Opinion/Research Archives

Alberta Government finally decides to shake up AIMCo- is more politicization on the agenda?

11Nov

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Financial Institutions, Government Finances, Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research, Politics

Alberta Government finally decides to shake up AIMCo- is more politicization on the agenda?

Updated 11 November 2024 On Thursday 7 November, the President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance Nate Horner finally said “enough is enough” for the status quo at the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo). The Minister cited “significant increases in operating costs, management fees and staffing without a corresponding increase to return on investment” including rising staff salary and benefit costs. Horner properly asked the question” why are we paying remarkably high salaries when the organization was not delivering higher returns?” Also identified were rising staffing costs alongside rising external fees. The whole concept of AIMCo was to bring in house expertise and thereby drive down external fees. Horner also removed the 10-member board (this URL was s...

20Oct

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

Why AIMCo needs more scrutiny and transparency- Part 1

Note to readers: Updated 21 October 2024 On 6 November the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund (AHSTF) will be holding its annual public meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Rocky Mountain Room, 2nd Floor of the Queen Elizabeth II Building in Edmonton. The annual public meeting is open to members of the public either in person or via social media including Facebook. I attended the last two meetings in person and have been able to raise important questions of policy. In the 2022 meeting (transcript here), I was the only member of the public present in person. In 2023, I was pleased that there were nine members of the public raising uncomfortable questions which generally were deflected by officials of Alberta Treasury Board and Finance (TBF) and senior Alberta Invest...

30Sep

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Economic Data, Investment, Opinion/Research

Book Review- John Rapley’s Twilight of the Money Gods

Twilight of the Money Gods, the title perhaps a nod to Frederick Nietzsche’s Twilight of the idols, is an explosive critique of the discipline of economics as a religion. John Rapley, according to his Globe and Mail biography is political economist specializing in global development, the world economy and economic history. Rapley born in Canada, completed doctoral studies in Canada and pursued post-doctoral work at Oxford University. This book is the best book I have read on the history of economic thought. Particularly interesting is his description of the evolution of political economy of Smith and Ricardo into the neoclassical canon of Alfred Marshall. He situates the great debate on free trade within the context of a rising and dominant and the Britannica English corn laws. He ...

1Jul

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Environment, Opinion/Research, Politics

The Pronouncements of Rebecca Schulz

In this 4,000 word essay I recount and analyze the dozen or so news releases put out by Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz since last June. On 9 June 2023, after the 29 May election Rebecca Schulz was appointed the minister of Environment and Parks. Under the order of precedence for cabinet, Schulz was in the middle of the pecking order at ninth after the Premier. However since her appointment Schulz has overshadowed Smith energy and minerals minister, Brian Jean and has become indispensable in supporting Premier Smith assault against the federal government and, in particular, Environment and Climate Change minister Stephen Guilbeault. In an particularly unsavoury remark in a friendly conversation with Tucker Carlson, Ms. Smith urged Carlson to put Stephen Guilbe...

NDP Leadership campaign- policies compared

31May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Education, Energy, Environment, Health, Opinion/Research, Politics

NDP Leadership campaign- policies compared

Introduction Every voter in Alberta’s NDP leadership race has their own set of public policy interests. Some of these voters have few if any interest in politics and have few policy issues except those involving their pocketbooks. Pocketbook issues include being able to eat, own a cell phone, have a place to call home, access a family doctor and affordable transportation. Whether this is the typical NDP voter is another question, but at the end of the day if the successor to Rachel Notley is to defeat Danielle Smith’s UCP they will need to understand these pocketbook issues. NDP leadership policies can be found at these websites: · https://voteforjodi.ca/jodis-leadership/# · https://teamganley.ca/policies · https://www.sarahhoffman.ca/priorities ...

Democracy in Alberta – Continued- Opinion

31May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research, Politics, Uncategorized

Democracy in Alberta – Continued- Opinion

I commend to readers the article by Elizabeth Smythe, my former intergovernmental colleague in Wednesday’s Edmonton Journal. Opeds by Dr. Smythe and Jared Wesley in The Tyee are honest attempts by political scientists to do what they are trained for- to provide objectively-based warnings about how fragile our democratic institutions have become. Recent moves by the Smith government to smother dissent in municipal councils is another worrying sign (Bills 18 and 20). As Wesley states in the Tyee "There’s no hard-and-fast line between democracy and authoritarianism. Just ask people from autocracies: you don’t simply wake up one day under arbitrary rule." A 30-minute interview between Jared and I can be found at this link The State of Democracy in Alberta- A conversa...

30May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Budget, Credit Ratings, Economic Data, Environment, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

Alberta’s Public Accounts Committee- Thoughts on Accountability and Public Service Neutrality

The purpose of this post is to the delve into the accountability aspects of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Alberta through the lens of one meeting which took place on 7 May 2024. The transcript of the meeting can be found here and the video proceedings here. Readers may wish to skip over the detail about the meeting to read the conclusions at the foot of this essay. I attended this meeting because a colleague and I provided briefing material for Marlin Schmidt, NDP MLA for Edmonton Goldbar about the Auditor General’s report on Key Audit Matters. This post serves as a companion piece to my interview with Professor Jared Wesley on the state of democracy in Alberta. As discussed below, the Public Accounts Committee serves as one of the principal structures of holding governm...

21Apr

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Environment, Financial Institutions, Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research, Politics

Smith and the Free Alberta Strategy- An assessment

Overview and Context Premier Danielle Smith has been in office for 19 months and provides an opportunity to evaluate how Smith is proceeding in implementing the Free Alberta Strategy (FAS). I found that many boxes have been checked by the premier but her biggest test is ahead- how to prevent the federal from weakening Alberta's largest industry in its bid to lower CO2 and other emissions. Smith is closely associated with one of the FAS authors, Rob Anderson. Rob Anderson is now the Executive Director of the Office of the Premier which places him at the apex of policy-making in Alberta. His acquaintance with Smith goes back to at least 2010 when, as a former Progressive Conservative (Airdrie -Chestermere), he crossed over to join the Wildrose Alliance party becoming deputy leader. In...

A Sales Tax for Alberta- Presentation to the Probus Club of Central Edmonton

14Apr

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Credit Ratings, Energy, Fiscal History, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

A Sales Tax for Alberta- Presentation to the Probus Club of Central Edmonton

My presentation to Probus members on 20 February 2024 reiterated the main themes in A Sales Tax for Alberta- Why and How published by Athabasca University Press in 2022. The presentation is found below. Much of the discussion acknowledged the why for a retail sales tax but most of the questions and comments focused on the how, The major difficulty is political culture which is very hostile to taxes than in the rest of the country. Several members who had worked within the Alberta public sector argued that waste in governments should discourage taxpayers from further "feeding the beast." It is a Catch 22- to make the political culture less fearful of paying taxes, government needs to become more efficient. To become more efficient typically means to hire private sector managemen...

7Apr

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Demographics, Economic Data, Government Finances, Intergovernmental, Investment, Opinion/Research, Politics

The Frustrations of a FOIPP applicant- the case of the APP (Part 2)

Updated 8 April 2023 Key Takeaways By January 2023 all the technical work had been completed for a launch of the APP plan four months before the UCP campaign made no mention of reviving this policy recommendation of the "Fair Deal" Panel. The public service relied on the expertise of outside parties due to lack of in house actuarial expertise. This FOIPP disclosure did not reveal how much the government ultimately paid even though Smith provided the $1.8-million figure to her 630 CHED Saturday call-in radio show. Existing administrative structures aren't conducive for sharing information as the onus is on the deputy head to decide what to disclose making it very difficult for senior officials to offer advice contrary to the preference of their political masters. The "Fa...