Canada and Energy: The Centre Cannot Hold

"Picture this. A decade from now, the path for young university graduates leads up to Yellowknife to join the growing throng of outdoorsy pilgrims making their first big money on the new Mackenzie Valley pipeline. When they've raked in a good chunk of money from the pipeline and have tired of the isolation of the North, they will head back to Alberta. There will be fabulous jobs in all the head offices that have migrated to the province, and they'll pay no tax on those salaries.

"But they certainly won't move to Ontario. That province's manufacturing base is rusting, the auto sector collapsed after General Motors filed for bankruptcy, and brownouts are as frequent as power bills are high.

"This vision of Canada is extreme, but not impossible. This has always been a country of regional divides. Any tenuous balance that may have developed over the past couple of decades is quickly being shattered by one key factor: high energy prices."