Pro-oil vs. anti-oil forces clash as Canada’s two new solitudes – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – May 1, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

It’s Big Oil and the miracle of hydrocarbons versus Big Finance and the great carbon scare

Two Solitudes: That’s how Hugh McLennan’s 1945 novel portrayed Canada — a nation of clashing English and French Canadians living in the same country under different languages, worldviews, experiences. In other words, a nation divided.

Welcome to the new Canadian solitudes, a nation divided over carbon and climate. Two recent events highlight the great carbon divide, one held in Alberta in early April, another in Montreal last week. The gap is wide and multifaceted, but in this case it’s Big Oil versus Big Insurance.

We begin in Alberta, where Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was reported by The Globe and Mail last week to have attended a “secret” and “private” meeting on April 11th with oil executives “to map out a strategy to oust the federal Liberals.”

Written by the paper’s green-tinted energy and environment reporters, the Globe’s coverage portrayed Scheer’s keynote speech to an event organized by the Modern Miracle Network as “concerning” and a public indication that the Conservatives are in bed with Canada’s carbon-spewing polluters.

The Modern Miracle Network, by the way, is an organization of Alberta energy industry executives who promote the “miracle of hydrocarbons” and issue press releases that state “Life is Better with Canadian Hydrocarbons!” — which clearly riles Environment Minister Catherine McKenna.

For the rest of this article: https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/terence-corcoran-welcome-to-the-new-two-canadian-solitudes-a-nation-divided-over-carbon-and-climate