Carl O. Nickle, May 8 - "Putting it bluntly, industry risk takers have been well sucked in under the incentive ground rules set by government and are now heavily involved through score of millions of dollars spent or committed and the government, in mid-game, has started to change the rules."
Carl O. Nickle, March 11 - "Maybe down the road, alternative energy sources might enable oil distributors and their customers to tell Libya to let its oil stay under the desert sands, but in 1971 and for a time to come, Libya is in a commanding position and obviously ready to use its power to drive a hard bargain."
Ontario Gas Association, Dec 14 - "Unless Canada with its reportedly large reserves of oil and gas can be insulated from the pricing policies of the giant international oil companies, Ontario consumers will be forced to pay highly inflated prices for indigenous resources. While this may improve earnings of largely foreign-held companies, it is hardly in the best public interest of Ontario where it will increase the cost of living and worsen our competitive position industrially."
Ontario Premier William Davis, April 3 - "I acknowledge Ontario cannot be insulated from world energy price trends. Our argument is with the timing and extent of the changes. If national energy policy -- or the absence of a rational policy -- results in costs being distorted as compared with our industrial competitors, if we lose sight of the fact that energy policy must be subservient to industrial strategy, if we brush aside concerns of major users in Canada, then we invite economic and industrial dislocation."
Federal Finance Minister John Turner, Nov 18 - "The whole concept of taxing the resources of the provinces is simply going to destroy confederation. If the provinces don’t have the opportunity to take the ownership of resources to build the provinces and to strengthen the provinces -- particularly the regions and those provinces smaller than the central provinces -- then we’re going to have a different kind of Canada and in my opinion not a better Canada."
Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed, Nov 17 - "Nothing bothers me more than the concept of sending an unprocessed, depleting resource down a pipeline. Because I can figuratively see young people running down that pipeline to Sarnia to make their home there -- where they don’t want to live. That shouldn’t happen and we don’t intend to let it continue to happen."
D.K. McIvor V.P. Imperial Oil, Oct 5 - "We have tax, royalty and land tenure regulations designed to ’fine tune’ industry’s opportunities for profit. A phrase I’ve heard several times lately is 'industry will get enough money to develop new supplied but not a nickel more’. This is a very difficult to do in an endeavour where outcomes are so unpredictable and where fortunes of many companies will vary extremely. The net result can only be to reduce expectations and motivation."
Bill Hopper President Petro-Canada, Sept 28 - "From its experience to date as the government’s ‘window to the industry’, Petro-Canada believes government policies… will be most effective if they are designed to enhance the operation of free enterprise market forces in the development of future oil supplies for Canada."
John Bhere Petro-Canada, July 7 - "At least four more multi-billion-dollar oil sands plants will be in production or under construction by the late 1980’s. Beyond that, I can’t envisage a time when there won’t be at least one plant in the works."
Carl O. Nickle, Dec 14 - "Inexorably, and beyond the control of any government, energy company for agency in Canada, the world in the weeks ahead will feel the pinch of still higher OPEC prices and shortages of supply. Equally the world faces recurring and worsening energy security problems in the years ahead and realism dictates the situation will not change much for the better until there are available massive volumes of various forms of energy at much higher costs than now to relieve and replace a too heavy dependence on higher cost, insecure supplies."
People on the Move