Dr. Roger Gibbins, President and CEO, Canada West Foundation

Debate about how to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions has led some to argue that Canada’s oil and gas industry needs to be reined in or even shut down. This position is often accompanied by one or more dubious claims: the economic consequences will be minimal, the economic pain will be contained within western Canada, and green investment and jobs will fill in the void left by a smaller oil and gas industry. These arguments, however, miscalculate the economic contribution of the oil and gas industry to both the western Canadian economy and the rest of the national economy, fail to understand the linkages between the western economy and the national economy, and underestimate the magnitude of the hole that the still largely hypothetical green economy would have to fill. Simply put, a blow to the oil and gas industry equals a blow to the western Canadian economy which equals a blow to the national economy.

 

Roger Gibbins is President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation, a public policy research group based in Calgary and operating across the four western provinces. Prior to assuming the leadership of the Canada West Foundation in 1998, Roger was a professor of political science at the University of Calgary, where he started his academic career in 1973 and served as department head from 1987 to 1996.  An ongoing appointment as a Faculty Professor of Political Science continues his association with the University of Calgary. Roger has authored, co-authored or edited 22 books and more than 40 articles and book chapters, most dealing with western Canadian themes and issues.  In 1998 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and was the President of the Canadian Political Science Association from 1999 to 2000.  In 2007, he was awarded the Alberta Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Exceptional Achievement, Distinctive Leadership and Outstanding Contribution to Public Administration.  Roger was born in Prince George, British Columbia, and received his undergraduate degree from UBC and his doctorate in political science from Stanford University in California. 
 
 

DATE: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 
                       
TIME: Registration: 11:30 a.m., Luncheon and Presentation: 12:00 noon

LOCATION: Westin Calgary, 320 – 4th Avenue SW
       
DEADLINE TO REGISTER:  March 5, 2010