The confluence of new technologies and price per barrel has made it profitable to excavate the oil sands, while a process known as ‘fracking’ has opened up access to new, large reservoirs of shale gas. With oil and gas come money—and power. The spheres and sites of political and economic authority and influence in Canada are undergoing a major shift whose end result will be a transformed national identity. Once seen as a curse, the idea that Canadians are back to being (in Harold Innis’ memorable phrase) “hewers of wood and drawers of water”, is now seen as a blessing allowing us to weather recent economic storms and promising to help keep the country strong in changing and uncertain times.

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