Europeans once regarded Canada as a decent ‘do-gooder’ democracy, celebrated for its vast forests, pristine waters and pleasant cities. But the rapid development of the tar sands, the world’s largest energy project, has not only blackened the country’s environmental reputation but dramatically undermined its political and economic character.
Oil, a politically corrosive resource, has unsettled the nation. Ever since Canada supplanted Mexico and Saudi Arabia nearly a decade ago as the number one oil supplier to the US, the federal government has become an increasingly aggressive defender of hydrocarbons and little else.
