Jeff Lawson sees an opening, and he doesn’t want Canada to waste it. He’s executive vice-president of corporate development and chief sustainability officer at Cenovus Energy, one of Canada’s largest energy producers. His work sits where policy meets payroll. Cenovus operates in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador, three regions that carry a heavy share of the country’s energy output. That gives Lawson a clear view of what regulatory delay costs, and what certainty could unlock. It’s a view Resource Works readers will recognize. Competitiveness isn’t an abstraction. It shows up in wages, in local tax bases, in whether a young worker can build a life in a resource town. Lawson recently took to LinkedIn to make that case, arguing the new memorandum of understanding between Ottawa and the provinces is worth the effort. Here’s what he said in his LinkedIn article.
What the MOU represents
By Jeff Lawson
Do I love government bureaucracies? No. I struggle with the inefficiencies of all bureaucracies, including those in big companies. But there are good people everywhere and they drive results when you give them the chance. We have some key partners in government right now who can drive things. Premier Danielle Smith, Premier Scott Moe, and Premier Tony Wakeham (I’m not purposely excluding anyone – these are the regions where Cenovus Energy operates), Prime Minister Mark Carney, Energy Minister Timothy Hodgson, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the Major Projects Office (Government of Canada) are all trying to effect change today.
Is it perfect? No. Do I agree with any incremental burdens on our industry compared to other jurisdictions? No. But we are fighting back 10 years of malaise and a lot of and bad policy, trying to arrive at an equitable balance of burden and competitiveness.
It was a tough economic time when I entered the workforce. I spent the first few years in my career simply worried that I would lose my job because of lack of work. Then the economy picked up and there was opportunity to build a life and support a family. I believe that the people who had these opportunities should put in the effort to pay it forward.
What are we fighting? Here are a few images for you. The first chart shows median wealth in Canada, with the average Canadian having a higher median wealth than the average American. The difference stems from the fact that Canadians’ wealth is spread out more evenly among average Canadians, instead of the concentration of wealth we see in the United States.
The second chart paints a different picture. The United States is catching up rapidly. Canadian economic performance against the United States has been degrading for the past decade. Median income in the United States has been higher than Canada for a number of years and is increasing.
As a result, we should expect American median wealth to pass that of Canadians. The last is a comparison of GDP per capita by province and state.
So, the things that our governments are doing for Canada to become more competitive – introducing incentives for investment, increasing certainty of rules, streamlining regulatory requirements – I support. They will be more successful if our industry works alongside them. The MOU represents an opportunity for Canada to become more competitive, with real growth from an energy sector that will make massive contributions to the Canadian economy. If successful, the impacts will be felt for decades, benefiting the next generation of Canadians. Well worth the effort.
This article originally appeared on Jeff Lawson’s Linked page. Jeff is the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development & Chief Sustainability Officer of Cenovus Energy.
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