We do not have a shortage of CS workers in this country, we have a surplus, and with some provinces having over 10% unemployment rates Harper is seemingly doing everything he can to keep Canadians out of Canadian jobs.
Incorrect. Harper is a skilled politician that does things he knows about. Like oil. He knows a lot about oil. He knows oil provides jobs, and good paying ones at that. He knows anything that threatens oil will make it less profitable, and thus, make it less money and hurt Canada.
Of course, Harper's problem is, Canada is NOT just an oil state. Sure we have a bit of oil, and our dollar reflects that, but Canada is also a lot more diverse - we do have a booming high-tech industry with several leading game studios, many indie game developers, booming cultural industries including TV, music and movies, and manufacturing, as well as forestry.
Of course, Harper knows oil. Fuck the rest of 'em - he's ignorant of those sectors and they mean fuck-all to him. Oil is all that matters. And not even refining it in-country (where people might actually benefit from stuff like lower gas prices).
Hell, Keystone XL is like every other pipeline planned in Canada - just ship the oil somewhere else - don't even try to make a value-added product out of it. (Keystone XL was to bring oil to a port to ship it somewhere. Not even to go to US refineries where US consumers might actually benefit...).
Sure, oil may be Canada's biggest money maker right now, but diversification of an economy isn't a bad thing if like now oil is tanking because Saudi Arabia wants to bankrupt US oil companies and pick them up for a song. Alberta's in a lot of trouble because oil is way lower than they budgeted for.