Impact Of Petro-Canada On The Canadian Economy

Petro-Canada’s Impact on the Canadian Economy

Throughout the 1970s, economic relationships and dynamics worldwide in the energy economy experienced rapid changes, resulting in the incredibly volatile and unstable oil price climate. The issue with energy became a widely debated topic between Trudeau’s liberal government and its critics. During these years, the petroleum industry in Canada was dominated by foreign control, which was mostly American. Canadians eventually came to the realization that their energy policies mainly existed to benefit North America, when it should have been to serve their domestic needs. Many national governments around the world have started to adopt state oil companies in hopes of gaining more control and knowledge over oil markets globally. In Canada, however, former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott

Some might argue that the creation of Petro-Canada gave rise to huge economic growth in Alberta’s energy sector with their investments of tar sands. From other perspectives, however, one might believe it failed, and was destructive to Alberta and the rest of the country. Not only was it unsuccessful in controlling both domestic and foreign oil prices, it also left an irreversible damage on the environment. Brian Mulroney’s Conservative government, for example, criticize that there was little benefit in the low-price controls, taxes, and heavily incentivized explorations for petroleum, as it resulted in over-reliance of gas and oil. Since the recent merger with Suncor Energy, however, the company seems to be transitioning towards a new, more sustainable energy economy, including in the investments of renewable energy. Despite failing to achieve the goals of the NEP, it is undebatable that Petro-Canada has helped fuel the success of the petroleum industry, and remains a distinct symbol of Canadian