In Canada, Economic and Energy Issues Await the Next Government

With its economy in a mild recession, Canada is deciding whether or not it wants to extend the nine-year run of the Conservatives under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The country is holding national elections Oct. 19, and the race has been a close one. Final polling before the election indicated that none of Canada's three main federal parties are likely to win a majority, though a recent surge in support for the Liberal Party has given it some hope of gaining enough votes. More likely, elections will result in a fragile minority government.

Although Canada's domestic politics are important, its energy sector and Ottawa's potential passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership are far more important in terms of Canada's geopolitics. Harper's Conservative government has propped up the country's energy sector as a major part of the domestic economy, but a change in Canadian leadership toward the left would not lead to policy changes that would fundamentally alter the oil and natural gas industry's position. The next government will focus on longer-term issues in the energy sector and other economic challenges, such as the need to find new trade partners and the weak global economic environment.