The October 1973 Yom Kippur War and the ensuing 1973 oil crisis led the federal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to re-examine all Canadian energy production, including the potential nationalization of Alberta's oil, as well as an expansion of DEVCO coal production, reversing the recommendation of the 1966 Donald Commission to phase out production and diversify the Sydney area economy. The Trudeau government sought to use its ownership of DEVCO to reverse Nova Scotia's reliance on the importation of foreign oil for generating electricity; approximately 70% of the province's electricity was generated by foreign oil by the late 1970s.