Canadian oil: ethical, and sensible

While the Canadian government worries about the country’s dependence on oil exports to the U.S., the security of future sales there and developing a national energy strategy, the Fraser Institute’s Mark Milke offers Americans a stark choice: It's us, or someone much more unsavoury.

In short, a study released Tuesday by the Vancouver-based think tank argues that “attempts to restrict U.S. imports of Canadian oil ignore the reality of U.S. dependence on foreign oil and could force America to buy oil from repressive governments.”

The logic of the argument is derived from an analysis of how 38 major oil producers -- defined as those countries that turn out more than 250,000 barrels per day -- stack up on 17 measures of civil, political and economic freedoms.

That logic runs as follows:

Premise 1: Aside from Norway, Canada is the only top oil producer that is truly free. That is to say: Women have rights here. Citizens have property rights. The media have freedom. The judiciary is independent and the government isn’t corrupt, etc.

By contrast, other major oil exporters - Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China - “score poorly on measurements of civil, political, and economic rights, as well as on proxy measures indicating quality of life, such as literacy rates, postsecondary education, and misogynist practices.”

Premise 2: For some time, the world will still be dependent on oil; demand will only grow.

Conclusion: “Oil will remain a chief component of the global energy mix for the next several decades,” said Mr. Milke, the Fraser Institute’s director of Alberta policy, “so the United States has two options: either continue to embrace oil imports from Canada -- a safe, secure, and stable ally with an excellent record on human rights -- or resort to importing oil from governments that regularly violate human rights as a matter of policy, and in some cases, are state sponsors of terrorism.”

Hyperbole aside, Mr. Milke is right: the U.S. does have a choice to make. But, since ethics aren't always the first consideration in business decisions, perhaps it would be more persuasive to rely on logic: Canadian oil exports will be welcomed and the U.S. should have the sense to take advantage of this country's resources, whose reserves are almost as big as Saudi Arabia’s, but considerably closer to the border.

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Source: Globe & Mail