Shane Rants:
Canadian energy self-sufficiency has an argument and right now you are paying it every time you fill up. Diesel was $1.20 a litre not long ago. This week it crossed $1.99 in parts of Ottawa. The Strait of Hormuz, a 33-kilometre opening at the mouth of the Gulf, is blocked. A thousand ships are anchored. Lloyd's of London is refusing to insure them. The oil Canada imports arrives through that strait by ship into Montreal's ports.

Think about what it means that Canada produces oil and still imports it. The previous prime minister said there was no business case for LNG infrastructure to Europe. Alberta was running a deficit last week. Oil prices just spiked and that deficit may erase itself. Quebec's budget depends on equalization payments from Alberta oil revenues in the billions. Ontario collected around $500 million last year. Every province benefits from the price going up. Only the person at the pump pays for it going up.

The water needs protecting. Nobody is arguing otherwise. But a thousand ships anchored in the Gulf and fish still swimming in it is a hard image to square with a tanker ban that leaves Canada importing its own resource. The evidence of what self-sufficiency would mean is sitting at the pumps right now.

Topics: Canadian energy self-sufficiency, Strait of Hormuz oil prices, diesel price Canada, Alberta equalization payments, Canadian oil policy

Originally aired on 2026-03-06