Forestry, in the BC Legislature, on Tuesday afternoon (02/24/2026)   Let’s talk a little bit, when we talk about Budget 2026, about the forest industry, which is near and dear to my heart. Forestry remains one of British Columbia’s foundational industries. It’s a pillar that built this province. Entire communities depend upon it. Interior towns, northern communities, Vancouver Island regions, the Kootenays, the Lower Mainland, with manufacturing facilities in Surrey and Maple Ridge, just to name a few — everywhere in BC is touched by forestry. One word that was not mentioned in Budget 2026 was forestry. That’s a shame, an incredible shame. It wasn’t an oversight – it was intentional. This government has driven forestry into the ground .... INTO THE GROUND! We can talk a little bit about some of the initiatives that this government has brought forth, to try to resurrect ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Your government has a gambling problem (Troy Media)

Provinces call it “revenue,” but it looks a lot like exploitation of the marginalized The odds of winning Lotto Max are about 1 in 33 million. You’re statistically more likely to be struck by lightning than to win it. But your government is betting that statistics won’t hold you back; they’re counting on it. Across Canada, provincial governments not only regulate gambling, they also maintain a monopoly on lottery and gaming by owning and operating the entire legal market. That means every scratch card is government-issued, gambling odds are government-set, casino ads are government-funded and lottery billboards are government-paid. And these are not incidental government activities. They generate significant revenues that governments have powerful incentives to expand, not constrain. It would be one thing for our governments to encourage us to engage in healthy activities. We can quibble about whether the government should be trying to convince us to be more active or eat more vegetabl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more