Keystone XL pipeline – Trump would invite Trans Canada to reapply but he would likely demand something else in return. Canada should proceed with the Kinder Morgan and Energy East pipelines. The world will need oil for the foreseeable future, but without alternative outlets for Canadian oil, Trump knows the extra Keystone volume would lock us into a price discount of $80 million every day instead of the current discount of $40 million every day.

Syrian refugees – The U.S. suffers from paranoia about everything including refugees, but immigration (managed properly) has always been a plus for both Canada and the U.S.

Brain-poaching – The number of Americans searching for jobs in Canada has increased 58 per cent since the start of the 2016 election campaign. Canada is changing procedures to fast-track immigration to fill skill shortages like programmers and IT skills

Climate change – This is not a Trump priority. But Canada should stay on track with programs to reduce the use of fossil fuels for two reasons: 1. to help avoid the worst effects of climate change and 2. To conserve finite oil and gas reserves for the uses where the world has no practical replacement. Without increased fracking (which eventually poses unaffordable cost and unacceptable environmental risk) proven global reserves of oil and gas will be depleted in 50 years. (Economically accessible U.S. reserves can supply only six years of U.S. consumption, so they are completely dependent on Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.)

Reducing fossil fuel use requires both the carrot and the stick. The “carrot” is a gradually-rising and revenue-neutral carbon tax that stays within each province, and provides incentive for end-consumers to reduce fossil fuel use, without increasing the tax burden on individuals at any income level. It supports the gradual increase in vehicle fuel economy regulations. It requires less bureaucracy than a complex inter-state cap-and-trade program with its inevitable disputes. To ensure the carbon tax stays revenue neutral, provincial auditors should provide a specific annual report. (By the time the tax is fully applied, Trump will be gone and the U.S. will be introducing one.)

The “stick” is the regulations on vehicle fuel economy, and regulations on the biggest industrial polluters, coupled with tax rebates for emissions actually reduced. The tax rebates can be funded by federal tax revenue from increased oil and gas exports. All of Canada has benefited from Alberta’s oil for the past five decades and will benefit for the next five decades, so it is only fair that all of Canada helps Alberta to solve the resulting emissions problem. Two small nuclear plants could eliminate most of Alberta’s emissions by replacing their coal-based electricity and using the surplus heat to replace natural gas heat for oil extraction. But we must overcome the irrational fear of nuclear energy and the irrational faith in intermittent wind and solar energy. We must understand that solar output in the snow belt is less than half of the output in the California desert. We must understand that wind energy requires 100 per cent back-up capacity from natural gas for those days with no wind.

Defence – Trump is right to ask others including Canada to comply with the NATO guideline on defence spending, which should include fair treatment for returning veterans. Done properly, defence spending will create jobs and create more technical progress than ordinary infrastructure spending. Veterans should be first in line for training for defence industry and infrastructure jobs.

Hugh Holland is a retired professional engineer that was responsible for the manufacturing staff including energy and environmental protection activities at my former employer. In retirement he has spent seven years researching and writing on the subject of finding a sustainable balance between the environment, the economy and the global energy supply system.