Canada has the right combination of responsible development and resources

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There has never been a more urgent time to aggressively develop Canada's vast resource wealth. An increasingly competitive world is joining new alliances that threaten traditional Western democracies.

Weak or poorly performing countries may be left behind economically and in some cases their sovereignty may be compromised. We cannot allow either scenario to happen in Canada.

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Looking at domestic affairs, our country has had the weakest economic growth among the G20 countries for the last decade – we have a real risk of significantly reducing the standard of living of our children and future generations.

Canada has one of the largest and most diverse reserves of natural resources in the world. It's not just oil and gas; it has uranium, precious metals, rare earth elements, vast renewable forests, an enormous fertile agricultural land base, and of course, the largest fresh water supply on the planet.

This is not news; Canada has long been viewed as a resource-producing economy, but over the past two decades we've slowed down and looked for reasons not to advance new projects. While it is exciting to anticipate an exciting new future economy, most of our readily available resource wealth remains untapped. Our Canadian resource sectors are among the most capital efficient, technologically advanced and environmentally responsible in the world. We have a winning combination.

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Canada has the largest, cheapest natural gas reserves in the world – we are already the fourth largest producer. With continued regulatory support, we can become a leader in the growing global LNG business.

The country produces the least emitting natural gas in the world, and adaptation to technology is widening the gap. Aimed at displacing coal-fired power generation in Asia, Canada's 10 billion cubic meter per day LNG industry offsets the vast majority of emissions from the entire domestic oil and gas industry. Thinking about restricting Canada's natural gas industry would actually harm the global environment as growing demand is met by jurisdictions with high associated emissions.

As developed economies consider electrification to accelerate emissions reductions, nuclear power is becoming increasingly attractive. Canada is already one of the world's largest uranium producers and has long had one of the most efficient and safe reactor designs. This is a privilege we created for ourselves decades ago; It's time to grab this opportunity.

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The rare earth cells needed by the growing solar industry and the battery requirements associated with electrification are abundant in some areas of Canada – for example, Ontario has a huge new mining opportunity. We have to do it. One of the great outcomes of accelerating our multi-sector resource capabilities is that these economic benefits are being harnessed across the country; it involves all Canadians.

Canada's agricultural sector has long been regarded as a world leader in efficiency, profitability and technical innovation. Global food security and access are rapidly evolving issues, and Canada has a role to play. Not only do we make it attractive for Canadian manufacturers to explore new transportation corridors to increase production and feed the world more, we have a large, well-established, globally competitive fertilizer industry.

There are many opportunities for future resource use. The list is as long as the imagination of our skilled and entrepreneurial resource sector workforce.

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These projects require enormous amounts of capital, and this global capital is certainly available. These capital pools will flow to Canada if we demonstrate our commitment to consistently support the Canadian resource sector at the provincial and federal government levels.

Accelerating the development of domestic multi-sector resources will provide solutions to many of the challenges facing Canada today. We will play to the strengths we have built and developed over many decades. We are the most efficient and technologically advanced in the full spectrum of resource development. Embracing the continuous march of technological advancements and adapting innovatively will only make us better.

In other words: we can use what is between our ears to do an even better job of developing what is under our feet.

Mike Rose is Chairman, President and CEO of Tourmaline Oil Corp.

Check out our ongoing informative commentary series from Canadian business leaders every Tuesday in the Calgary Herald and Financial Post.

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