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Alberta

Alberta. The Best Province in a Nation in Trouble.

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5 minute read

Submitted by Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan

September 1 is Alberta Day. Alberta is a land of freedom and prosperity, welcoming all who desire to work and to serve, seeking happiness for themselves and their families. Alberta joined confederation and became part of Canada on September 1, 1905. Historically, Alberta has led Canada in key measures such as GDP per capita, business investment per worker, private sector employment, CPP contributions, equalization payments, etc. Alberta is the best.

Canada has benefited from Alberta more than Alberta has benefited from Canada. In this graph produced by the Fraser Institute, for its article titled Understanding Albertaā€™s Outsized Contribution to Confederation, it is estimated that Alberta businesses and workers, between 2017 to 2023, paid more than $244 billion to Ottawa than it received from Ottawa, dwarfing net contributions of the only two other contributing provinces, Ontario and BC, despite, in the case of Ontario, having a much larger population.

The biggest taker during this period was Quebec, receiving more than $327 billion from Ottawa than it paid. Many have written how Quebec and others ā€œgameā€ confederation to increase transfers from producers. Indeed, the current premier of Quebec said that his favorite thing about Canada is equalization.

While Canada has the potential to be the most free and prosperous country in the world, by objective measures it is not, and the flawed structure of ā€œconfederationā€, and some who seek to exploit it to glut themselves on the labors of others, hold us back and drag us down. When the ā€œredistributionā€ of wealth displaces the ā€œproductionā€ of wealth as a ruling principle, we are in trouble and that is now.

Many are concerned that Trudeauā€™s Canada is a growing danger and threat to Albertaā€™s freedom and prosperity. That is true. Alberta is better off without Trudeauā€™s Canada. Trudeauā€™s Canada is a fiscal train wreck. Trudeau has smashed through a trillion dollars in debt, accumulating more debt than all Prime Ministers before him combined. This gross negligence, waste and disrespect will be burdens of our children long after they are gone. Canada now pays more in interest on its debt than it collects from the GST.

Prior to Trudeau, in 2014, Canadaā€™s per capita GDP was 92% of the US. What is it now? In 2022, it is 72%, a 20% drop in less than 10 years, and getting worse. We are getting poorer, fast. It should not be this way, it does not need to be this way.

Canadians awake and alive to the truth of Trudeauā€™s Canada and where it is leading are rightly concerned and alarmed. But what to do? Some are leaving or have left.

Alberta has the highest per capita GDP in Canada, rejecting Trudeauā€™s woke, socialist values of mediocrity and virtue signaling, producing nothing. Trudeauā€™s Canada appears to resent Alberta with policies that single out Alberta, seeking to attack, hold back, or drag it down.

Do not count on many politicians to stand up for a ā€œFair Dealā€ for Alberta, because if Alberta gets a Fair Deal, then it means less handouts for others!

Letā€™s provide Albertans with the unbiased truth and facts surrounding ā€œfiscal federalismā€. Who is paying what, and who is getting what, directly or indirectly, from Alberta businesses and workers. Albertans should be supplied with the truth about what they are paying for and what Trudeauā€™s Canada is costing them. In this fall legislature I will be bringing forward a motion to get to these facts, even if some do not like it.

Letā€™s arm Albertans with more truth, and then trust them to lead, to know what is best. Letā€™s increase Albertaā€™s leverage for a Fair Deal. The less Alberta needs Canada, the more leverage Alberta has. There are many things that Alberta can do for Albertans better than Trudeauā€™s Canada.

Albertans need alternatives to Trudeauā€™s Canada; letā€™s prepare, insulate, and protect ourselves from this accelerating trainwreck, which unabated, will crash as sure as night follows day.

We cannot be complacent – less talk and more action.

Alberta is a blessed land of freedom and prosperity. We must be vigilant to keep it that way. Happy Alberta Day!

 

 

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Alberta

The beauty of economic corridors: Inside Albertaā€™s work to link products with new markets

Published on

From the Canadian Energy Centre

Q&A with Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Transport and Economic Corridors

Devin Dreeshen, Albertaā€™s Minister of Transportation
and Economic Corridors.

CEC: How have recent developments impacted Albertaā€™s ability to expand trade routes and access new markets for energy and natural resources?

Dreeshen:Ā With the U.S. trade dispute going on right now, itā€™s great to see that other provinces and the federal government are taking an interest in our east, west and northern trade routes, something that we in Alberta have been advocating for a long time.

We signed agreements with Saskatchewan and Manitoba to have an economic corridor to stretch across the prairies, as well as a recent agreement with the Northwest Territories to go north. With the leadership of Premier Danielle Smith, sheā€™s been working on a BC, prairie and three northern territories economic corridor agreement with pretty much the entire western and northern block of Canada.

There has been a tremendous amount of work trying to get Alberta products to market and to make sure we can build big projects in Canada again.

CEC: Which infrastructure projects, whether pipeline, rail or port expansions, do you see as the most viable for improving Albertaā€™s global market access?

Dreeshen:Ā We look at everything. Obviously, pipelines are the safest way to transport oil and gas, but also rail is part of the mix of getting over four million barrels per day to markets around the world.

The beauty of economic corridors is that itā€™s a swath of land that can have any type of utility in it, whether it be a roadway, railway, pipeline or a utility line. When you have all the environmental permits that are approved in a timely manner, and you have that designated swath of land, it politically de-risks any type of project.

CEC: A key focus of your ministry has been expanding trade corridors, including an agreement with Saskatchewan and Manitoba to explore access to Hudsonā€™s Bay. Is there any interest from industry in developing this corridor further?

Dreeshen:Ā Thereā€™s been lots of talk [about] Hudson Bay, a trade corridor with rail and port access. Weā€™ve seen some improvements to go to Churchill, but also an interest in the Nelson River.

Weā€™re starting to see more confidence in the private sector and industry wanting to build these projects. Itā€™s great that governments can get together and work on a common goal to build things here in Canada.

CEC: What is your vision for Albertaā€™s future as a leader in global trade, and how do economic corridors fit into that strategy?

Dreeshen:Ā Premier Smith has talked about C-69 being repealed by the federal government [and] the reversal of the West Coast tanker ban, which targets Alberta energy going west out of the Pacific.

Thereā€™s a lot of work that needs to be done on the federal side. Alberta has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to economic corridors.

Weā€™ve asked the federal government if they could develop an economic corridor agency. We want to make sure that the federal government can come to the table, work with provinces [and] work with First Nations across this country to make sure that we can see these projects being built again here in Canada.

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2025 Federal Election

The High Cost Of Continued Western Canadian Alienation

Published on

From EnergyNow.Ca

By Jim Warren

Energy Issues Carney Must Commit to if He Truly Cares About National Cohesion and be Different From Trudeau

If the stars fail to align in the majority of Western Canadaā€™s favour and voters from Central Canada and the Maritimes re-elect a Liberal government on April 28, it will stand as a tragic rejection of the aspirations of the oil producing provinces and a threat to national cohesion.

As of today Mark Carney has not clearly and unequivocally promised to tear down the Liberal policy wall blocking growth in oil and gas exports. Yes, he recently claimed to favour energy corridors, but just two weeks earlier he backtracked on a similar commitment.

There are some promises Carney hopefully wonā€™t honour. He has pledged to impose punitive emissions taxes on Canadian industry. But thatā€™s supposedly alright because Carney has liberally sprinkled that promise with pixie dust. This will magically ensure any associated increases in the cost of living will disappear. Liberal wizardry will similarly vaporize any harm Carbon Tax 2.0 might do to the competitive capacity of Canadian exporters.

Carney has as also promised to impose border taxes on imports from countries that lack the Liberalsā€™ zeal for saving the planet. These are not supposed to raise Canadiansā€™ cost of living by much, but if they do we can take pride in doing our part to save the planet. We can feel good about ourselves while shopping for groceries we canā€™t afford to buy.

There is ample bad news in what Carney has promised to do. No less disturbing is what he has not agreed to do. Oil and gas sector leaders have been telling Carney what needs to be done, but that doesnā€™t mean heā€™s been listening.

The Build Canada Now action plan announced last week by western energy industry leaders lays out a concise five-point plan for growing the oil and gas sector. If Mark Carney wants to convince his more skeptical detractors that he is truly concerned about Canadian prosperity, he should consider getting a tattoo that celebrates the five points.

Yet, if he got onside with the five points and could be trusted, would it not be a step in the right direction? Sure, but it would also be great if unicorns were real.

The purpose of the Build Canada Now action plan couldnā€™t be much more clearly and concisely stated. ā€œFor the oil and natural gas sector to expand and energy infrastructure to be built, Canadaā€™s federal political leaders can create an environment that will:

1. Simplify regulation. The federal governmentā€™s Impact Assessment Act and West Coast tanker ban are impeding development and need to be overhauled and simplified. Regulatory processes need to be streamlined, and decisions need to withstand judicial challenges.

2. Commit to firm deadlines for project approvals. The federal government needs to reduce regulatory timelines so that major projects are approved within 6 months of application.

3. Grow production. The federal governmentā€™s unlegislated cap on emissions must be eliminated to allow the sector to reach its full potential.

4. Attract investment. The federal carbon levy on large emitters is not globally cost competitive and should be repealed to allow provincial governments to set more suitable carbon regulations.

5. Incent Indigenous co-investment opportunities. The federal government needs to provide Indigenous loan guarantees at scale so industry may create infrastructure ownership opportunities to increase prosperity for communities and to ensure that Indigenous communities benefit from development.ā€

As they say the devil is often in the details. But it would be an error to complicate the message with too much detail in the context of an election campaign. We want to avoid sacrificing the good on behalf of the perfect. The plan needs to be readily understandable to voters and the media. We live in the age of the ten second sound bite so the plan has to be something that can be communicated succinctly.

Nevertheless, there is much more to be done. If Carney hopes to feel welcome in large sections of the west he needs to back away from many of promises heā€™s already made. And there are many Liberal policies besides Bill C-69 and C-48 that need to be rescinded or significantly modified.

Liberal imposed limitations on free speech have to go. In a free society publicizing the improvements oil and gas companies are making on behalf of environmental protection should not be a crime.

There is a morass of emissions reduction regulations, mandates, targets and deadlines that need to be rethought and/or rescinded. These include measures like the emissions cap, the clean electricity standard, EV mandates and carbon taxes. Similarly, plans for imposing restrictions on industries besides oil and gas, such as agriculture, need to be dropped. These include mandatory reductions in the use of nitrogen fertilizer and attacks (thus far only rhetorical) on cattle ranching.

A good starting point for addressing these issues would be meaningful federal-provincial negotiations. But that wonā€™t work if the Liberals allow Quebec to veto energy projects that are in the national interest. If Quebec insists on being obstructive, the producing provinces in the west will insist that its equalization welfare be reduced or cancelled.

Virtually all of the Liberal policy measures noted above are inflationary and reduce the profitability and competitive capacity of our exporters. Adding to Canadaā€™s already high cost of living on behalf of overly zealous, unachievable emissions reduction goals is unnecessary as well as socially unacceptable.

We probably all have our own policy change preferences. One of my personal favourites would require the federal government to cease funding environmental organizations that disrupt energy projects with unlawful protests and file frivolous slap suits to block pipelines.

Admittedly, it is a rare thing to have all of oneā€™s policy preferences satisfied in a democracy. And it is wise to stick to a short wish list during a federal election campaign. Putting some of the foregoing issues on the back burner is okay provided we donā€™t forget them there.

But what if few or any of the oil and gas producing provincesā€™ demands are accepted by Carney and he still manages to become prime minister?

We are currently confronted by a dangerous level of geopolitical uncertainty. The prospects of a global trade war and its effects on an export-reliant country like Canada are daunting to say the least.

Dividing the country further by once again stifling the legitimate aspirations of the majority of people in Alberta and Saskatchewan will not be helpful. (I could add voters from the northeast and interior of B.C., and southwestern Manitoba to the club of the seriously disgruntled.)

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