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Instead of assigning blame for how we got here — and in our opinion industry deserves some of the blame due to its complacency in the face of the disruption caused by U.S. shale — we need to look forward as to how we can attract capital in an environment characterized by slowing global economic growth and weaker oil and gas prices.

We don't think it’s a coincidence that Encana decided to pull the plug immediately following the election

Changing the narrative is a great place to start and that means de-risking the sector through sound government policy rather than introducing anti-infrastructure and anti-oil export legislation such as Bills C69 and C48. While many may argue Ottawa’s support is evident via the nationalization of the TransMountain pipeline we think it completely misses the bigger picture. Taxpayer capital would have generated a significantly higher ROI if it was put to work fostering an environment where companies like Kinder Morgan can facilitate pipeline development on their own.

Finally, it costs nothing to at least offer verbal support to a struggling industry and yet barely a word came out of the PMO regarding the Encana announcement. Such silence only adds to perception that Canada is not open for business if it has anything to do with energy. It’s hard to imagine Ottawa would have taken the same approach if SNC Lavalin had decided to move to Boston, Saputo decided to make cheese in New Jersey, or Bombardier to build its planes in Michigan.

While we try our best to distance ourselves from politics, we don’t think it’s a coincidence that Encana decided to pull the plug immediately following the election, and unfortunately, we expect to see more of this happen in the months to come. One has to wonder if it is truly darkest before it goes pitch black as it certainly feels that way as an both an energy investor and an Albertan these days.

Martin Pelletier, CFA is a Portfolio Manager and OCIO at TriVest Wealth Counsel Ltd, a Calgary-based private client and institutional investment firm specializing in discretionary risk-managed portfolios as well as investment audit and oversight services.