Leading Canadian economist Jack Mintz joins our Stewart Muir in this election-special Power Struggle podcast.
Mintz is President’s Fellow in Public Policy at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy and is, as Stewart notes, “one of the most distinguished economists on the scene.” Here are some of the things they discussed:
RESOURCE TRADE
Mintz was co-author of a 2024 paper: “Resources are still our golden goose. We need to protect them.”
It noted that natural resources generate 14.9 per cent of Canada’s GDP, with energy alone accounting for half that. They also account for over 45 per cent of our country’s manufacturing output. Nearly one in 10 Canadian jobs is related to resources, more than that for those of us living outside our major cities.
Mintz pursued the theme on Power Struggle, saying we have been blessed with resources, and that our exports are almost all associated with resources, oil and gas, mining, agricultural goods, and more.
Resources are still going to be needed, he says, after Donald Trump’s tariff wars. So Canada should seek to go back trade agreements with Europe and Asian countries and reduce tariffs and non-trade barriers.
And maybe we can work out a new relationship with the US, if after Trump leaves office.
“We’re a continent that has benefited from the strong ties that we’ve had between Canada, the United States and Mexico, and . . . our best economics lie with trading with the United States.”
ELECTION PROMISES
Over the last 10 years, says Mintz, government has focused on redistributing income rather than on economic growth. Canada has thus “really hurt ourselves” in resource development.
In the current election, he says, both the Liberals and the Conservatives are focused much more on growth. He notes resource- and energy-related promises from both major-party leaders, and both focused especially on energy and “trying to get things going.”
But he said the Liberals have been unclear about development in the oil and gas sector. And Mintz doesn’t see from them “a real commitment” on selling Canadian LNG and oil overseas.
He notes that the Conservatives have proposed an energy corridor. But it should be a corridor that would accommodate “any type of infrastructure that we want,” to transport goods or energy.
As well, we would first have to deal with Indigenous and environmental issues, and then proponents would still need to get projects approved. Australia has a very fast way of getting projects approved “but in Canada we’ve taken years.”
- Video on Power Struggle’s YouTube: https://youtu.be/d565U1TQp-M
- Audio and full transcript: https://ow.ly/eveL50VGuHu
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