Rolf Wiborg’s Tough Love for Canada, A top petro engineer for wealthy Norway says Canada is ‘a fantastic country’ that’s ‘totally mismanaged by design.’

Rolf Wiborg’s Tough Love for Canada, A top petro engineer for wealthy Norway says Canada is ‘a fantastic country’ that’s ‘totally mismanaged by design.’ by Mitchell Anderson, August 22, 2012, TheTyee.ca
“One litre of gasoline in most developed nations costs less in a gas station than one litre of bottled water. What the hell is going on?”
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“There have been lots of plots created south of the border by people who would hate to have a strong Ottawa or strong bureaucracies in the provinces. Not necessarily the U.S. government, but the companies. Think of all the trouble they would have if they couldn’t come to Canada and play God and get away with it. … Such blunt speculation puts a different light on the emergence of the Wildrose Alliance in Alberta. The party ran a joint website with the oil industry and ran a slate of 13 candidates from the petroleum sector with a goal of creating dedicated political representation for the oil and gas industry. … “You have to leave the feudal thinking and leave the idea that people coming to exploit you have the right to tell you what to do. When people came here some Norwegians said, ‘The oil companies are going to rape us.’ Now some of the oil companies say we raped them.” … Wiborg feels that Canada’s comparatively meek politicians and public servants are allowing billions of dollars to slip through Canada’s fingers. It seems our famous national politeness has been a very expensive vice when negotiating with the international oil industry. … “You have to hire bureaucrats who are tough enough to say, ‘I don’t care who you think you are, sir. If you execute what you’re saying you will be breaking our laws. You can be sent to jail, and your company will be stripped for assets and thrown out of the country. Do you understand? Don’t try to trick us. You’re not allowed to lie to the Norwegian authorities. Facts on the table. You don’t distort your plans, your problems or your production. You don’t cheat on royalties. Try that once and see what happens.'” … What could our country be like if we stopped allowing ourselves to be pushed around by outside interests clamoring for our global treasure trove of resources? Consider that Norway has no public debt, enjoys enviable social programs, and has $600 billion of oil wealth in the bank — putting them about $1.2 trillion ahead of Canada counting our national debt. Canadians are now being told we must choose between public services or balanced budgets as 19,000 civil servant positions are being eliminated. Norwegians need no such Faustian bargain. [Emphasis added]