Liberals Plan for Energy in Alberta

Good Morning:

 

Why am I picking on the Alberta Liberal Party today? Why not? The liberal leader claims, like the premier, that his message has not gotten through to Albertans, so I thought I would help him.

Just so there is no confusion here on where the liberals stand on energy policy, I have taken the liberty of cutting and pasting it from their website, a short version is as follows: Remember this when you are heading to the polls. http://www.albertaliberal.com/index.php

First the nice, glossy stuff

-     Unleash “the Western Tiger” by encouraging the building of bitumen upgraders in Alberta and elsewhere in Western Canada, to keep economic benefits on our side of the Canadian border.

-     Implement a fiscal and royalty regime designed to:

-     provide a competitive and appropriate return to Albertans,  the owners of the resources;

-     ensure a thriving Alberta-based energy industry, with a competitive return for the businesses who take the risks;

-     support the long-term sustainability of resource extraction;

-     urgently address environmental issues; and

-     deliver maximum value-added wealth generation in Alberta and Canada, within environmental, economic, and social constraints.

And now the bad news

-     Total revenue collected in royalties will rise 20 per cent from what would be collected under today’s rules, with a re-balancing toward higher royalties from oilsands and more-manageable royalties from conventional gas.

http://www.albertaliberal.com/images/uploads/Prosperity__Energy.pdf

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The liberal policy is naive and totally inadequate and is void of vision and substance. They want to ensure a thriving Alberta-based energy industry and raise the royalties 20% over and above the New Royalty Framework and 20% above the current royalties being paid under the new drilling and incentive plan? I don't think they really put a whole lot of thought into their policies.

The liberal policy would further erode our conventional oil and gas industry in Alberta. Higher royalties have never resulted in an increase in government revenues. I know that is very confusing for the liberals. The liberals don't get it, Ed doesn't get it and neither do our PC MLA's in the Calgary region. Ask them. Higher royalties kills development, kills jobs and erodes government revenues.

The liberals do not reflect the vast majority of Albertans politically and as they veer aimlessly to the left with complaints the royalties are not high enough, just think where we would be now if that kind of poorly thought out napkin type policy was actually implemented. The liberals can never become government in Alberta. Their performance in opposition will ensure they will never gain the trust of Albertans to govern.

If you want to know how little the liberals know about energy and the history and meat of the royalty debate, just call and ask them(1.800.661.9201). Dr. Swann could not explain how royalties work and has no idea what needs to be done to make Alberta competitive once again.

It's OK for the general public to not understand the royalty calculations and incentives but it is another issue to have a policy and liberal opposition party without any knowledge or desire to learn about oil and gas issues and what needs to be done to right the ship. To their credit they have met with several industry people but they have failed to grasp the bigger picture.

It is an example of how the liberals feel they are entitled to be in opposition without actually doing any research or homework on key energy issues in Alberta. They do not agree with our serious concerns regarding the New Royalty Framework(NRF) and how the implementation of it has devastated our economy. They offer no concrete policy alternatives that are of any benefit to the energy industry and this conventional industry is in need of some sustenance and jobs.

In fact the liberal policy would further damage our industry and put more oil field workers out of work.

The liberals are no longer a viable opposition.

There, I got it off my chest. I feel better already. Now back to the PC's.

Have a great day.