The Monarchist 1.0
Defending the British Crown Commonwealth and the English-Speaking Peoples
[+] HONOURING OUR PATRON, SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, VICTOR OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES
[+] HONOURING OUR QUEEN, ELIZABETH THE SECOND, ON THE 80TH YEAR OF HER BIRTH (1926 - 2006)
[+] HONOURING OUR KING, SAINT EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, ON THE 1000TH YEAR OF HIS BIRTH (1005 - 2005)
[+] HONOURING OUR HERO, LORD NELSON, ON THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR (1805 - 2005)
[+] HONOURING OUR SONS, THE QUEEN'S COMMONWEALTH SOLDIERS KILLED IN THE 'WAR ON TERROR'
Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46, Royal Canadian Regiment, Nov 27, 2006 (Afstan)
Staff Sergeant Sharron Elliott, 34, Intelligence Corps, Nov 12, 2006 (Iraq)
Private Jacob B. Kovco, 25, Royal Australian Regiment, April 21, 2006
[+] HONOURING OUR VETS ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VICTORIA CROSS (1856 - 2006)
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Little Englander disses the Great Dominion
Where have all the Great Britons gone? You know, we go through this every year the G8 meets. And it’s always some pro-European little Englander who says something along the lines that Canada is geopolitically insignificant and does not deserve to sit with the Great Powers at the exclusive summit. This year, it’s the Guardian’s Larry Elliott in “Giving good summit”, as in he will deeply miss Jacques Chirac, because “you have to admit he’s a class act…this man does good summit”. On the other hand, “Canada and Italy have no business being in the G8, so nobody really cares what Stephen Harper or Romano Prodi thinks.” And Russia deserves to be because of “all that lovely oil and gas”.
Whatever, Larry. Ignorance may be bliss, but I suggest you check your facts, starting with the world's 15 largest proven oil reserves (estimated in billions of barrels):
264.3 Saudi Arabia (OPEC)
178.8 Canada
132.7 Iran (OPEC)
115.0 Iraq (OPEC)
101.5 Kuwait (OPEC)
97.8 UAE (OPEC)
79.7 Venezuela (OPEC)
72.4 Russia
39.6 Kazakhstan
39.1 Libya
35.9 Nigeria
29.3 United States
17.3 Europe
16.0 China
15.2 Qatar (OPEC)
As you can see, the G8’s future energy security (add China and India) will be largely dependent on Canada, particularly if things turn for the worse in the Middle East. Obviously, we are the only serious non-OPEC country (along with Russia) with proven massive deposits. The United States already imports more oil and gas from the Province of Alberta than they do from Saudi Arabia. If petroleum is your yardstick for inclusion into the G8, seems to me you might want Canada to be at the table. Mind you, if the desire is for the Great White North to be set up as an oil cartel for use by the G8, then I’m thinking we would not be interested.
But I think Larry misses the point about the G8. It’s a gathering of the largest economically developed nations in the world. At $US 1.3 trillion in GDP (est. 2007), Canada happens to have the world’s 8th largest economy, Russia down at number 11 (see below figures for top 15 countries). If anything, Russia should be kicked out in favour of China, who is number four currently. But Russia, like Canada, has the richest natural resource base on the planet, and given the demand for resources these days, an argument can be made that large economies like the United States and China are nothing without the resources to fuel those economies. Canada and Russia are clearly the world’s two greatest Resource Powers.
13.94 United States
4.57 Japan
2.85 Germany
2.82 China
2.37 UK
2.17 France
1.81 Italy
1.31 Canada
1.23 Spain
1.11 Brazil
1.05 Russia
0.95 Korea
0.93 India
0.89 Mexico
0.76 Australia
Now, I’m not going to come to the defense of Italy here, because quite frankly there’s way too many demographically declining European countries already in the G8. The bureaucratically sclerotic and demographically sick European Union is way overrepresented. That in of itself, means there’s no way the United States would ever support kicking out their only North American partner. Nor should Great Britain. Why the hell would Larry be supporting France, Germany and Russia over Canada? Time and time again, no matter the issue, Britain has allied itself with those on the other side of the pond, not the other side of the Channel. But these little Englanders now think their future is with Europe. Little England may have a future as a province of Europe, but not as a member of the G8. That place is reserved exclusively for Great Britain.
POSTED BY: The Monarchist AT 1:07 p.m. | LINKS |
Where have all the Great Britons gone? You know, we go through this every year the G8 meets. And it’s always some pro-European little Englander who says something along the lines that Canada is geopolitically insignificant and does not deserve to sit with the Great Powers at the exclusive summit. This year, it’s the Guardian’s Larry Elliott in “Giving good summit”, as in he will deeply miss Jacques Chirac, because “you have to admit he’s a class act…this man does good summit”. On the other hand, “Canada and Italy have no business being in the G8, so nobody really cares what Stephen Harper or Romano Prodi thinks.” And Russia deserves to be because of “all that lovely oil and gas”.
Whatever, Larry. Ignorance may be bliss, but I suggest you check your facts, starting with the world's 15 largest proven oil reserves (estimated in billions of barrels):
264.3 Saudi Arabia (OPEC)178.8 Canada
132.7 Iran (OPEC)
115.0 Iraq (OPEC)
101.5 Kuwait (OPEC)
97.8 UAE (OPEC)
79.7 Venezuela (OPEC)
72.4 Russia
39.6 Kazakhstan
39.1 Libya
35.9 Nigeria
29.3 United States
17.3 Europe
16.0 China
15.2 Qatar (OPEC)
As you can see, the G8’s future energy security (add China and India) will be largely dependent on Canada, particularly if things turn for the worse in the Middle East. Obviously, we are the only serious non-OPEC country (along with Russia) with proven massive deposits. The United States already imports more oil and gas from the Province of Alberta than they do from Saudi Arabia. If petroleum is your yardstick for inclusion into the G8, seems to me you might want Canada to be at the table. Mind you, if the desire is for the Great White North to be set up as an oil cartel for use by the G8, then I’m thinking we would not be interested.
But I think Larry misses the point about the G8. It’s a gathering of the largest economically developed nations in the world. At $US 1.3 trillion in GDP (est. 2007), Canada happens to have the world’s 8th largest economy, Russia down at number 11 (see below figures for top 15 countries). If anything, Russia should be kicked out in favour of China, who is number four currently. But Russia, like Canada, has the richest natural resource base on the planet, and given the demand for resources these days, an argument can be made that large economies like the United States and China are nothing without the resources to fuel those economies. Canada and Russia are clearly the world’s two greatest Resource Powers.
13.94 United States4.57 Japan
2.85 Germany
2.82 China
2.37 UK
2.17 France
1.81 Italy
1.31 Canada
1.23 Spain
1.11 Brazil
1.05 Russia
0.95 Korea
0.93 India
0.89 Mexico
0.76 Australia
Now, I’m not going to come to the defense of Italy here, because quite frankly there’s way too many demographically declining European countries already in the G8. The bureaucratically sclerotic and demographically sick European Union is way overrepresented. That in of itself, means there’s no way the United States would ever support kicking out their only North American partner. Nor should Great Britain. Why the hell would Larry be supporting France, Germany and Russia over Canada? Time and time again, no matter the issue, Britain has allied itself with those on the other side of the pond, not the other side of the Channel. But these little Englanders now think their future is with Europe. Little England may have a future as a province of Europe, but not as a member of the G8. That place is reserved exclusively for Great Britain.
POSTED BY: The Monarchist AT 1:07 p.m. | LINKS |
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