It is widely assumed that Canada doesn't need to. After all, we have the
second greatest supply of oil in the world. Prime Minister Stephen Harper
boasts to every foreign leader that Canada is an energy superpower. But this
superpower has an Achilles heel. We produce more oil than we consume but
export two-thirds of it to the United States. Meantime, we import oil to
meet 90 per cent of Atlantic Canadians' and Quebeckers' needs. Politically
volatile OPEC countries, including Algeria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, supply
almost half of Canada's imported oil.
