One of the most elegant punishments God visits on his rebellious people is to allow them to have what they want. The Anglican Church of Canada loves nothing better than to fulminate against the evil of fossil fuels, in particular the Athabasca oil sands. The collapse of oil prices has made oil extraction from the sands less attractive, leading to the loss of around a 1000 jobs.

From here:

While the dramatic downturn in oil prices that has occurred over the past six months has had a wide-ranging impact on economic prospects across Canada, those who have been hit hardest are people who were already on the margins, according to the Rev. Dale Neufeld, priest-in-charge of the parish of Fort McMurray, Alta.

[……]

Some of these layoffs have been quite dramatic. Last week the Financial Post reported that 1,000 construction workers had been laid off from Husky Energy’s Sunrise oil sands project near Fort McMurray. Suncor Energy said earlier this year that they, too, would be laying off around 1,000 workers, and Royal Dutch Shell is cutting around 300.

[……]

The church’s response has largely been pastoral.

Since the church has worked so tirelessly to undermine the oil sands, the only pastoral response that has any integrity would be for it to financially support those laid off. Assuming, of course, that the Anglican Church of Canada has any remaining vestige of integrity.