# We need pipelines to build a post-oil Canada

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2025-11-18

oil-and-gas, pipelines, alberta, canada, energy, renewable-energy, sovereign-wealth-fund, environment

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I'm not sure that oil is Canada's _only_ economic hard power, [but it has to be our largest](https://www.ft.com/content/44308ca0-8ac6-495d-b346-a44f703e86da):

> “To effectively use oil, Canada’s only economic hard power, Carney needs to get not just one, but two pipelines built,” said Adam Waterous, chief executive of Calgary’s Waterous Energy Fund, a major oil sands investor.

It's hard to imagine a more strategically important investment for Canada. Right now, virtually all of Canada's oil exports go to the US. That gives us zero leverage. We are _price takers!_ To correct this, we need to diversify our customer base. And the only way we do that is by building pipelines to our coastlines and then [selling to the rest of the world](https://brandondonnelly.com/canada-should-be-celebrating-vancouvers-new-terminal-2-port).

But beyond shoring up our economy, I'd argue that this is also the way we accelerate decarbonization. Here's the plan: We get rich, and then reinvest the profits into renewable energy, the [world's largest sovereign wealth fund](https://brandondonnelly.com/how-canada-missed-out-on-having-the-largest-sovereign-wealth-fund-in-the-world), and critical nation-building infrastructure like housing, transport, and education.

Oil and gas profits won't last forever. This is about building for that future.

_Cover photo by_ [_Chris Liverani_](https://unsplash.com/@chrisliverani?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) _on_ [_Unsplash_](https://unsplash.com/photos/landscape-photography-of-factory-at-daytime-XLFu0PM5Qsg?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/we-need-pipelines-to-build-a-post-oil-canada)*