The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.
“One of the key messages in Mr. Olson’s Rise and Decline of Nations is that
societies who don’t understand how their wealth is generated are destined
to lose it.” (Gwyn Morgan – January 5, 2015)
It’s been thirty years since Mancur Olson, the late American Economist, wrote The Rise and Decline of Nations. The premise of his widely acclaimed book is the longer a society enjoys political stability, the more likely it is to develop powerful special interest groups that erode economic prosperity. His words have proven prescient as we witness Europe’s debt-burdened stagnation and degeneration of the U.S. Congress into fractious ideological gridlock.
Canada weathered the 2008 economic crisis better than other countries, emerging as one of the world’s most financially sound and prosperous countries. The cornerstone that distinguishes Canada’s prosperity is our rich resource endowment, which generates some two million jobs, more than half of all merchandise exports and one-third of all capital investment.
Resource companies are planning capital investment of more than $600-billion over the next decade, creating hundreds of thousands more new jobs each year. But a new dynamic has emerged that threatens to stymie these investments. Each project must pass examination by regulatory agencies staffed with highly qualified experts applying environmental standards ranking among the world’s best.
But now almost every project meets strident opposition from what Mr. Olson terms “powerful special interest groups,” including environmental activists who use scientifically baseless, fear-instilling propaganda to foment local, national and even international opposition.
The length and cost of regulatory hearings has grown exponentially as regulatory authorities strive to ensure all voices are heard. But being heard is never enough for zealots ideologically opposed to almost every pipeline, mine or hydroelectric project. Hence, the number of anti-project court filings has mushroomed.
For the rest of this column, click here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/canadian-prosperity-requires-a-strong-resource-industry/article22283932/