Canada can’t keep the lights on anymore by relying on its playbook of operating siloed regional utilities, favouring trade to the U.S. over neighbouring provinces, and coasting by on its serendipitous geology and geography.

For a nation rich in oil, gas, hydro, wind, solar and critical minerals, we have somehow shot wide on an empty net. We have allowed this supercharged resource portfolio to fracture into incompatible energy kingdoms where power lines encounter resistance at provincial borders, we can’t refine raw products we extract, and proposed energy infrastructure projects face insurmountable regulatory hurdles.

The potential of uniting the country with nation-spanning energy corridors, enabling the optimized distribution of domestic molecules, megawatts, and free trade from coast to (almost) coast is enticing. It could be the nation-building co-operation we need in these unprecedented times.

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