Alberta Venture asked me to fill a last-minute editorial hole in its May line up, and as I had recently come off three different stories that referenced Quebec’s Plan Nord in one way or another (within the context of infrastructure projects, the intersections of financial markets and natural resource exploitation, and a short piece on Plan Nord itself), I pitched to them a story on the similarities between Plan Nord and the oilsands. The result is French Lessons… with a somewhat more provocative on-line title (not scripted by me).

Featuring Robert Yalden, partner with the Montreal office of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Donna Kennedy-Glans, a former vice president with Nexen Inc., at time of interview an advisor to the Canadian and international energy sector, and now MLA for Calgary Varsity, Christopher Slubicki, former CEO of OPTI Canada, and Erik Richer La Flèche, partner with  Montreal-based national law firm Stikeman Elliott LLP.