It could well represent one of the biggest missed opportunities in Canadian history: An embattled Europe is clamouring for natural gas, and one of the world’s biggest producers of the stuff can’t sell it to them.
The economic hit is overwhelming: At current prices, even just one Canadian port exporting liquid natural gas could be adding nine figures to the Canadian GDP each day. Politically, Canada could be helping to deal a body blow to Russian hegemony over Western European energy. Instead, on both fronts, Ottawa appears content to watch from the sidelines.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is currently on a mad dash to secure alternate sources of gas before the onset of winter. In Toronto on Tuesday, Scholz said “Canada is our partner of choice” in transitioning away from Russian energy, adding “we hope that Canadian LNG will play a major role in this.”
The invitation was pooh pooh’ed almost immediately by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said there has “never been a strong business case” for moving Canadian LNG to Europe.
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