It’s as sure as the sunrise – when there’s demand for a product, it will find a way to market. The same is true for Canadian oil. Right now, it’s transported to market by rail – a costly, inefficient, dirty and unsafe method of transporting crude oil. Pipelines, by comparison, are extremely safe. Thanks to… Read More

Canada is a fortunate place – it’s peaceful and prosperous, blessed with tremendous natural resources. Thanks to the victories of unionists before us, we also have a strong labour movement, and through that, a strong middle class – the foundation of our common prosperity. In Canada, we’ve worked out a deal: a worker can arrive… Read More

You may remember this international scandal from last year: the death of working men and women in Qatar, a small country that is home to one of the world’s largest oil companies. Human Rights Watch broke the story that thousands of construction workers are dying on project sites in Qatar. HRW believes millions of workers… Read More

In 2014, a jaw-dropping story was published in the New York Times: the American middle class, for decades the wealthiest on Earth, had lost its crown. And whose middle class had shot ahead of the Americans? Canada’s did. Several factors have been attributed to this impressive development. Part of it was a significant rise in… Read More

In most of the world, oil is a bad mens’ business—and certainly not a business as you and I understand it here in Canada. In most of the world, oil is a business that lines the pockets of some governments that are not our friends. Indeed, that’s the case for most of the world oil… Read More

“Exciting and rewarding opportunities, accompanied with choice and flexibility… and highly competitive wages and benefits.” That’s how the Canadian Operating Engineers Joint Apprenticeship and Training Council describes the careers of Canadian operating engineers. Operating engineers enjoy some of the best careers in Canada, and they depend on pipelines. That’s just one reason why pipelines matter… Read More

Here’s a question: where would you rather be a worker, Canada or Saudi Arabia? Here in Canada, operating engineers are at the heart of Canada’s energy sector. We build and maintain pipelines – and when we say 99.999% of Canadian energy products move safely by pipeline, we’re a big part of that. Working pipeline construction… Read More

No matter how we look at it, oil is a necessity for the global economy. Predictions for demand will always vary, but one thing is clear: oil is going to be part of our lives for a very, very long time. The International Energy Agency predicts strong growth in oil demand right through to 2022.… Read More

If I met Prime Minister Trudeau, here’s what I’d tell him: want to see a local economy thrive? Then build the Energy East Pipeline. I’ve spent my whole life in New Brunswick. Think about it: the pay is phenomenal. All those well-paid workers who would live and stay in NewBrunswick are investing in the local… Read More

They say the modern economy is tough for young people. More and more parents are worried how their kids will make a living. More and more youth don’t see a bright future – they see a storm cloud. They see no direction forward and no sense of what awaits them on the other end of… Read More

A lot has changed these past few decades. It wasn’t that long ago we were reading maps to drive from one place to another. Today, getting directions is as easy as turning on a smartphone. But as much as times change, some things always stay the same. I’ve been an operating engineer for 35 years.… Read More