AB Pol Econ

1Nov

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Financial Institutions, Opinion/Research

Captive insurance- Why the Interest Now?

The Pitch On Wednesday, 27 October Finance Minister Travis introduced Bill 76 the Captive Insurance Companies Act. The accompanying press release noted the Bill would be "an alternative to the traditional insurance market to help relieve cost and availability pressures on Alberta businesses." A captive insurance company could be owned by "industrial, commercial or financial entity that can offer services when traditional insurers are unable to provide necessary coverage." The release went on to note that "challenges with global insurance supply" are making it difficult for commercial entities to find adequate insurance at reasonable prices." The creation of a captive insurer would allow a company to insure its own risks or members of an association or industry group. These entities would h...

10Oct

By Bob Ascah2 Comments

Employment, Energy, Investment, Opinion/Research

Dow- a victory for Kenney (of sorts)

On Wednesday 6 October a joyful Premier Kenney announced the biggest hit of his economic recovery plan with Midland, Michigan-headquartered Dow Chemicals committing to a huge petrochemical investment beside its existing Fort Saskatchewan facility. The full text is worthy to cite as it highlights Kenney's possible rising from "political dead man walking" status. The message and excitement contained within was worthy of a crow's proud call. “Today Dow announced what could become the largest investment in the Alberta economy in more than a decade. This is a huge win for job creation, economic growth and Alberta’s Economic Recovery Plan. If this project receives regulatory approval and a positive final investment decision, it will lead to a multibillion-dollar investment in our economy a...

29Sep

By Bob Ascah4 Comments

Demographics, Government Finances, Intergovernmental

What would Withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan Mean to Albertans?

By Ellen Nygaard and Virendra Gupta, Edmonton, AB, October 2021 The United Conservative Party (UCP) government, shortly after taking office in 2019, created a panel to consider whether Albertans are getting a “fair deal” as part of Canada. One of its assignments was whether Alberta should withdraw from Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and create its own pension plan, taking our portion of assets and liabilities from the Canada Pension Plan and running a pension plan for Alberta workers. The Panel recommended that the Government: “Develop a comprehensive plan to create an Alberta Pension Plan and withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan. Subsequently, provide Albertans the opportunity, via a referendum, to vote for or against withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan and creating the Alberta Pens...

26Sep

By Bob Ascah1 Comment

Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research, Politics

A Pointless Vote- Opinion

Party National -Popular-Vote National- Seats Alberta- Popular Vote Alberta- Seats (2019) Liberals 32.4% 159 15.3% 2 (0) Conservatives 33.8 % 119 55.4% 30 (33) Bloc Quebecois 7.8 % 33 Not registered 0 Green Party 2.3% 2 0.9% 0 People's Party 5.1% 0 7.5 % 0 New Democrats 17.7% 25 19.0% 2 (1) Maverick Party 0.2% 0 1.3% 0 After 36 days of political blustering, Canadians learned "the morning after" there will be another minority government led by Justin Trudeau's Liberals. At 12 noon on 26 September MT Elections Canada shows the Liberals leading in 159 seats, the Conservatives at 119, Bloc at 33 seats, NDP at 25 and the Green Party with two candidates leading/elected. National Vote In the popular vote, the Tories lead at 33.7 per cent followed by the Liberals at 32.6...

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...

5Sep

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Environment

Kudos to Environmental Law Centre!

On Wednesday 1 September Jason Nixon, Minister of Environment and Parks made an intriguing announcement. Sharing the stage with Tanya Fir, the Associate Minister of Red Tape Reduction, the duo announced the opening of a new website that allows citizens access to the records of Alberta's environmental enforcement actions. This website does not include Alberta Energy Regulator's enforcement actions which can be found at AER's compliance dashboard. According to the news release, the free access to these records "demonstrates this government’s commitment to transparency, reducing red tape, improving efficiencies and eliminating the cost to Albertans." While seeming to claim credit, the real credit must go to the Environmental Law Centre which has offered this service since 1996 for a fee. Ac...

4Sep

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Government Finances, Opinion/Research

Fiscal Outlook brightens

Fiscal Outlook Brightens The first quarter fiscal and economic update was released on 31 August. Alberta's projected deficit for fiscal 2021-22 has brightened considerably due to bitumen revenue (+$5.6 billion) and stronger investment revenue (+$1.1 billion). The government's message was "Alberta's Recovery Plan is working." The main drivers for the improved performance were revenue although spending is now expected to increase by $567-million driven by health care (+$400-million), drought relief (+$400 million) and agriculture support (+$340-million) some offset by the confusing practice of using contingency and unallocated numbers. Lower debt servicing costs were assisted by low interest rates and the significant decrease in projected borrowing as a result of the improved deficit numbe...

2Aug

By Bob AscahNo Comments

ATB, Politics

Hyndman Papers: Treasury Branches (Part 2)

The 1980s brought what some considered to be unconscionably high interest rates to Canadians and Albertans. in 1979 Albertans went to the polls. A key policy measure was interest shielding program which assisted Treasury Branches' borrowers. The below memo written on behalf of the de facto inner cabinet succinctly terminated the program. ALBERTA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL FROM: Harry Hobbs Deputy Minister TO: Honourable Lou Hyndman Provincial Treasurer DATE: May 28, 1980 SUBJECT: TREASURY BRANCHE INTEREST RATES At its meeting of May 26, 1980, the Finance, Priorities and Co-ordination Cabinet Committee agreed that Treasury Branches would discontinue shielding of interest rates in view of the curren...

26Jul

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Employment, Investment

A coup for Invest Alberta?

Updated 27 July 2021 The Globe and Mail reported on Saturday that labour negotiations at De Havilland had broken down over the issue of preserving union jobs in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Bombardier, the owner of the storied Dash-8 turbo-prop plane used by many regional carriers, sold the production facility in June 2019 to Longview Aviation Capital Corp. for $300-million. The issue The owner announced earlier this year that it was not committed to the GTA (Downsview) facility after the current order book expires. According to Gerry Diaz, the president of the powerful Unifor union, the new owner may move future production to Alberta. A future scenario could pit Ontario Premier Ford squaring off against Alberta Premier Jason Kenney over the questions of 1) 2,200 highly skilled ...

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...