The National Energy Program (NEP) was the Trudeau government's response to the extreme rise in world oil prices in 1979-80. Through the NEP, the federal government sought to achieve a secure supply of oil, redistribute a larger share of oil revenue to the federal government and to consumers, and create greater Canadian ownership of the domestic oil industry. The NEP included grants to encourage drilling in remote areas, grants to consumers converting to gas or electric heating, new taxes on the oil industry, an expanded role for the crown corporation Petro-Canada, and a 25% federal share in all oil and gas discoveries offshore and in the North. The NEP was one of the most sweeping government measures in Canadian history, but when oil prices began to fall in 1982, it was shown to be ill conceived. The legislation's main effect in the western provinces was to create distrust of the federal government.
