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On Oil
A Finalist for the 2026 Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
A journalist, and former roughneck, considers our long, complex, tortured relationship with oil.
Oil has dominated our lives for the last century. It has given us warmth, progress, and life-threatening pollution. It has been a gift and is now a threat. It has started wars, ended wars, and infiltrated governments—in some cases, effectively become the government. And now oil’s enduring mythology is facing a messy, complicated twilight.
In On Oil, Don Gillmor, who worked as a roughneck on oil rigs during the seventies oil boom in Alberta, looks at how the industry has changed over the decades and illustrates the ways our dependence on oil has led to regulatory capture, in Canada and elsewhere, and contributed to armed conflict and war across the world. Gillmor documents the myriad ways that oil companies have misdirected environmental action and misinformed the public about climate concerns and illuminates where we went wrong—and how we might yet change course.
Praise for On Oil
“At once a memoir, a meditation, and a polemic, Don Gillmor drills deep into one of Canada’s most controversial natural resources in On Oil. Drawing on his experience as a roughneck during the 1970s Alberta oil boom, he explores the central role the petroleum industry plays in Canadian politics and business. Stories from Gillmor’s life on the rig ground his examination of the ongoing tension between oil as a driver of prosperity and values held by many other Canadians. With humour and polite insistence, Gillmor asks the questions that are at the heart of Canada’s relationship with its resource bounty.”
—Jury Citation, 2026 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
“In his slim but important book, Gillmor exposes the many myths of a multi-billion-dollar industry while also pointing fingers at those who have become phony King Midases, complicit with an array of dictators ruling the world’s petrostates . . . [On Oil is a] strong indictment of the most earth-destroying economic force that exists today.”
—Ron Verzuh, Literary Review of Canada
“In a short, incisive, at times rollicking book, [Don Gillmor] takes us from the drilling floor (he was a roughneck in the 1970s) to the capitulation of our government to industry under premiers Klein and Smith (most notably) to a glimpse of ‘the road to a viable future.’”
—Alberta Views
“Poetically, Gillmor tries to rationalize how we continue to dig up ancient solar energy, burn it as quickly as we can and not fully understand the consequences . . . Gillmor’s eloquence, humour and pointedness help unpack our species’ complex relationship with oil.”
—Matt Henderson, Winnipeg Free Press
“Well-researched . . . Gillmor’s tales take you from Calgary to Saudi Arabia, explaining some of the shelling and dealing done through the years to keep North America on the road . . . [and] warns us that should we keep worshipping at the Oil & Gas altar, our story won’t have a happy ending.”
—Dawn Mockler, Miramichi Reader
“Elegant . . . a valuable contribution to our shared public conversation about oil, climate change and the unwholesome interpenetration of the fossil fuel industries and our political masters . . . Gillmor has given us an important book full of crucial facts and moving human portraits, all serving to remind us of the crisis we face.”
—Tom Sandborn, Rabble
On Oil offers a concise state-of-the-horror appraisal of humanity’s addiction to petroleum products
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Details
Dimensions:
112 Pages
7.75in * 4.25in * .3in
140.00gr
Published:
April 22, 2025
Publisher:
ISBN:
9781771966672
Book Subjects:
Featured In:
Language:
eng
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