Uncategorized Archives - Page 2 of 6

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 r...

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 ...

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 ...

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...

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 a...

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-b...

26Apr

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Uncategorized

Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act: Analysis and Opinion

Updated 18 May 2021 On 25 March 2021 Canada’s Supreme Court issued arguably its most crucial judgment in a decade. The case arose from three appeals from the high courts of Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan respecting the constitutionality of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA). Challenges of the GGPPA were made to the legislation by the Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan government in their various jurisdictions. In Ontario and Saskatchewan the courts of appeal sided with the federal government while the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled against the constitutionality of the GGPPA. While the jurisprudence within the case will be cited for generations, it is difficult at this stage to assess the long-term consequences on the future balance of the Canadian federation. The winners w...

16Dec

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Uncategorized

Hyndman Papers: Excerpts from Old Budget Speeches (Part 3)

Updated 16 December 2020 The final instalment in the Jim Dinning- Lou Hyndman memo prepared as background for a forthcoming budget- presumably 1980-81. The first part of these excerpts compare spending of the 50th anniversary celebration of Alberta's entry into confederation as a province with spending proposed for the 1980 - 75th celebrations. in addition, these excerpts from budgets in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970 reflect perennial concerns of provincial treasurers: the constant spending pressures and the use of non-renewable resource revenues to fund the appetite for education, municipal, highways, and health services. These budgets including the final budget of the Social Credit government are full of admonishments towards spending beyond our means and the perils of debt and Canada's...

7Dec

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Uncategorized

Hyndman Papers: Excerpts from Old Budget Speeches (Part 1)

Updated 16 January 2020 From the Provincial Archives of Alberta and the Hyndman papers comes an undated memorandum from Jim Dinning to Lou Hyndman giving a history of previous budgets. The tone seems archaic in this elite white male system, These excerpts underline the great optimism which has been incorporated into the psyche of most Albertans. An unbounded future- ever expansionary- no room for pessimists and little time for opposition members. The tone is also conversational in these first segments indicating that few in the population knew about or cared about this arcane art of provincial budgeting. FROM: Jim Dinning Executive Assistant TO: Hon. Lou Hyndman Provincial Treasurer REVIEW OF PREVIOUS BUDGET...

Moment of Truth- Book Review and Opinion

9Nov

By Bob Ascah3 Comments

Uncategorized

Moment of Truth- Book Review and Opinion

Preamble It would be unfair to dismiss the authors of Moment of Truth as grumpy, mostly white old men. This hastily edited textbook for Wexiters and Fair Dealers is a compelling read making a plausible case for a colony separating from its metropolitan or imperial power. The book is published by Sutherland House and edited by Jack Mintz, Ted Morton and Tom Flanagan. The list of grievances are long and familiar: equalization; Bill C-69; the NEP; official bilingualism; special treatment of Quebec; under-representation in Parliament; supply management; the federal carbon tax; and judicial decision-making. Jack Mintz Source: UCalgary.ca Although not intended, the book makes a persuasive case against the imperial-style capitalism which western Canada has been subject to since before Confe...