Call it an energy reset. When President Barack Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline project on November 6 after a seven-year political slugfest, the timing, especially for Canadians, was conspicuous. Just two days earlier, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau had been sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister after an election heavy on talk of pipelines, oil prices and the country’s green energy future.

Perhaps intentionally, President Obama waited until former Prime Minister Stephen Harper left office, just prior to the United Nations climate change meetings in Paris. But what...

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