Houston Says Importing U.S. Energy Is Not a Strategy

Tim Houston, Nova Scotia’s premier: “Importing someone else’s energy forever is not a strategy.” Virtually every unit of natural gas used in the province arrives through the United States. That is the vulnerability he wants closed. The province, he says, sits on enough natural gas to power the Maritimes for 80 years at current demand.

The potential resource book is larger still: up to 150 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and about 49 billion barrels of potential oil, plus enough offshore wind for more than 60 gigawatts — nearly a quarter of Canada’s electricity needs, or roughly Ontario’s load. Developing the first five gigawatts of offshore wind and the transmission behind it would take about $50 billion, roughly the size of Nova Scotia’s entire economy.

Trade diversification is already moving. Exports to France, Denmark, Spain and Italy combined were 37% higher in 2025 than in 2024, an extra $67 million. Interprovincial barriers remain sticky. Mining is not just talk: Goldboro gold and Antrim gypsum cleared key approvals; Touquoy gold, Little Narrows gypsum and the Scotia mine got full provincial green lights to restart.

Houston’s closer is national, not local. “Canada was built by people who didn’t agree on everything, but they agreed on enough to find common ground and get things done.” Trump’s tariffs, he writes, hurt workers on both sides of the border. Ottawa cannot control Washington. Halifax can dig, drill and wire.