The Alberta government is lowering royalty rates for the gas and oil industry. It is a bold initiative, that will bring jobs, prosperity and pink frakking Unicorns back to our lovely province. Apparently the old royalty review was just too darn hard on the industry.
Douche-Nozzle and Premier of Oilberta
We have just spent the last year and a half recovering from the last bout of fiscal looting and pillaging brought on by the business class so it is right about time to lower government revenue because we need less money, not more, to fund out starving public sector. Great Scott we need to close a few more schools and hospitals as right now we are falling behind in the race to the bottom.
The paucity of morals and commitment to the people of Alberta is vomit-worthy. Honestly, could the kowtowing and subservience to the Oil Patch be any more blatant? This is not even the right question.
The million dollar question is will people actually give a flying flaming hoop about how they are being sold down the river by our government and will they care enough to vote the PC’s out of office?
Oh, by the way the competition review was written by the Gas and Oil Industry. Certainly a fair shake for all Albertans. If you read closely you can actually hear the smirk and audacious tone Mr.Collyer uses.
Dave Collyer, head of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers:
“I think it was a significant step forward in restoring investor confidence in Alberta and I think that makes it a good day for not just the industry but for Albertans. This is really about getting investment back into the province, getting Alberta back in the game and that creates activity and that drives jobs and that’s good for the province overall. So I think it was a positive announcement in both tone and substance. So we’re encouraged by it but we’ve got a ways to go yet in terms of getting the industry fully back on its feet.”
Contrast this with what Amy Taylor has to say from the Pembina Institute:
Amy Taylor, senior economist with the Pembina Institute:
“First and foremost, we have concerns with the process that the provincial government embarked upon in which they came to the conclusion that they needed to make adjustments to the royalty scheme applicable to oil and gas in Alberta and more specifically, they made that decision based on conversations and meetings and negotiations that they had over the course of the last several months with industry and industry alone. And we’re talking about a resource that is owned by Albertans. The citizens of this province own the resource and it’s imperative in our opinion that they be consulted when these kind of changes are being considered.”
Transparency and the interests of the people of Alberta have always been low on Ed Stelmach’s list of things to do, but this is just outright pillaging. And for what? Because the Wild Rose Fascists are undermining the government from the Right? You bet it is. Albertans are getting a dry splintery broomstick in the anus, in regards to resource royalties, because the quavering lick-spittle progressive conservatives are afraid of alienating their ‘base’ and will not stand up for the peoples’ interests.
The people of Alberta need to put a stop to these shenanigans, the sooner the better.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
6 comments
March 17, 2010 at 8:00 am
Moe
Guess our example of civic virtue is making its way across the border. My apologies.
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March 17, 2010 at 1:22 pm
cyberclark
This roll back announcement is a farce and explains why Alberta is resisting a federal securities officer! They have left themselves open for lawsuits the way they have garnished their information.
Alberta never, ever initiated the “new royalty regime”. That was an empty document; a lie to get them elected last time. This is really no different than them working with the oil companies to propel the NEP farce! What they did do with that document is reduce Alberta’s royalty from Canadian dollars to US dollars which brings us down a few bucks now but 18% loss when the economies are functioning again.
NEP farce?
The NEP; National Energy Program” was put in effect to improve Canadian Ownership, which it did much to the dismay of the US oil companies.
At the same time as the NEP Interest rates went to 25% and Inflation to 20%. People levered their homes to support new business enterprise and, all was lost. The Conservatives, in the absence of open forum which we now enjoy, managed to blame all the worlds problems onto the NEP.
Sixteen months after this past election the Auditor General in Alberta bounced the Government because they had failed to reach their targeted 19% royalty. After that time the minster stated publicly the Auditor General had no business looking into royalties and there would be no new rates put in, in the foreseeable future.
The oil companies are picking beating drums now to lend credibility to an election bungle saying they may stay, things will improve and other spin doctoring such as announcing “new” undertakings that have been on the books for six months.
This is a grand theater, nothing more. The mentioned reductions take place in the scale where Alberta has never ever received any cash!
Chase a taxi and you save more money than when you chase a bus!
We still collect less than 1/2 of what BC or Saskatchewan does! What is there to cut? We are presently paying them to take the resource out of the province and the Wild Rose Party, financed by the same oil companies promise more of the same.
The Conservatives do not think this province is entitled to anything more than a lease on the land and income taxes.
This rip off isn’t going to change any time soon unless Albertans step away from the Conservative vote or, those people who though their vote would not mean anything will step up to the plate and vote.
The Royalty announcement isn’t even chewing gum for the mind! It is not just cheap theater; It is perpetrating blatant lies.
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March 17, 2010 at 1:28 pm
cyberclark
Morton, and American authored the Alberta Firewall along with members of the Wild Rose Party. One of their key points is to do away with the Balance of Payments agreements.
To this end Morton has made a public announcement they were proceeding with the effort. He then gave a news release that said Alberta would be loosing mega millions when the new cuts came into effect.
The trick here is the items he was suggesting at cutting are in the top of the scale where Alberta has never received any money from.
His numbers do represent the amount of money we will loose in royalty because of the low price of natural gas for the foreseeable future and the adjustments he just made to the natural gas industry.
More than anything he is laying the ground work to sell Albertans the idea we should opt out of the balance of payments agreements. This Government has been dealing over the past year with the Yukon, BC and Saskatchewan on doing that very thing.
If it goes through it will leave a large tear in the fabric of Canada. We cannot stop Alberta any time soon but we can stop Wild Rose and Morton ambitions by getting rid of Harper who is on board with this.
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March 17, 2010 at 10:35 pm
The Arbourist
No problem Moe, although I do not think it has oozed across the border. Alberta has always been a bit goofy when it comes to politics. We have kept the same governing party for over 35 years now. It is completely inane, it boggles the mind once you start thinking about it.
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March 17, 2010 at 10:37 pm
The Arbourist
The Royalty announcement isn’t even chewing gum for the mind! It is not just cheap theater; It is perpetrating blatant lies.
It seems you have a good understanding of Alberta politics. You must be from out of province, or the other left winger I keep hearing whispers about that calls Alberta home.
:)
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March 18, 2010 at 8:57 am
cyberclark
To Days papers have Stelmach looking in dismay at the lower revenue par value is causing but, this is what Stelmach and company planned! Why the show of dismay? I think it is still another piece of dismay to promote the “Do away with Balance of Payments Program”
And, Alberta take will remain the same regardless of exchange but the oil companies still on USD will effectively loose.
The only thing that came out of the phony “new royalty regime” of the last election was the fact they changed Alberta’s take on resources from US dollars to Canadian dollars when the two currencies were at par for a short period of time.
Economies of scale are expected to take us back to an 85 cent dollar as and if a recovery takes place. We have been loosing 15 cents on every dollar paid since that dark day.
With our rates being below 16% now an in Canadian funds we are loosing our tails, We are paying them to take the resource from the province!
EnCana’s CEO has acknowledged the same to the share holders see http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/EnCana+floats+harmonized+royalties+with/2694072/story.html#ixzz0iV1cdtTj
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