It's time to take Alberta's Oil Savings Seriously

The oil industry is critically important to Alberta -- Albertans are fortunate for the prosperity that oil has generated over the years.

Since 1971 PC governments in Alberta have collected almost $200 billion in royalties on oil and natural gas, and when adjusted for inflation, that represents $300 billion.

Alberta’s Heritage Trust Fund was created in 1976 by the PC’s first premier Peter Lougheed; however, following Lougheed’s retirement in 1985, the PC governments have not invested in the Heritage Trust Fund. Not one dime has been added to the Fund since 1987.

Peter Lougheed taught Alberta to, “think like an owner… This is a sale of a depleting resource that’s owned by the people. Once a barrel of oil goes down the pipeline it’s gone forever. It’s like a farmer selling off his topsoil… what is fair return?”

The PCs has seen signs of crashing oil prices for years and did very little to get our province off of our heavy reliance on a cyclical economy of boom and bust. Why do the PCs still base almost 30% of the province’s operating budget on oil and gas royalties? What if they took more initiatives to diversify our economy and started saving those royalties? Would we still have billion dollar deficits?

“The PCs have made Alberta too dependent on oil, but it’s not your fault. It’s the PCs,” said Alberta Party leader Greg Clark.

“The PCs have forgotten the wisdom of their first premier Peter Lougheed. It is time Alberta stopped neglecting the Heritage Trust Fund,” said Red Deer South candidate Serge Gingras.

The Alberta Party would employ the leadership needed to diversify our economy while still promoting the responsible development of our resources. We would balance Alberta’s budget over six years and would protect the services we need by reducing our dependence on oil and gas royalties and rebuilding the Heritage Fund.

Alberta Party's environmental leadership

Many Albertans are rightfully concerned about our environment. The energy industry in our province is currently emissions-intensive from the electricity we produce, to the fuel we burn, to the hydrocarbons we export.

In Alberta, we have dedicated a considerable amount of time, effort and resources on becoming the world’s second largest exporter and fourth largest producer of natural gas while simultaneously helping Canada become the seventh largest producer of oil.

“While I am fiercely proud of our energy industry and I believe we should continue the responsible development of our natural resources, Alberta has huge, untapped potential as the world transitions to a knowledge-based economy,” said Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark.

The Alberta Party understands what Saudi Arabia’s second Oil Minister (1962-1986) Sheikh Zaki Yamani meant when he said, “The Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the Oil Age will end long before the world runs out of oil.”

“We know the world is changing, and how we interact with our environment must change so that our children inherit a better planet than what our parents gave us,” said Red Deer South Alberta Party candidate Serge Gingras.

“We know that human induced climate change is real. The Alberta Party has strong environmental policies that will help turn this challenge into an opportunity to transition to greener energy technologies that will position our economy for a stronger future,” said Red Deer North Alberta Party candidate Krystal Kromm.

The Alberta Party envisions Albertans that are empowered to make sustainable choices to reduce the amount of waste they produce and to conserve more energy and water. One of the top 4 priorities in the environmental policy is our climate. Albertans want leaders in energy production and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions management.

The Alberta Party would gradually increase carbon prices to further encourage low-carbon innovation and greener energy while also ensuring an economically robust energy industry.

Appropriate carbon pricing will more accurately reflect the environmental cost of releasing GHG into the environment.

The Alberta Party supports shifts in our electrical generation to renewable sources such as solar and wind. We would encourage an increase in natural gas, distributed generation to feed back into the grid, and cogeneration facilities where more thermal energy would be put to use.

We need to continue to be responsible with our renewable and nonrenewable energy resources and continue to fund green initiatives to better diversify our economy and protect our environment, which will make Alberta into another world leader.

The Alberta Party will diversify our economy

The PCs have failed to diversify Alberta's economy

During the last forty-four years the PCs have been saying that we need to diversify Alberta’s economy. Forty-four years later the PCs are saying exactly the same thing with no real results.

In fact, former PC finance minister Ted Morton recently revealed how Alberta taxpayers are on the hook for $26 Billion for processing payment to build the Northwest Upgrader, a bitumen refinery near Edmonton.

“What began as a low-risk, low-cost project to encourage domestic bitumen upgrading has morphed into a multibillion-dollar boondoggle with high risks for Alberta taxpayers,” said in a paper released by the University of Calgary School of Public Policy.

The Alberta Party has a better way.

The Alberta Party believes in market-driven economic diversification where entrepreneurs and the free market, not the PCs, decide the future direction of Alberta’s economy. 

 
We will:

• Promote entrepreneurship by gradually phasing out Alberta’s small business tax.

• Invest an additional $100 million in the Alberta Enterprise Fund, an arms-length agency that provides venture capital funds to support Alberta startups.

• Invest in infrastructure that supports our creative industries and protect arts and cultural funding.

• Diversify markets for our agricultural products by working with the federal government to promote them internationally.

• Increase support for the development of new value added agricultural products for local and domestic markets. 

We believe that the government shouldn’t be in the business of picking winners and losers. The Northwest Upgrader is just the latest failed PC attempt to diversify the economy. Instead, we believe that the government should establish an environment that supports entrepreneurship and innovation.

The Alberta Party has a better way.

Read our full platform here.

The Alberta Party will not punish teachers and nurses

Yesterday, Jim Prentice announced in Red Deer that if elected the PCs would freeze public sector pay until the budget is balanced.

The Prentice Plan is clear. Hard-working, ordinary Albertans will be made to pay for decades of PC mismanagement.

The PCs have been in government for 44 years. During that time, the price of oil and natural gas has bounced around like a ping pong ball. During their time in power, the PCs have ignored the volatile nature of natural resource revenues and have made our government more dependent than ever on energy revenue.

“Teachers and nurses were too busy teaching children and caring for our loved ones to mismanage Alberta’s fortunes. The PCs messed this up all by themselves,” said Red Deer South Alberta Party candidate Serge Gingras.

“Each and every person working on the front lines of Alberta’s public services has made a fair deal with the government. None more so than teachers, who agreed to a 0% salary increase three years in a row,” said Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark.

“The Alberta Party would not balance the books on the backs of Alberta’s public sector. The Alberta Party would protect frontline services in health and education by balancing the budget over six years. We aren’t going to get out of this mess by punishing our teachers and nurses,” said Red Deer North Alberta Party candidate Krystal Kromm.

Read about the Alberta Party’s Economic Recovery Plan.