On May 18, 2011, Joe Oliver was sworn
in as the Minister of Natural Resources
and soon earned a reputation as a classic
Conservative pit bull in his defence of the tar/oil sands at home and abroad.
Like other Harperian ministers, he was not about to let
the facts come between him and his proselytizing.
He brought the party line to audiences of US and Canadian
energy industry executives, informing them that Canada was
“emerging as a 21st century energy superpower.”
Minister Oliver quoted statistics alleging that there is a
downward long-term trend for greenhouse gas emissions
per barrel in the Canadian oil sands, and that Canada is
taking significant steps to reduce its overall emissions.
Inevitably, there were other audiences who were
less inclined to take these pitches at face value and
whose questions would reflect those doubts.
If anyone else dared to suggest the Minister was incorrect
or that perhaps there might be other factors to be considered
they would, in the Conservative tradition, be attacked.
In January 2012, he wrote a letter to the Globe and Mail
about some of his enemies...
"Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical
groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify
our trade. Their goal is to stop any major project no matter
what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth.
No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams.
These groups threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve
their radical ideological agenda. They seek to exploit any loophole
they can find, stacking public hearings with bodies to ensure that
delays kill good projects. They use funding from foreign special
interest groups to undermine Canada’s national economic interest."
Read the whole letter at the Globe and Mail.
On March 19, 2014, Oliver was appointed to replace Jim Flaherty
as Minister of Finance.
