Connect with us
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=12]

Alberta

Business Spotlight: What it Takes to Become a Local Entrepreneur

Published

3 minute read

Jillian Lee, the Founder and Creative Director of JIL & Associates is a lifelong learner and serial entrepreneur in the Calgary business scene. 

Jillian showed an aptitude for business management early, launching her first business in the clothing industry while she was still a student at Mount Royal. Since then, she has steadily expanded her professional and educational portfolios, most recently completing the official rebrand of her film production company in April 2020. 

With a diverse background in history, languages, political science and business administration from the University of Alberta, University of Calgary and Mount Royal, Jillian’s education and credentials highlight her passion for life and learning. Now working full-time in the film industry as the Founder and Creative Director of JIL & Associates, she feels she is exactly where she is meant to be. 

Jillian credits her broad educational background for influencing the approach she takes to her current work. “It’s done so much to inform how I exist in this industry,” she says, “I’ve always had a strong sense of curiosity and an interest in people and the world around me, and with client projects I get to learn something new every day.”  

Having worked with clients in a variety of industries, including health and wellness, biographical portraits, oil & gas and more, Jillian is committed to using her abilities as a producer and creative leader to provide a platform for others to be heard upon. A big believer in the art of connection, with a passion for storytelling, she is most interested in telling human interest stories that expose and highlight the commonalities and shared experiences of humanity. “I like to tell stories about people,” she says, “for no other reason than to inspire and entertain and to make people feel connected.”   

As a small business owner, Jillian has felt the negative impacts of COVID-19 in recent months, particularly being unable to complete any filming until recently when the Government of Alberta launched Phase One of the provincial reopening strategy. She remained productive during her downtime, however, using the pause in client work to “deep-dive” into her existing business plan and really work out what the coming year will look like for JIL & Associates. “I’ve laid out an official business plan, created company value statements, policy and procedure documents and planned an entire years worth of marketing in advance,” says Jillian, “COVID has allowed me to set up for success in the coming months.” 

For more stories, visit Todayville Calgary.

Alberta

Pierre Poilievre will run to represent Camrose, Stettler, Hanna, and Drumheller in Central Alberta by-election

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat as an MP so Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat Monday, could attempt to re-join Parliament.

Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat in a riding that saw the Conservatives easily defeat the Liberals by 46,020 votes in this past Monday’s election. Poilievre had lost his seat to his Liberal rival, a seat which he held for decades, which many saw as putting his role as leader of the party in jeopardy.

Kurek has represented the riding since 2019 and said about his decision, “It has been a tremendous honor to serve the good people of Battle River—Crowfoot.”

“After much discussion with my wife Danielle, I have decided to step aside for this Parliamentary session to allow our Conservative Party Leader to run here in a by-election,” he added.

Newly elected Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney used his first post-election press conference to say his government will unleash a “new economy” that will further “deepen” the nation’s ties to the world.

He also promised that he would “trigger” a by-election at once, saying there would be “no games” trying to prohibit Poilievre to run and win a seat in a safe Conservative riding.

Poilievre, in a statement posted to X Friday, said that it was with “humility and appreciation that I have accepted Damien Kurek’s offer to resign his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot so that I can work to earn the support of citizens there to serve them in Parliament.”

 

“Damien’s selfless act to step aside temporarily as a Member of Parliament shows his commitment to change and restoring Canada’s promise,” he noted.

Carney said a new cabinet will be sworn in on May 12.

Continue Reading

Alberta

‘Existing oil sands projects deliver some of the lowest-breakeven oil in North America’

Published on

From the Canadian Energy Centre 

By Will Gibson

Alberta oil sands projects poised to grow on lower costs, strong reserves

As geopolitical uncertainty ripples through global energy markets, a new report says Alberta’s oil sands sector is positioned to grow thanks to its lower costs.

Enverus Intelligence Research’s annual Oil Sands Play Fundamentals forecasts producers will boost output by 400,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) by the end of this decade through expansions of current operations.

“Existing oil sands projects deliver some of the lowest-breakeven oil in North America at WTI prices lower than $50 U.S. dollars,” said Trevor Rix, a director with the Calgary-based research firm, a subsidiary of Enverus which is headquartered in Texas with operations in Europe and Asia.

Alberta’s oil sands currently produce about 3.4 million bbls/d. Individual companies have disclosed combined proven reserves of about 30 billion barrels, or more than 20 years of current production.

A recent sector-wide reserves analysis by McDaniel & Associates found the oil sands holds about 167 billion barrels of reserves, compared to about 20 billion barrels in Texas.

While trade tensions and sustained oil price declines may marginally slow oil sands growth in the short term, most projects have already had significant capital invested and can withstand some volatility.

Cenovus Energy’s Christina Lake oil sands project. Photo courtesy Cenovus Energy

“While it takes a large amount of out-of-pocket capital to start an oil sands operation, they are very cost effective after that initial investment,” said veteran S&P Global analyst Kevin Birn.

“Optimization,” where companies tweak existing operations for more efficient output, has dominated oil sands growth for the past eight years, he said. These efforts have also resulted in lower cost structures.

“That’s largely shielded the oil sands from some of the inflationary costs we’ve seen in other upstream production,” Birn said.

Added pipeline capacity through expansion of the Trans Mountain system and Enbridge’s Mainline have added an incentive to expand production, Rix said.

The increased production will also spur growth in regions of western Canada, including the Montney and Duvernay, which Enverus analysts previously highlighted as increasingly crucial to meet rising worldwide energy demand.

“Increased oil sands production will see demand increase for condensate, which is used as diluent to ship bitumen by pipeline, which has positive implications for growth in drilling in liquids-rich regions such as the Montney and Duvernay,” Rix said.

Continue Reading

Trending

X