Uncategorized Archives - Page 2 of 6

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 ...

30Jan

By Bob Ascah2 Comments

Bankruptcies, Banks, Employment, Energy, Environment, Politics, Uncategorized

Smith as CEO Alberta Enterprise Group to Savage: 29 July 2021- “RStar”

Below is the full text of the letter from then AEG President Danielle Smith to then Energy Minister Sonya Savage concerning a proposed royalty credit for legally required environmental remediation. Analysis of letter is below. ALBERTA ENTERPRISE GROUP 11626-119 Street Edmonton, AB T5G 2X7 July 29, 2021 Minister Sonya Savage Minister of Energy 394 Legislature Building 10800-97 Avenue Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6 Dear Minister Savage: It was a pleasure meeting with you to discuss a pilot project this fall, to test out the RStar program as a new approach to address the issue of decommissioning and closing inactive wells. I would like to summarize our conversation as you are working with your department officials to understand why this pilot project is so important to our membe...

15Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Capital Spending, Government Finances, Uncategorized

Hyndman Papers- Speech to Alberta Municipalities- 1982

Excerpt from Speech to Alberta Municipal Districts & Counties (pp. 12-16) (Undated- likely late November 1982 after 2 November 1982 provincial election) The following speech given by Peter Lougheed in November 1982 set the stage for the Alberta government's post election Alberta Economic Resurgence Program. (The PDF of the excerpt of the speech in below) The speech is notable as signaling the government's intention to restrain government spending and holding public sector wage costs to below the private speech. His language was unusually blunt to this gathering of Alberta's municipal councilors, reeves, and mayors. Crucial to the financing of the resurgence program was a return to direct borrowing of the province- a rare event in the post-war period- and tapping all investment incom...

25Dec

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Uncategorized

Headlines from 2022

December A Nod to Independence- Alberta Sovereignty (within a United Canada) Act- Hyndman papers- Pocklington introduced to the Alberta government via ATB- 1983 Peter Pocklington and Wayne Gretzky Source: CBS Sports Mid-year Financial Update- more spending, less revenue Despite soaring profits, oil companies are not paying enough for their environmental damage First published in The Conversation and reprinted in paper edition of The Globe and Mail November Presentation to the Real Estate Council of Alberta What does Danielle Smith think? Exxon money leaving Alberta’s oilpatch October Reflections on 2 political conventions – Alberta style Alberta PST- ESNA presentation Brian Jean Federal guidance for best-in-class -Alberta’s carbon pipeline-...

De Havilland exits Ontario: Destination Wheatland County, Alberta

25Sep

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Investment, Opinion/Research, Uncategorized

De Havilland exits Ontario: Destination Wheatland County, Alberta

As previewed in Abpolecon.ca last July and this April, Alberta continues to poach unionized jobs from Ontario. Protracted negotiations between disgraced Unifor former president Gerry Diaz and De Havilland failed to protect thousands of jobs at the company's Downsview facility. In October 2021, Unifor bowing to the inevitable reduction in jobs acceded to a three-year deal which would preserve 112 member jobs in production and 673 member jobs working in office, technical and professional positions at the plant. However it did achieve a payment to employees from the phase out of the Dash-8 commitment. Negotiations centered on the company's plans to leave its current production location at the Downsview plant, ending production of the Dash 8 aircraft. In the absence of a commitment to re...

10Sep

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Capital Spending, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Uncategorized

First Quarter Update- Sunny update reveals some cracks

Jason Nixon, Treasury President and Minister of Finance Source: CTV News Edmonton However, there were several dark clouds covering the sun in the first quarter numbers that merit a mention. AIMCo has had another trying quarter like other investment managers Investment income is down $2.9-billion “due entirely to negative Heritage Fund and endowment fund income as financial markets deteriorated. These market losses could be reversed although with interest rates rising bond prices will continue to fall.” Hedging debt service costs hasn’t worked out very well Even though debt is declining significantly, debt servicing costs are rising because of debt swap costs. This is unusual because with rates at historic lows one would want to protect against rising rates by entering interest rate swap...

20Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Fiscal History, Government Finances, Investment, Uncategorized

Hyndman Papers- Budget 1982-83

In the following remarkable document from former Provincial Treasurer Lou Hyndman, he succinctly summarizes the quintessential fiscal policy questions his predecessors and successors have grappled with. These questions relate to: the Alberta public's "rising expectations;" use of Heritage Fund savings and investment income for general operating purposes; the scope for tax increases; how to cope with resource revenue uncertainty; and the sustainability of government expenditures. All these questions are pertinent today. Undated from Lou Hyndman- presumably to caucus or to Treasury Board/Cabinet Key questions The following are some of the key questions to consider in setting the 1982-83 target expenditure level. How should rising public expectations be reconciled with limited financial r...

3Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Uncategorized

New Year’s Limerick

This Limerick comes courtesy of my colleague David Swann .... Enjoy ‘New Day's Lyric’ by Amanda Gorman May this be the day We come together. Mourning, we come to mend, Withered, we come to weather, Torn, we come to tend, Battered, we come to better. Tethered by this year of yearning, We are learning That though we weren't ready for this, We have been readied by it. Steadily we vow that no matter How we are weighed down, We must always pave a way forward. This hope is our door, our portal. Even if we never get back to normal, Someday we can venture beyond it, To leave the known and take the first steps. So let us not return to what was normal, But reach toward what is next. What was cursed, we will cure. What was plagued, we will prove pure. Where we tend to argue, we will try to agre...

25Sep

By Bob Ascah1 Comment

Budget, Credit Ratings, Fiscal History, Uncategorized

Public Debt does matter

Earlier this year I was asked to contribute a paper on Alberta's public debt to the School of Public Policy's Alberta Futures project. My particular subject was "Alberta's Public Debt: Entering the Third Crisis." The questions I attempted to answer included: When has government borrowed too much?What will rapidly rising debt levels mean for Alberta taxpayers?What are the critical debt thresholds for the Province?What role will credit rating agencies play as they evaluate debt thresholds in relation to those in other provinces?What do higher debt levels mean for the Alberta Tax Advantage and Alberta’s long-term economic growth?What role does the federal government play in monitoring provincial deficits and debt levels? For the analysis, I went through over 100 years of Alberta's public ac...

12Jul

By Bob Ascah2 Comments

Uncategorized

The Strange Case of NPV and the Sturgeon Refinery

Following shortly after Finance Minister Toews’ release of the 2020-21 financial provincial accounts, on 5 July Energy Minister Sonya Savage seemed delighted to announce “a better deal on the Sturgeon Refinery… reducing risk and saving an estimated $2 billion.” While the long-suffering Finance Minister had to offer a positive spin on a falling $17-billion deficit, Savage described the $2 billion “optimization” of the contract. Background As Abpolecon.ca reported last November, the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission (APMC) was the government agent tasked with achieving the best deal for taxpayers when the saga of the Northwest or Sturgeon Refinery. In last year’s financial accounts, a provision against the government’s economic interest in the refinery was taken of approximately $2-bi...