AB Pol Econ

6Jun

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Balancing Pool Act- Public interest or political posturing

On 21 April, apparently in response to opposition demands that the UCP government stop withdrawals of utility services and get cheques or rebates into the hands of Albertans quickly, Associate Minister of Natural Gas and Electricity Dale Nally issued a news release. During a 17-minute news conference Nally took the former NDP government to task when releasing a March 2021 report from Deloitte LLP on the financial position of Alberta's Balancing Pool (ABP). The report concluded that the cost of the policy changes totaled $1.34-billion. It is ironic that this is about the same number that the UCP government lost from its bet on TC Energy's Keystone XL pipeline. Dale Nally, Associate Minister of Natural Gas and Electricity Nally was in true fighting form demonstrating lessons he h...

Sequoia Resources- Abuse of Process brought to a halt in “common sense” Court of Appeal decision

31May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Environment, Financial Institutions

Sequoia Resources- Abuse of Process brought to a halt in “common sense” Court of Appeal decision

Background The continuing saga of the bankruptcy of Sequoia Resources is finally back at the trial stage. On March the twenty-fifth the Alberta Court of Appeal (ACA) directed the Trustee in bankruptcy’s challenge of Perpetual Energy’s sale of its “Goodyear” assets must precede to trial. The unanimous decision by ACA justices Patricia Rowbotham, Ritu Khullar and Jolaine Antonio took particular exception to the manner in which Perpetual Energy Inc. and associated entities -Perpetual Operating Trust (POT), Perpetual Operating Corp.(PEOC), and Susan Riddell Rose had relitigated their defense with two applications to the Masters of Chamber judge opposing the claim by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ LIT (PWC) acting as the Trustee over the estate of bankrupt Sequoia Resources. The long saga commences...

26May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Environment

ESNA presents- Session on nuclear power

The link for this Zoom event will be sent on the morning of the event to the email address provided while registering in Eventbrite. If you do not see the link in your inbox, please check your junk mail folder. This event is exclusive to ESNA Members. You can join by clicking into one of the REGISTER button here. Not yet a Member? Go to ESNA.ca Virtual Luncheon - June 21(registration closes at 5:00pm on June 20, 2022) Date: Tuesday, June 21 Time: Noon - 1:00 pm Speaker: Steve Coupland Topic: Steve Coupland, Director of Regulatory and Environmental Affairs of the Canadian Nuclear Association, will discuss what we might expect to see in the future of nuclear development and deployments. Are recent government announcements signals of b...

22May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Environment, Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research

Alberta 4- Canada 1: Alberta Court of Appeal on the Impact Assessment Act

On 10 May Alberta's Court of Appeal provided an opinion on reference questions from the Alberta government concerning the validity of the federal Impact Assessment Act or, as Premier Kenney prefers to call it, the "no pipelines law." Background . On 9 September 2019 Alberta's cabinet authorized the Alberta Court of Appeal to consider two questions. These were: Is Part 1 of An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, S.C. 2019, c. 28, unconstitutional in whole or in part, as being beyond the legislative authority of the Parliament of Canada under the Constitution of Canada? Is the Physical Activities Regulations, SOR/2019-285, unconstitutional in whole or in pa...

Presentation to the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs

26Apr

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research, Politics

Presentation to the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs

On 31 March I made the following presentation to the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs about my Parkland paper Can AIMCo be Fixed? You can view the presentation on Youtube here. The discussion after the presentation was stimulating and wide ranging and highlighted concerns about government politicians interfering with public sector pensions. The Medicine Hat News had a story about the presentation on 13 April 2022. Below are my speaking notes and below that is a PDF of revised slide deck. (One of the numbers in Figure 2 had to be restated.) "Good afternoon everyone! I am speaking to you from Treaty 6 territory, a traditional gathering place for diverse Indigenous peoples including the Cree, Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, and many others whose histories,...

19Apr

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Investment

De Havilland -Update

Updated 28 April 2022/2 May 2022 In July 2021 Abpolecon.ca ran a story A coup for Invest Alberta? that suggested or predicted that the De Havilland Corporation would bring jobs to the Calgary area. On 31 March 2022, the Globe and Mail published a Canadian Press story providing some information about an announcement that 500 jobs would be created by the aircraft manufacturer in Calgary. According to the story, De Havilland has launched the De Havilland DHC-515 Firefighter program to build on its Canadair CL-215 and CL-415 aircraft. De Havilland Canada acquired the Canadair CL program in 2016. The company already has signed letters of intent purchase the first 22 aircraft, and expects to make its first deliveries by 2025. Final assembly of the aircraft will take place in Calgary, where s...

11Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Education, Government Finances

Post-mortem on the Provincial Budget

Updated 14 March 2022 On Thursday, Abpolecon.ca and three sponsoring organizations hosted an expert panel of the 28 February provincial budget. The expert panel consisted of Ken Kobly, CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, Professor Lindsay Tedds of the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, Jonathan Teghtmeyer, Executive Staff Officer, Government, Alberta Teachers' Association, and Professor Jared Wesley of the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta. The presentations led to a spirited discussion on such subjects as: the province's new swagger; the "care economy, missing in action;" misalignment between rural municipalities and provincial policy initiatives; and the symbolism of Larry the pipefitter who played a cameo role in the 2022 bud...

8Mar

By Bob Ascah2 Comments

Energy, Government Finances

Energy company shareholders getting paid back after years of famine

In this post, I examine the dividend streams of the four major oilsands producers as well as other major producers of oil and natural gas. The PDF figures which follow indicate the dividends paid or declared by 18 of Canada's largest oil and gas producers over the last 10 or so years. Overall there was a notable drop in dividends paid beginning in 2016, about one year after the significant plunge in oil prices. Beginning in late 2020, with a recovery in oil prices, there has been a significant increase in dividends going to shareholders. Up until 2021 oil and gas shareholders suffered capital losses on the prices of their shares. Those investors that sold their shares at significant losses are regretting the rebound in oil and gas company shares. Logos of the Big Four ...

1Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Capital Spending, Energy, Fiscal History, Government Finances

Budget 2022- Analysis and Opinion

The Alberta government’s recent budget reveals- once again- the provincial treasury’s over-dependence on non renewable resource revenue. This budget continues a six-decade tradition of resource revenue making up for a deficient, unstable revenue base to produce budget balance. However, as the chart below illustrates Alberta has never had a budgetary surplus, when excluding resource revenues since 1965-66. The surplus targets for fiscal years 2022-25 also produce the same results. This year, Albertans are expected to only contribute 78 cents on the dollar to Alberta’s expected revenues. If oil persists at an average of $90 U.S. per barrel over the whole fiscal year beginning April 1, then an extra $10-billion will be received meaning taxpayers will only foot 59 per cent of the bills. C...

27Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Economic Data, Energy, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

Budget 2022: the 2023 election begins

Analysis and Opinion On Thursday afternoon, 24 February Travis Toews tabled his fourth budget. From the standpoint of the United Conservative Party, the budget was an unadulterated triumph. Sure, higher oil prices had something to do with the anticipated surplus in 2022-23 ("a traffic cone could balance Alberta's budget," NDP opposition leader Rachel Notley proclaimed before the speech). admitted Toews to interviewers, but other revenue sources were healthier. By sticking to the fiscal plan as outlined in September 2019 by the MacKinnon panel, the government had done the hard lifting of keeping expenses from growing and attracting investment and Albertans were now reaping the fiscal and economic rewards. In this post, I examine the budget address of Toews, its key messages and its impli...