November 2020 Board of Directors Veso Sobot Hon
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A MACDONALD-LAURIER INSTITUTE PUBLICATION November 2020 Board of Directors Veso Sobot Hon. Jim Peterson Director of Corporate Affairs, IPEX Former federal cabinet minister, CHAIR Group of Companies, Toronto Counsel at Fasken Martineau, Pierre Casgrain Jacquelyn Thayer Scott Toronto Director and Corporate Secretary, COO, Airesun Global Ltd.; Barry Sookman Casgrain & Company Limited, President Emerita, Cape Breton Senior Partner, McCarthy Tétrault, Montreal University, Sydney Toronto VICE-CHAIR Rob Wildeboer Laura Jones Executive Chairman, Martinrea Executive Vice-President of the Advisory Council Canadian Federation of Independent International Inc., Vaughan Business, Vancouver John Beck President and CEO, Aecon Enterprises MANAGING DIRECTOR Inc., Toronto Research Advisory Brian Lee Crowley, Ottawa Board Erin Chutter SECRETARY Executive Chair, Global Energy Metals Vaughn MacLellan Janet Ajzenstat DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, Toronto Corporation, Vancouver Professor Emeritus of Politics, Navjeet (Bob) Dhillon McMaster University TREASURER President and CEO, Mainstreet Equity Martin MacKinnon Brian Ferguson Co-Founder and CEO, B4checkin, Corp., Calgary Professor, Health Care Economics, Halifax Jim Dinning University of Guelph Former Treasurer of Alberta, Calgary Jack Granatstein DIRECTORS Historian and former head of the Wayne Critchley David Emerson Canadian War Museum Senior Associate, Global Public Corporate Director, Vancouver Affairs, Ottawa Patrick James Richard Fadden Dornsife Dean’s Professor, Blaine Favel Former National Security Advisor to the University of Southern California CEO, Kanata Earth Inc., Cut Knife, Prime Minister, Ottawa Saskatchewan Rainer Knopff Brian Flemming Professor Emeritus of Politics, Colleen Mahoney International lawyer, writer, and policy University of Calgary Sole Principal, Committee Digest, advisor, Halifax Toronto Larry Martin Robert Fulford Principal, Dr. Larry Martin and Jayson Myers Former Editor of Saturday Night Associates and Partner, CEO, Jayson Myers Public Affairs magazine, columnist with the National Agri-Food Management Excellence, Inc., Aberfoyle Post, Ottawa Inc. Dan Nowlan Wayne Gudbranson Christopher Sands Vice Chair, Investment Banking, CEO, Branham Group Inc., Ottawa Senior Research Professor, Johns National Bank Financial, Toronto Hopkins University Calvin Helin Hon. Christian Paradis Aboriginal author and entrepreneur, Elliot Tepper Co-founder and Senior advisor, Vancouver Senior Fellow, Norman Paterson Global Development Solutions, School of International Affairs, Montréal David Mulroney Carleton University Former Canadian Ambassador to China, William Watson Gerry Protti Toronto Chairman, BlackSquare Inc. Associate Professor of Economics, Calgary Peter John Nicholson McGill University Inaugural President, Council of Vijay Sappani Canadian Academies, Annapolis Royal CEO, Ela Capital Inc., Toronto ForFor more more information information visit: visit: www.MacdonaldLaurier.ca www.MacdonaldLaurier.ca Contents Board of Directors Veso Sobot Hon. Jim Peterson Director of Corporate Affairs, IPEX Former federal cabinet minister, CHAIR Group of Companies, Toronto Counsel at Fasken Martineau, Executive Summary / Sommaire ...................................................................... 4 Pierre Casgrain Jacquelyn Thayer Scott Toronto Director and Corporate Secretary, COO, Airesun Global Ltd.; Barry Sookman Casgrain & Company Limited, President Emerita, Cape Breton Senior Partner, McCarthy Tétrault, Introduction ............................................................................................................ 9 Montreal University, Sydney Toronto VICE-CHAIR Rob Wildeboer Geography and history ....................................................................................... 11 Laura Jones Executive Chairman, Martinrea Executive Vice-President of the Advisory Council Canadian Federation of Independent International Inc., Vaughan Business, Vancouver John Beck Promise and peril in 2020 ............................................................................... 16 President and CEO, Aecon Enterprises MANAGING DIRECTOR Inc., Toronto Research Advisory Brian Lee Crowley, Ottawa Board Erin Chutter 2021 and beyond ............................................................................................... 23 SECRETARY Executive Chair, Global Energy Metals Vaughn MacLellan Janet Ajzenstat Corporation, Vancouver DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, Toronto Professor Emeritus of Politics, Financial recovery and Indigenous well-being ......................................... 30 Navjeet (Bob) Dhillon McMaster University TREASURER President and CEO, Mainstreet Equity Martin MacKinnon Brian Ferguson Co-Founder and CEO, B4checkin, Corp., Calgary Professor, Health Care Economics, The path forward for Indigenous communities and Halifax Jim Dinning University of Guelph Former Treasurer of Alberta, Calgary Jack Granatstein the oil and gas sector ...................................................................................... 39 DIRECTORS Historian and former head of the Wayne Critchley David Emerson Canadian War Museum Senior Associate, Global Public Corporate Director, Vancouver Final thoughts ..................................................................................................... Affairs, Ottawa Patrick James 51 Richard Fadden Dornsife Dean’s Professor, Blaine Favel Former National Security Advisor to the University of Southern California CEO, Kanata Earth Inc., Cut Knife, Prime Minister, Ottawa About the author ................................................................................................ 52 Saskatchewan Rainer Knopff Brian Flemming Professor Emeritus of Politics, Colleen Mahoney International lawyer, writer, and policy University of Calgary Sole Principal, Committee Digest, advisor, Halifax References ............................................................................................................. 53 Toronto Larry Martin Robert Fulford Principal, Dr. Larry Martin and Jayson Myers Former Editor of Saturday Night Associates and Partner, Endnotes .............................................................................................................. 63 CEO, Jayson Myers Public Affairs magazine, columnist with the National Agri-Food Management Excellence, Inc., Aberfoyle Post, Ottawa Inc. Dan Nowlan Wayne Gudbranson Christopher Sands Vice Chair, Investment Banking, CEO, Branham Group Inc., Ottawa Senior Research Professor, Johns National Bank Financial, Toronto Hopkins University Calvin Helin Hon. Christian Paradis Aboriginal author and entrepreneur, Elliot Tepper Co-founder and Senior advisor, Vancouver Senior Fellow, Norman Paterson Global Development Solutions, School of International Affairs, Montréal David Mulroney Carleton University Former Canadian Ambassador to China, Cover photo credits: iStock (modified) Gerry Protti William Watson Toronto Copyright © 2020 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. May be reproduced freely for non-profit and educational purposes. Chairman, BlackSquare Inc. Associate Professor of Economics, Calgary Peter John Nicholson McGill University Inaugural President, Council of Vijay Sappani Canadian Academies, Annapolis Royal The author of this document has worked independently and is solely responsible CEO, Ela Capital Inc., Toronto for the views presented here. The opinions are not necessarily those of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, its Directors or Supporters. For more information visit: www.MacdonaldLaurier.ca Executive Summary n 2020, Canada’s oil and gas sector was hit with a double crisis: a combined I Russian and Saudi Arabian attempt to restructure the international demand for oil and gas that resulted in a cataclysmic collapse in world prices, followed by the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in a world-wide lockdown that continues to have major implications for energy demand. Add- ed to that are attacks by environmentalists on the sector, growing global ef- forts to place much of the weight of climate change on the Canadian energy sector, and an increasing political divide inside the country over the future of oil and gas. The collapse in the oil sector was dramatic, exceptionally fast, and eco- nomically painful. Indigenous peoples were not spared. Communities with on-reserve oil production have lost a great deal of revenue, although gas pro- duction has remained strong. Indigenous firms, including successful Indige- nous-owned companies, have pared back operations dramatically. For Indigenous people today, the oil and gas sector has become one of the “front lines of reconciliation,” an economic zone marked by mutually bene- ficial relationships that link Indigenous people with non-Indigenous Canadi- ans, domestic and international business, and the broader national economy. In recent years, Indigenous people have become owners or part-owners of major energy projects. They have good economic reasons to support collabo- rations with the energy industry. Oil sands operators spent more than $3.3 bil- lion in procurement over 2015 and 2016 from almost 400 Indigenous-owned businesses in 36 Indigenous communities in Alberta. Other than the mining industry, no other sector of Canada’s economy comes close to matching the outcomes provided by the oil and gas sector. Canada recognizes the importance of addressing climate change but places strong limits on its willingness to make sacrifices for a vague global objec- tive. Furthermore, the country has massive investments in automobiles, gas stations,