Agencies Archives - Page 5 of 6

3Apr

By Bob AscahNo Comments

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

Politics of Alberta Growth Mandate (AGM)

Politics of the Alberta Growth Mandate In past articles, the Alberta Growth Mandate was explained as a significant policy initiative in the first NDP budget of October 2015. It should be noted that, in the fall of 2015, Alberta was reeling from significant declines in investment and job losses, and a rookie NDP government was looking for quick wins to support jobs in the Alberta economy. The policy objective was to support Alberta companies (as defined by the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)) and based on meeting one of the following criteria. a. Creates jobs in Alberta b. Builds new infrastructure in Alberta c. Diversifies Alberta’s economy d. Supports Alberta’s growth e. Connects Alberta’s companies to export markets f. Develops subject matter expert...

Alberta ‘Growth’ Mandate- Analysis and Opinion

22Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Budget, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

Alberta ‘Growth’ Mandate- Analysis and Opinion

While now is not necessarily the best time to be taking stock of one's investment portfolio, government and provincial agency officials, who face a March 31 fiscal year end deadline, are concerned about the impact of accounting rules that require "fair market accounting" for their investments. The performance of both bond and equity markets over the next ten days will determine whether forecasts for investment income in the provincial budget ($1.96 billion for the Heritage Fund) will actually pan out. Investment income for investment portfolios are typically composed of two types of income: (1) dividends and interest payments or cash distributions from private equity, and (2) increases or decreases of the "fair value" of the investment at year -end compared to the initial cost of buy...

29Sep

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, ATB

ATB FINANCIAL (ALBERTA TREASURY BRANCHES) TURNS 80

Happy 80th Birthday Today ATB's Rocky Mountain House branch celebrates its 80th anniversary. ATB's history page contains a picture of the branch under the title of "providing hope." The branch was located inside the Forest Services office. According to Alf Hooke's memoire 30+5 I know, I was there (Edmonton, Institute of Applied Art, 1971): "When Mr Aberhart realized that his government would not be permitted to control the credit of the province in accordance with the legislation that had already been passed and later disallowed, other means of accomplishing, at least to some degree, a measure of control of the issuance of credit were sought. The first Treasury Branch opened on September 29th, 1938 in Rocky Mountain House and on September 30th branches were opened in Andrew, Edmonton,...

3Aug

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Agencies

Provincial Agency Salaries

Originally Posted 3 August 2017 Corrections made 9 August 2017 Last October AlbertaRecessionWatch.com published a listing of the top paid senior Executives in Alberta's provincial Corporation universe. As the tables demonstrated, the pay levels were dominated by individuals working in the financial services and in the energy regulatory setting. Last year, like this year, this group predominates. Since October, the Government of Alberta has made a number of changes to the pay levels of the top officials working in these agencies. (more…)

The Alberta Energy Regulator advertises (Again)

2Jun

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Agencies

The Alberta Energy Regulator advertises (Again)

Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) The following ad seeking candidates for the position of AESO board members appeared in the Edmonton Journal last week. While the ad is extremely general it should include the ability to read near- microscopic print! (more…)

17Apr

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Agencies

Narrowing the playing field

Alberta Energy Regulator advertises for Hearing Commissioners In the 15 April edition of the Edmonton Journal an ad appeared seeking interested individuals to apply for a position as a Hearing Commissioner with the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). (more…)

"Much ado about nothing"- ‘Bolton Report’

20Mar

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Agencies

"Much ado about nothing"- ‘Bolton Report’

Originally published 20 March 2017 Preface This is a story about a government announcement in the early days of the Prentice administration that I took very seriously. (As it turns out I shouldn't have.) Since the Report arising from the announcement was never released, I undertook to bring it to the light of day through the access to information process. It took ten months. The tale below summarizes the background to the announcement; the enjoyable and lengthy process to receive a copy of the Report; and summary of the report; and my comments on the contents of the Report and recommendations An earlier column can be found at The Bolton Committee. (more…)

11Mar

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Agencies

Baby steps at AIMCo board

Originally 11 March 2017 Three weeks ago an inconspicuous Order-in Council 39/2017 was quietly passed to repeal two sections of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation Regulation. The deletion of sections 5 and 6 are highly significant as the sections assured a measure of independence for the corporation's management and board from the government. The government's decision is positive and courageous for the reasons explored below. (more…)

11Oct

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Agencies

Salaries at Provincial Agencies

Originally published 11 October 2016 Background Controversy continues to swirl around salary levels at Alberta's agencies, boards, and commissions (ABCs). An article in The Globe and Mail by Justin Giovannetti two weeks ago incorrectly identified the salary of the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Workers' Compensation Board as the highest of provincial ABC executives. A tabulation by Albertarecessionwatch.com of the largest and most critical ABCs in the financial, health, energy, and post-secondary sectors shows that WCB CEO Guy Kerr ranks 20th among his ABC colleagues. (more…)

26Jun

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Agencies

Bill 19 -Reform of Agencies, Boards and Commissions Compensation Act

Opinion/Research On May 18th, Treasury Board President and Finance Minister Joe Ceci introduced Bill 19. Ceci stated that the "purpose of this legislation is to address consistency and fairness in executive compensation levels for the public agencies, boards, and commissions that are subject to the Alberta Public Agencies Governance Act." The tabling and passage of this Bill garnered virtually no attention in the media. And yet, this Bill promises to be one of the most fundamental pieces of legislation for the government in an session that features major initiatives on climate change, taxation, predatory lending, environmental monitoring, and law enforcement. (more…)