Apparently Canada is an energy superpower. Though you wouldn’t know it, unless you were, say, the current federal ministry, given our surging gas prices, inability to increase production, regulatory paralysis on major projects and need to import electricity from the dreaded United States of Trump. And perhaps you’re thinking it’s some clever trick where our mild-mannered Clark Kent alter ego completely disguises our mighty heroism so the bad guys won’t know where to look for us while we’re asleep or something. Except unfortunately in this case it’s the mild-mannered alter ego who keeps boasting about our vast planet-saving strength while the guy in the cape never shows up. Which makes for a lousy comic strip, and economic strategy. As David Detomasi just warned, in an article for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute that initially ran in Canada’s Financial Post, to be a superpower you actually have to do things not just talk. Who knew?

Indeed, to be a superhero you have to have some kind of powers or you look quite silly. Mind you Superman developed “super breath” at some point but we don’t seem to be there yet.

Actually Detomasi flatters the authorities, at least initially:

“Mark Carney has repeatedly said he wants Canada to be an energy superpower. He now heads a majority government. Will that get it done? Many energy industry observers seem optimistic but there are hurdles to clear and time is short.”

And fair enough since as How to Win Friends and Influence People warns, starting with some variant of “You’re an idiot because” generally doesn’t work. But at the same time, he does imply that they kind of are idiots:

“Carney’s government is over a year into its mandate. Pronouncements have been made, MOUs signed, free trade agreements pursued. But little legislation has passed, and no actual energy projects started. Instead, the major political events have been byelection victories and floor-crossings by opposition MPs joining the Liberals’ big tent.”

And the problem with flimflam in place of leaping tall buildings is that it can become a habit:

“Staying in power by embracing ideological reversals can be impressive political wizardry. Any party aspiring to form a majority government in a country as diverse as Canada needs some ideological fluidity. But can a party capable of such contortions as Carney’s Liberals have undergone be able to stiffen its spine when hard decisions have to be followed through on?”

The piece winds up: “For all the talk to signify more than just sound and fury, the clock is ticking. It’s go-time.” OK. But go where? To execute a plan you need a plan, not just a plan to have a plan or some words. When the villains got going, Clark Kent zipped into a phone booth, changed into Superman by removing his incredibly cunning pair-of-glasses disguise, and flew to the rescue. The Canadian government tends to zip into a meeting and a press release flies out.

For instance, under the heading “Secretary of State Zerucelli highlights suspension of the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline and diesel and other affordability measures to lower costs for Canadians” on April 23:

“Global conflict and ongoing supply disruptions in the Middle East are driving up fuel prices around the world. To make Canada more energy secure and less reliant on external factors, our government is advancing major projects to realise Canada’s full potential in clean and conventional energy. We’re building big in electricity, LNG, and nuclear to provide all Canadians with clean, reliable, and affordable power. As we build for the long term, we are providing immediate relief to bring down costs for Canadians right now – including cutting taxes for 22 million Canadians, cancelling the consumer carbon tax, and protecting and expanding vital social programs.”

And the next day a different minister added this:

“Global conflict and ongoing supply disruptions in the Middle East are driving up fuel prices around the world. To make Canada more energy secure and less reliant on external factors, our government is advancing major projects to realise Canada’s full potential in clean and conventional energy. We’re building big in electricity, LNG, and nuclear to provide all Canadians with clean, reliable, and affordable power. As we build for the long term, we are providing immediate relief to bring down costs for Canadians right now – including cutting taxes for 22 million Canadians, cancelling the consumer carbon price, and protecting and expanding vital social programs.”

Uh, glitch? Double-clutch on the cut-and-paste? No. No indeed. The latter is “Minister Anandasangaree in Iqaluit to highlight recent measures to make life more affordable for Canadians” on April 24. Which is eerily reminiscent of the way everyone in the Chinese Politburo who has hair styles it the same way as Supreme Leader Xi Jinping, since we also find:

“Global conflict and ongoing supply disruptions in the Middle East are driving up fuel prices around the world. To make Canada more energy secure and less reliant on external factors, our government is advancing major projects to realise Canada’s full potential in clean and conventional energy. We’re building big in electricity, LNG, and nuclear to provide all Canadians with clean, reliable, and affordable power. As we build for the long term, we are providing immediate relief to bring down costs for Canadians right now – including cutting taxes for 22 million Canadians, cancelling the consumer carbon tax, and protecting and expanding vital social programs.”

That one’s from Supreme Leader Mark Carney on April 14. So ministers don’t even pretend to think or speak independently any more. And if they think they’re not to be trusted, even to grovel with an individual touch, who are we to disagree?

The problem, of course, is that the Canadian government is not advancing major projects. It did create a Major Projects Office but that bureaucratic monstrosity hasn’t approved anything yet. What are they “building big” in electricity, LNG or nuclear? And who’s “we”?

Sure, the PM did sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Alberta that snookered provincial premier Danielle Smith into accepting a higher industrial carbon tax in return for no pipelines. Smith is now blustering that “I know industry is getting a bit impatient, Albertans’ are getting a little bit impatient.” But she’s been swallowed by her own gooblahoy, for instance “It’s just a matter of how quickly we get there, and what the stringency will be, and the benchmarking on the industry,” and by Carney’s blarney. Not least about removing the “consumer” carbon tax while cranking up the industrial one, as if consumers did not pay the cost for more expensive production, partly in higher end prices and partly in foregone investment. Of which Canada has seen a staggering amount lately.

Also, as noted at more length elsewhere in this newsletter, the resolute opposition of some aboriginal activists and the way Canadian governments have ceded their legal authority makes it highly unlikely that anything that does result from these meetings will ever happen… except more meetings. And you can’t run an economy on those even if it seems nowadays you can run a government on little else.