Politics Archives - Page 5 of 11

30Jun

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Credit Ratings, Economic Data, Energy, Fiscal History, Politics

Ideas, Thoughts, Experiments Episode 4- Conversation with Robert Bhatia

This conversation occurred one week before the provincial election and canvassed three main topics- fiscal and economic policies, and politics. Click here to see the conversation. Robert Bhatia is a retired, long-term Alberta public servant rising to the position of deputy minister. He served as deputy minister in four ministries including Alberta Revenue and Alberta Finance. During his tenure he served on the boards of provincial agencies including the Alberta Investment Management Corporation and the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation. Since his retirement, he has joined the Local Authorities Pension Plan Board, was chair of the Alberta Balancing Pool and was named as a public member to the Credit Union Central Alberta board of directors where he is now Vice-Chair. He had signi...

Initial Reactions -Alberta 2023 election- Opinion and Analysis

1Jun

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Opinion/Research, Politics

Initial Reactions -Alberta 2023 election- Opinion and Analysis

Updated 27 December 2023 This post stems from a friend's questions concerning the implications of the 29 May election results. Seats in the assembly? 38 NDP, UCP 48, "Independent" Jennifer Johnson polled ahead with 5,789 votes to the NDP's Dave Dale's 2,477 votes in the Lacombe-Ponoka riding, These numbers may change with recounts. https://results.elections.ab.ca/8400 Official tally will be Thursday late next week Price of Oil? who knows? Provincial royalties/personal and corporate tax revenues? Will know the actuals to March 31 2023 at the end of June when consolidated financial statements are published. For 2023-24 the first quarter results will be published by the end of August. Budget 23-24 used $79 U.S. per barrel. To the end of May from April 1 WTI ha...

31May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Energy, Fiscal History, Politics

Ideas, Thoughts, Experiments- Alberta 2023 Conversation with thought leaders Episode 2- Lori Williams

To watch the conversation click here. In the second of a series of conversations with well known Albertans, Bob Ascah speaks to Professor Lori Williams of Mount Royal University. This conversation was recorded on Thursday 18, before the leadership debate. The discussion delved into the 2023 election which, at just past the mid-point remained too close to call. Ms. Williams identified health care and affordability as the key policy issues in this election. Other topics covered included how safe are the 41 "rural seats" for the UCP? Williams noted that during the 2019 election, Jason Kenney's controversial history as a student at a San Francisco Jesuit seminary this was generally ignored in the campaign. So why did Smith's leadership opponents not dig out these con...

3Apr

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Credit Ratings, Energy, Government Finances, Politics

Auditor General and orphaned wells

On 23 March the Auditor General issued his spring reports into four areas including the Liability Management program for oil and gas wells administered by the Alberta Energy Regulator. AER has a system to mitigate the risks for the closure of oil and gas infrastructure; however, parts of the system have not operated effectively…criteria were not fully met in the following areas: risk management practices goals, performance measurement and public accountability assessing information from OWA timely closure of inactive sites collecting sufficient financial security and minimizing risk of inappropriate licence transfers suspension, abandonment, remediation and reclamation regulatory processes Three main problems with the current liability management system are: lack of pr...

28Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Energy, Environment, Government Finances, Health, Opinion/Research, Politics

Solutions-based policy development and Some Modest Recommendations

There are major issues confronting Alberta- a massive understatement if there ever was! As a student, practitioner, and teacher of public policy for over 40 years, the following ideas are in a germination phase and readers are encouraged to comment and add their suggestions on the central germ of this idea. A solutions-based approach to government policy-making offers a means of identifying a small number of “problems” which require immediate attention and on which there is a consensus on the need for action. This approach starts with Problem identification. The government’s prerogative, but our current government arguably sees things much differently than a majority of Albertans- (e.g. the visceral hate of the federal government as represented by Mr. Trudeau.) In this blogpost, I set o...

2Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Employment, Energy, Environment, Opinion/Research, Politics

Sustainable Jobs- An Interim Plan plus Pathways pitch

“The budget and the economy bill are replete with folly and injustice. It is a tragedy that the moral energies and enthusiasm of many truly self-sacrificing and well wishing people should be so misdirected.” John Maynard Keynes, Essays in Persuasion, “The Economy Bill, “19 September 1931 at page 145. On 17 February Natural Resources Canada’s minister Jonathan Wilkinson led the release of an “interim” Sustainable Jobs Plan (ISJP), The news release begins: Canada has what it takes to be a clean energy and technology supplier of choice in a net-zero world….to secure and create jobs, to grow our industries, and to lead the world with the resources and technologies it will need for generations to come. A chicken in every pot is proposed- “highly skilled and dedicated workers, abundant nat...

Breaking News- Premier Smith’s delivers ultimatum to Trudeau

16Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Environment, Opinion/Research, Politics

Breaking News- Premier Smith’s delivers ultimatum to Trudeau

Letter from Premier Smith to Prime Minister Trudeau February 16, 2023 Media inquiries Premier Danielle Smith invites Ottawa to collaborate with Alberta on carbon capture, utilization and storage investment and halt introduction of Just Transition legislation and oil and gas emissions cap. Dear Prime Minister: I am writing in follow up to our meeting of February 7th, during which we discussed the need for the Government of Canada to halt introduction of the proposed Just Transition legislation and implementation of unachievable targets and measures under the federal Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) such as the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) and oil and gas sector emissions cap. As a much more productive alternative, I invited your government to agree to commencing a collaborative ef...

Budgetary advice from UofC and the Fraser Institute – cross-examined

15Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Energy, Environment, Opinion/Research, Politics

Budgetary advice from UofC and the Fraser Institute – cross-examined

“Don’t Spend Away the Windfall: Better Options for Alberta’s Unexpected Revenues,” written by Jack M. Mintz, Trevor Tombe, Joel Emes, and Tegan Hill is timely asit arrives a few weeks before the provincial budget (28 February). This contribution, combining the right leaning Fraser Institute and two well-known University of Calgary economists offers three approaches for considering the windfall by Alberta’s finance minister Travis Toews. The paper’s moralistic title suggests politicians are not to be trusted with windfalls At this moment, we are also awaiting the report of Todd Hirsch who was engaged by the Alberta NDP to study “how an NDP government can stabilize the province’s finances and build a more resilient economy.” His mandate has been interpreted as what to do with the windfall b...

5Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

ATB, Financial Institutions, Opinion/Research, Politics

Open Reply to Free Alberta Strategy letter of 2 February to donors on article in The Conversation

On 30 January The Conversation ran an article of mine entitled What the Free Alberta Strategy gets wrong about Canada’s banking system that was reprinted in Abpolecon.ca. On Thursday at 8:01 a.m. I received the following email from the Free Alberta Strategy (FAS). Robert, The Free Alberta Strategy is back in the news again! This time though, it’s thanks to an attack piece, which we thought we'd take some time to respond to. In a new article published in the federal-government-funded “The Conversation” publication, Robert L. Ascah, a researcher at the also-federal-government-funded Parkland Institute, attempts to lay the hatchet to the Free Alberta Strategy. In his piece, entitled “What the Free Alberta Strategy gets wrong about Canada’s banking system,” Mr. Ascah argues that the Alberta ...

30Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

ATB, Banks, Financial Institutions, Fiscal History, Opinion/Research, Politics, Uncategorized

What the Free Alberta Strategy gets wrong about Canada’s banking system

Reproduced with permission from The Conversation. January 30, 2023 2.05pm EST Author Robert L. Ascah Robert L. Ascah is a Friend of The Conversation. Research Fellow, The Parkland Institute, University of Alberta Disclosure statement Robert (Bob) L. Ascah is affiliated with Alberta NDP. Partners University of Alberta provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA. University of Alberta provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR. View all partners We believe in the free flow of information Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence. Email Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Print What is the Free Alberta Strategy, the co-creation of two lawyers and a Calgary political scientist? And ...