OTTAWA Elizabeth May says oil is dead and the COVID-19 pandemic has given Canadian leaders an opportunity to stop and think about ways to adjust the economy to a new reality.

The Green Party parliamentary leader told reporters Wednesday, ahead of the House of Commons in-person meeting of the special committee on the COVID-19 pandemic, that the crisis has pummelled oil prices and theres no coming back.

Just as much as Blockbuster Video thought it had a solid business proposition til Netflix came along thats the kind of disruption were seeing in the energy sector, May said. And betting on Blockbuster Video right now would not be a good way to spend our money.

The countrys energy sector contributed to more than 10 per cent to the nominal Gross Domestic Product in 2018, according to Natural Resources Canada. Since then, the industry has been plunged into a crisis with dropping demand and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that forced prices to hit historic lows .