EDITORIAL: G7 nations tell Canada to ‘drill, baby, drill’

World’s leading advanced democratic nations want more of our oil, natural gas, critical minerals

Published Jun 18, 2026  •  2 minute read

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives to attend a morning work meeting to "revive balanced, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth for the benefit of all" in the presence of the G7 countries, partner countries, the International Monetary Fund, and the OECD, as part of the G7 summit, in Evian, eastern France, on June 17, 2026. Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN /AFP via Getty Images

The world’s leading advanced democratic nations gave a shout-out to Canadian oil, natural gas and critical minerals in their concluding statement on geopolitical issues in Evian-les-Bains, France, this week.

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We’d be fools to ignore it.

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“We commit to accelerate the diversification of energy supply routes in order to reduce global vulnerability to the Strait of Hormuz and to increase our energy stocks,” wrote the G7 leaders of the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada.

Then the money quote: “We welcome the potential for Canada to deliver significant additional capacity to global markets in the coming years.”

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Natural resources in abundance

That was a recognition of the reality that Canada is one of the world’s few democratic, reliable trading partners with an abundance of all the natural resources the world needs today.

We are the world’s fourth largest producer and exporter of crude oil with the world’s fourth largest proven reserves.

We are the world’s fifth largest natural gas producer and fourth largest exporter with the world’s ninth largest proven reserves.

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What we failed to do was build the necessary infrastructure to get these resources to global markets rather than sell them at huge discounts to the U.S.

We also have the potential to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of critical minerals and metals essential to the manufacturing of wind turbines, solar panels, smartphones, laptops, EVs, drones, satellites, data centres and mobile networks.

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Infrastructure lacking

To benefit from Canada’s potential, we will need, as Prime Minister Mark Carney has said, to act at “speeds not seen in generations” in building new energy infrastructure, including new oil and gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas plants, a national electricity corridor and supply chains for critical minerals.

Carney has talked a good game on meeting these challenges, but talk is cheap.

What Canadians need to see are results from the federal government, an end to interprovincial squabbling and a clear definition of what “meaningful consultation” with Indigenous groups means, given that the Supreme Court has also said they do not have a veto on development projects on Crown lands.

The history of resource development in Canada has long been one step forward, two steps back. That must change to foster economic growth, increase productivity and improve living standards for millions of Canadians.

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