Gordon Laxer

Gordon Laxer, PhD, is the founding Director and former head of Parkland Institute (1996-2011). He is a Political Economist and professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, and is the author or editor of five books, including Open for Business: The Roots of Foreign Ownership in Canada, which in 1991 received the John Porter Award for best book written about Canada. Gordon was the Principal Investigator of the $1.9 million research project, Neoliberal Globalism and its Challengers: Reclaiming the Commons in the Semi-periphery (2000-2006). He is the author of After the Sands: Energy and Ecological Security for Canadians, which was nominated for the 2016 John W. Dafoe prize in non-fiction books.

Twitter: @AfterTheSands

authortag: author_gordon_laxer

It’s time to quit the boom-bust roller coaster

media | Nov 24, 2015

“Please Lord, give me another oil boom, and I promise not to p… it away!” said a popular Alberta bumper sticker in the 1980s.

Alberta: Fossil-fuel belt or green powerhouse?

blog | Nov 02, 2015

Parkland Institute will be hosting the Edmonton book launch of Parkland founder and former director Gordon Laxer's new book, After the Sands: Energy and Ecological Security for Canadians as part of our 19th annual fall conference. Here's an excerpt from the book, "Alberta: Fossil-Fuel Belt or Green Powerhouse."

Plan for a low-carbon Alberta

media | Feb 02, 2015

As Alberta’s economic engine falters, now is a good time to rethink the province putting all its eggs in bitumen’s basket.

When their crops failed, Alberta’s farmers had the pluck to persevere. There’s always next year. That resilience in the face of adversity served them well. But a next-year-country optimism is misplaced when applied to Alberta’s unconventional oil.

Over a Barrel: Exiting from NAFTA's Proportionality Clause

research | Jul 16, 2008

The report describes how NAFTA limits Canada's options for managing its energy future and recommends options for regaining Canadian energy security and sovereignty.

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Freezing in the Dark: Why Canada Needs Strategic Petroleum Reserves

research | Jan 31, 2008

Canada is currently the most vulnerable country in the industrial world to short-term oil supply crises, and we need to establish strategic petroleum reserves to remedy the problem. This is the key finding of a report released today by Alberta’s Parkland Institute in conjunction with the Polaris Institute.

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Toward an Energy Security Strategy for Canada: A Discussion Paper

research | Dec 01, 2005

This paper is aimed at promoting discussion on the development of an energy security strategy. It is a made-in-Alberta initiative, in partnership with Canadians from energy producing and energy consuming regions.

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