BANFF, Alta. — The high cost of fuel may serve as good material for coffee break rants, but a revamped version of the National Energy Program (NEP) is an unlikely solution and probably unwise.

David Bradley, CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, assured the Alberta membership that the national association was not pushing for an updated version of the NEP, which was abandoned in 1986 by the Mulroney government.

“It’s not in my view to approach this with an NEP Part Two and I don’t think the government will approach it,” explained Bradley, during the AMTA annual management conference in Banff, Alta. last week.

The Trudeaupian NEP was enacted in 1980 following a year where world oil prices rose by 160 percent. The centrist policy was implemented by Ottawa after a prolonged stalemate between the federal government and Alberta over energy pricing and revenue sharing.

Ottawa’s intention was to redistribute Western wealth and maintain affordable oil supply to the industrial core (and Liberal Party base) of Ontario and Quebec.

However, in Alberta, the NEP is most remembered for costing the province about $75 billion, sinking real estate markets, and triggering bankruptcies at more than double the national rate. As a result, the program furthered the distrust between Ottawa and the western provinces, namely Alberta.

The Canuck buck has really become a ‘petro-currency’
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Today, the price of diesel is quickly becoming an increasing concern for fleets and owner-ops, as the cost of crude oil continues to set records on a seemingly daily basis.

That has led to some federal Liberal and NDP politicians and academics to call for a return to the NEP.

In Canada, the average price of diesel is more than $1.30 a liter. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are experiencing the highest pump prices — between $1.42 and $1.53 — while the average price in the U.S. is more than $4.00 a gallon.

On an economic landscape, the high price of diesel is affecting more than just the dollars it takes to fill the fuel tank.

“Our dollar has really become a petro-currency and it has changed the trajectory of merchandise trade,” noted Bradley. “In central Canada, there’s such a surplus of capacity and the rates are under pressure.”

While Bradley admits the trucking industry doesn’t have a very good record for pricing discipline and holding the line, he says it is imperative for carriers not to give discounts on fuel surcharges and explain to shippers how much the cost of fuel is affecting their business.

“Take a stand and make them pay,” said Bradley. “You can’t take a 30 to 40 percent reduction in fuel rates. This isn’t going to change, fuel prices are not going to be reduced.”