Oilpatch reps head east seeking allies among business, civic leaders

Representatives of Canada's oil and gas industryare headed east this month as the sector looks torallysupport among business and municipal leaders.

A contingent of oilpatch officialswill attend this weekend's annual meeting of theOntario Chamber of Commerce (OCC), a gathering that attractsreps from more than 90 chamber groups across the province.

The sectorwill also haveapresence at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' annual conference in Quebec City, wherehundreds of municipal politicians from across the country will meet at the end of the month.

"We want to make sure people understand the issues that face the energy sector are actually Canadian issues, not just ones related to [the] Western CanadianSedimentary Basin," said Gary Mar, president of the Petroleum Services Association of Canada.

"We plan on taking that message all across Canada."

Mar, who will address the chambermeetingSaturday morning, willbejoined by representativesof the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the energy sector's largest lobby group.

The effort comes as the oil and gasindustry continues to raise concerns about ongoinguncertainty surrounding the sector, from the future of pipeline development to major regulatory changes.

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The sector also facesincreasingscrutiny due to concerns over its impact on the environment and climate change. Recent flooding in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick may only intensify the discussion.

Scheduled to speak immediately before Mar's presentation on Saturdayis Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner.

"We need to have a conversation abouthow do we create jobs and a prosperous economy while at the same time addressing the climate crisis," Schreiner said.

"I'm going to be pushing a message on how we can transition and transform our economy to the benefit of job creation, prosperity and, obviously, the effort to combat the climate crisis that we're facing."

Alberta's oilsands produce nearly 10per cent of Canada's overall greenhouse gas emissions.

Mar will expoundthe argument made by others in the sector: Canadian crude is not the oil that should be sidelined.

"If you look at our energy development through the lens of the environment or occupational health and safety or labour standards, we are top of the shelf in the world," Marsaid.

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He'll also make an economic argument, pointing to the revenues that go to government and the thousands of jobs Alberta's industry supports across the country, including in Ontario's manufacturing sector.

He'll point to thecase of a northern Ontario steel pipe manufacturer, whereroughly half of itsrevenues come from supplying material for the oil and gas sector.

"That's just one example of a half a billion dollars of economic activity that happens in SaultSte. Marie," he said, adding that the energy industrycontributes much more to Canada's GDP than theautomotive sector.

"The energy sector ... is very, very important in Ontario and Quebec. It's important to jobs in Atlantic Canada [and] on the coast of British Columbia."

There's a heightened focus on energy development in Canada, said OCC president Rocco Rossi,so it makessense to have the industry talk about theissues affecting it and their impacts in Ontario.

"People often mistakenly referto it as the Alberta energy industry," Rossi said."It's the Canadian energy industry and Ontario is one of the largest, not just consumers, but supply-chain providers."

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The Green Party'sSchreinersaid Ontario needs to be looking forwardon what sectors generate the greatest job growth;he believes that opportunity lies elsewhere.

"The biggest growth sector in the global economy is the clean economy and I think Ontarians should be leading that,"Schreinersaid.

"The thing that we're probably both going to agree on is that we want to create Canadian jobs and generate prosperity in Canada. We may have a different different vision on where we think the global economy is going and where that investment should go."