By Andrew Leach, Ottawa Citizen, May 21, 2014
Canada has a long history of competitiveness in manufacturing – economic growth
underpinned by a mix of cheap electricity and a productive labour force. Today,
this narrative is being turned upside down as a new story of Canadian growth
emerges. In the decades to come, it will be our manufacturing and processing
skills which determine the value of our energy resources and our role in global
energy markets. We are entering a new era of manufacturing energy and the key
question we must ask is not whether we should have more manufacturing and less
resource production, but whether we can add real value to our resource base with
low-cost manufacturing and processing. If not, we will strand significant
resource wealth. The era of manufacturing energy in Canada will likely be
defined initially by the success (or lack thereof) of two hydrocarbon
industries: oil sands and liquefied natural gas. Both of these industries differ
substantially from the traditional resource industry – much of the capital
deployed in each case looks more like manufacturing than drilling for oil. via
Leach: Canada’s new energy era | Ottawa Citizen.