Agencies Archives - Page 3 of 5

13Jun

By Bob Ascah2 Comments

Agencies, Energy, Environment, Government Finances, Opinion/Research

Exploring the Regulatory Maze (3): The Auditor General Reports…

The bizarre story of the Mine Financial Security program (MFSP) continues to unfold. In May, the Minister of the Environment and Parks, Jason Nixon announced a review of the program noting depressed profits in 2020 motivated the government to reset the rules in calculating security requirements. This meant that increased security requirements under the existing requirement would be reduced. Then on 10 June, Auditor General Doug Wylie released a report which focused on processes to provide information about government's environmental liabilities. The report unfortunately raises serious questions about the competencies of provincial officials at all levels as well as the failure of senior officials and ministers to accept responsibility for environmental cleanups. Wylie’s report addres...

3Jun

By Bob Ascah1 Comment

Agencies, ATB

ATB reports highest operating revenue ever- profit seems secondary

On 21 May ATB Financial released its 2020-21 annual report before its virtual public general meeting. Media pick-up was light with Postmedia reporting the lukewarm results. ATB's financial reporting over the past four years places great emphasis on "operating revenue" and not net profit. This would appear to fly in the face of a new statutory provision in the ATB Financial Act that requires ATB, in carrying on its business, to: (a) manage its business in a commercial and cost-effective manner,(b) seek to earn risk-adjusted rates of return that are similar to or better than the returns of comparable financial institutions in both the short term and the long term, and(c) avoid an undue risk of loss by prudently managing its business, which includes establishing...

23Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Employment, Energy, Government Finances, Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research

GOA’s investment in Keystone XL looks shaky

Updated 25 January 2021 to reflect Kenney-Trudeau letter It was perhaps a foregone conclusion that Joseph R. Biden Jr. would sign an executive order soon after his inauguration rescinding the permit allowing TC Energy to build the Keystone XL pipeline. But hope springs eternal in some locales in Alberta. And yet, the heavily signalled order sat on the newly -minted President's desk. Executive Order on "Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis," a lengthy discourse of executive actions, revoked the March 2019 Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. According to the Order The Keystone XL pipeline disserves the U.S. national interest. The United States and the world face a climate crisis. That crisis must be met with action on a scale an...

17Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Employment, Opinion/Research, Politics

UCP declares war on Alberta Teachers

Updated 18 January 2021 With the stroke of a pen on a 23 December 2020 ministerial order, Finance Minister and Treasury Board President Travis Toews imposed an investment management agreement (IMA) on the Alberta Teachers Retirement Fund (ATRF). In a news release on 12 January 2021, Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) President Jason Shilling responded to the existence of the Ministerial Order on the ATRF website. Mr. Schilling of the ATA pointed out that the current outcome- an imposed IMA- was inconsistent with claims made by Finance Minister Toews when defending Bill 22, Reform of Agencies, Boards and Commissions and Government Enterprises Act. Bill 22 legislated the transfer of assets from ATRF management to the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) to occur by the end o...

2Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, ATB, Government Finances, Intergovernmental, Politics

2020- Best of, Worst of Times Year in Review

In this look-back at 2020, we summarize our thoughts and opinions on some of the key stories in 2020- news, analysis and opinion by Abpolecon.ca. COVID-19 and a drastic drop in oil prices landed like a hammer on Alberta's economy and political landscape. News 28 February Provincial Budget was full of optimism- little did we know. I raised the flag of what's Plan B? 31 March On the final day of the 2019-20 fiscal year, the Alberta cabinet passed Order in Council 104/2020 which authorized the “President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance to make advances to or purchase securities of the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission.” Alberta taxpayers had bought a stake in the Keystone XL The Minister of Finance was authorized to borrow up to $2 billion "for th...

21Dec

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, ATB, Financial Institutions, Loan Losses, Politics

Bill 44 brings Alberta governments new supervisory powers over ATB Financial

Flying under the radar, the Finance Minister on 3 November introduced Bill 44 the Financial Statutes Amendment Act, an innocuous sounding Bill with important implications for ATB Financial. Minister Toews described the Bill as reducing red tape for "Alberta job creators while improving the resilience of Alberta's financial institutions." The Bill will improve Alberta’s regulatory environment and the competitiveness of Alberta’s financial sector. It will help Alberta attract much-needed investment and job creation in support of our economic recovery plan, and it will balance the government’s commitment to responsible oversight of Alberta’s financial institutions with their need to compete and evolve. However underneath the standard rhetoric of red tape reduction, job creation, and investme...

18Nov

By Bob Ascah2 Comments

Agencies, Government Finances

AIMCo CEO Compensation 2008-2020

This article follows a similar format as the analysis of ATB’s CEO compensation. We begin with some background on the creation of the corporation in 2007 from published and unpublished research. Then follows a series of charts illustrating the evolution of AIMCo CEO pay over the period. The concluding section investigates the question of pay equity by comparing the AIMCo chief’s compensation against the average compensation of AIMCo employees, peers- the Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (Caisse), the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCMIC), and senior elected and appointed provincial officials. A slide deck is included at the bottom of this article. Background In 2007, the Alberta Investment Management Corporation Act was passed creating a board-governe...

ATB CEO Executive Compensation – unwrapped

28Oct

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, ATB

ATB CEO Executive Compensation – unwrapped

This article examines CEO executive compensation at Alberta Treasury Branches (ATB Financial) since it became a provincial agency or Crown corporation, in 1997. The focus of this article is how the return on capital or equity and the pay of the CEO are related over a 23-year period. Also, the question of fairness of compensation in relation to compensation of senior government officials, average ATB salaries, and the CEO of Canadian Western Bank (CWB) is canvassed. [The data used is the total of salary and benefits or total compensation and comes from ATB's annual reports. A separate PDF of the article and PowerPoint/PDF of the figures is produced at the bottom of the article for better viewing of the charts.} Background In 1994, Treasurer Jim Dinning was facing persistent and difficult q...

Another Downgrade from Moody’s: Aa2 to Aa3

4Oct

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, ATB, Credit Ratings

Another Downgrade from Moody’s: Aa2 to Aa3

Analysis and Opinion On 2 October 2020, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the Province's debt to Aa3 from Aa2 while revising the outlook to Stable from Rating under Review. The short report and review was initiated on 31 August 2020 shortly after the provincial government's skeletal First Quarter Fiscal Update. The downgrade leaves Alberta one notch above the single A rating category. Downgrades in theory mean the borrower will have to pay higher rates of interest on its debt. The downgrade was expected and gave a balanced view on the fiscal picture acknowledging the province's strong liquidity position and the province's fiscal capacity to "enact additional tax measures to support revenue growth, which nevertheless the provincial governments have been reluctant to fully use in recent y...

8Sep

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Budget, Energy, Government Finances, Politics, Uncategorized

After waiting an extra 2 months 2019-20- some major surprises missed in February forecast

Updated 10 November 2020 In an earlier report on the crucial role played by the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission (APMC) in government finances, we highlighted the Commission's role in overseeing the North West Redwater Upgrader investment, commenced in the latter years of the Stelmach regime. We raised some doubts, given APMC's record with the North West Redwater Partnership (NWRP), about its competence in negotiating with TC Energy on the Keystone XL project. APMC is also the agency tasked with negotiating the Energy East commitment and the controversial oil-by rail contracts. With the two-month delay in the publication of the Government of Alberta's Annual Report and audited consolidated financial statements, the public finally has been apprised that Alberta's budget shortfal...