Few issues divide Canadians as bitterly as the business of bitumen. We can’t even agree on what to call it.

Tar sands, say environmentalists. Oilsands, insists the industry, which doesn’t want to be tarred by the traditional term.

Both sides are dug in, so it’s heartening to see the thoughtful dialogue taking place in Ottawa this week. The twist, of course, is that they are not talking to each other, merely pleading their case at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa for the benefit of a powerful American visitor to Canada’s capital: Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has heard voices from all sides of this debate.

Give credit to U.S. ambassador David Jacobson for organizing these sessions. It’s a wonder no one in Canada has ever thought to lead a similar national round table that forces both sides to crystallize their thinking and sharpen their message. To date, most of the energy in this hydrocarbon debate has been expended on public relations wars, propaganda campaigns and showpieces. Significantly, Pelosi has long declined invitations from producers to tour their sites and model facilities without getting the full story.

That hasn’t stopped Alberta’s Ed Stelmach from declaring victory, after attending a private dinner with Pelosi and other premiers Wednesday night: “Boy, after today, I’m excited,” he crowed.

For too long, Stelmach and his fellow Conservatives in the federal government have seen the debate as a zero sum game where environmental concerns had to be drowned out for fear of submerging industry arguments. Stelmach and the Stephen Harper government keep touting an untested technology — carbon sequestration — as a panacea for tar/oil sands emissions, as if this embryonic pilot project holds any serious prospect of bottling up a carbon footprint that is growing exponentially.

Alberta has also poured $25 million into a Washington war chest that is funding its efforts to put out fires in the U.S., where tar/oil sands boycotts are gathering steam. The Prime Minister has treated the debate as a wedge issue. And some environmentalists won’t be happy until the tar/oil sands are buried forever. Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed, at least, has argued for a go-slow approach to cool down an overheated debate.

We shouldn’t have to rely on a U.S. ambassador to organize a debate solely for the benefit of a visiting American VIP. Canadians deserve a serious national debate of their own on how to manage growth in the tar/oil sands while dealing with the environmental fallout. Pelosi’s visit could be a starting point.