The news out of Calgary yesterday was that Imperial Oil plans to reduce their workforce by about 20 percent—some 900 jobs, mostly out of Calgary—by the end of 2027, in order to realise “substantial efficiency and effectiveness benefits.” The kicker, however, is that they’re not planning to cut production, or reduce their footprint, or anything like that­—they are, in fact, making themselves more productive, and that means cutting staff.

Anyone who has paid the slightest attention to the oil and gas sector knows that they have been automating and cutting their workforce for years, which is why I have always thought it foolish to count on them to create jobs.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T15:30:28.106Z

Of course, people like Danielle Smith have managed to blame the federal Liberals for those losses than the industry, which doesn't help those angry Albertans whose promise of giant paycheques in oil jobs forever won't be realized, but boy have they stoked federal tensions.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T15:30:28.107Z

Right on cue:

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T15:41:47.811Z

The thing to remember here, however, is that it doesn’t matter what is actually happening, or that this has been happening in the industry since the price crash in 2014, but that everyone is going to blame the federal Liberals for these job losses. And you can bet that that blame was happening over social media, entirely falsely, because if they had planned to cut production or their footprint, then maybe you could blame it on the emissions cap, or whatnot. But that’s not what’s happening. The problem becomes what to do about the hopes and dreams of all of those straight white guys with high school diplomas who were counting on being able to make a large six-figure salary doing minimal work in the oil sands, but that dream is fast escaping because the industry has changed. But because they are angry that said dream is slipping away, they are looking for someone to blame, and they don’t want to blame the industry for increasing its productivity, so they will try and pin this on the Liberals. Because of course they will.

https://twitter.com/maxfawcett/status/1961437440595693741

The thing about oilsands companies is that over the past decade they have focused on cutting as many jobs as possible in the name of efficiency while paying as little as possible for the pollution they cause.

— Catherine McKenna (@cathmckenna.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T23:53:16.532Z

Of course, the federal government is expressing their concern about this, because they decided to put a whole lot of eggs in this basket in spite of the fact that it’s not 2014, and it won’t be 2014 again, and that no matter how much they gut the country’s environmental regulations by stealth, it won’t make the oil and gas sector come back, or make it the economic driver that it used to be. But I’m not sure that most of them are capable of grasping this fact, and that’s a problem, because we do need an economic transformation and that shouldn’t mean doubling down on the fossil fuel industry.

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian guided aerial bomb attack hit Kharkiv overnight, injuring at least six. This after a daytime attack on Dnipro that killed one and injured at least twenty, and a previous overnight attack on a village in Sumy region that killed four. Ukraine has sent a mission to Denmark to train European militaries on how to combat drones. Princess Anne made a secret visit to Ukraine in support of children affected by the war. (Still the best royal).

Good reads:

• Prime minister Mark Carney spoke at the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Ottawa. (Photo gallery from across the country here).
• Carney also posted that he “welcomes” Trump’s peace plan for Gaza…except Netanyahu has basically said he won’t abide by its conditions.
• Here’s a look at how Carney’s “governing like a CEO” means abandoning transparency and being unwilling to answer simple questions.
• Anita Anand is heading to China and India this month, and says she has a different plan for engaging each country.
• Mélanie Joly says the government is working to help save a paper mill in Northern Ontario after it has idled operations.
• The CEO of high-speed rail conglomerate Alto says they need 4000 km of high-carbon steel rails, but no Canadian company makes them and may not be inclined.
• Indigenous leaders are concerned that the government is cutting social programming in favour of “economic reconciliation.”
• Governor General Mary Simon says that she carried guilt because she watched families grieving children when she wasn’t allowed to go to residential schools.
• Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright (whose cheque set off the ClusterDuff Scandal), passed away at 62.
• François Legault is hoping to outline a “new economic vision” to revive his party’s fortunes, and yes, he scapegoats religious minorities as part of it.
• Danielle Smith defended not raising the province’s minimum wage saying they have no sales tax, as though inflation didn’t spike since Notley raised it in 2018.
• Mike Moffatt’s Missing Middle Initiative recalculates that inaction on housing in the GTA is costing governments over $6 billion in lost revenue.
• Paul Wells talks to Lloyd Axworthy about why he’s become a critic of Carney.
• My column worries that we aren’t capable of having a reasonable discussion about the fiscal situation any longer, because it’s nothing but doom versus back-patting.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I spoke to lawyers in the field about the federal government’s latest report on their implementing UNDRIP.

New episodes released early for C$7+ subscribers. This week I talk about things the Conservatives claim the government has "broken their promises" about, even though they're impossible to have met #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T15:48:55.757Z

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