The drop in oil prices means the Canadian oil and gas industry has taken a $40-billion hit in 2015 and a 25 to 30 per cent cut in growth, according to Glen Hodgson, chief economist of the Conference Board of Canada.
Hodgson was one of the participants at a special panel and reception held Monday, May 11, 2015 at 1 Wellington Street in Ottawa and moderated by Velma McColl, principal, Earnscliffe Strategy Group.
Alex Ferguson, vice-president, Policy and Performance, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, called the loss equivalent to the total revenue of the Canadian mining industry and a significant impact on our country.
Yet average consumers are benefiting from lower energy prices, said Adam Sieminski, administrator, U.S. Energy Information Administration. In the United States, the average household will have an extra $750 to spend this year.
Regardless of the price of oil, James Meadowcroft, Carleton’s Canada Research Chair in Governance for Sustainable Development, said policy- makers need to focus on climate change which will require a set of policies and a long-term transition to lower carbon.
Panelists debated the effects of lower oil prices on the provinces, the federal government and world economies. More than 160 MPs, staffers and senior government officials from Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development registered for the panel, along with ambassadors and other senior diplomats, business and non-governmental organizations, plus Carleton students and faculty.
This event was organized with the support of MP James Rajotte, chair of the Standing Committee on Finance; MP Nathan Cullen, Official Opposition critic for Finance; and MP Geoff Regan, vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources.
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