Free-market Tories stick their noses into resource sector

What's gotten into those freedom-loving, free-market-supporting Conservatives?

In recent weeks, several leading Conservative politicians have spoken in favour of telling private-sector energy and resource companies in New Brunswick what's good for them.

Federal leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre said he'll stop Irving Oil from buying foreign oil. His rival Jean Charest said he'll convert Repsol's Saint John LNG terminal to export natural gas.

And Premier Blaine Higgs says global potash supplier Nutrien should open its Sussex-area mine, even if Nutrien itself says it has no such plans.

"It is explicitly government involving itself in what are normally private economic decisions," says University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe, who studies international trade and energy markets.

"The inconsistency between Mr. Poilievre's strong rhetoric around freedom and his command-and-control energy policies is interesting."

Louise Comeau, the director of climate change and energy solutions for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, calls the rhetoric from champions of small government "truly bizarre." 

"If these ideas were coming from the NDP or the Liberals we would be in a world where the socialists and the communists want to take over."

In March, Poilievre used a stop in Saint John to unveil his vow to ban "dictator oil" and other foreign crude from being refined in Canada.

"We see those tankers pulling up," he said. "Tanker after tanker of oil from the Middle East comes here to Canada."

Oil from Saudi Arabia has been a large share of what Irving Oil processes at its Saint John refinery since it opened in 1960.

In 2016, Irving said it would probably keep buying Saudi oil even if the Energy East pipeline were built from Alberta, because Saudi oil is cheaper.

Poilievre argues companies like Irving should use "clean and ethical" Canadian oil rather than crude from authoritarian countries with weak environmental rules.

He'd ban foreign supplies within five years of becoming prime minister and says he'd increase production of Canadian oil to make up the difference and more.