AB Pol Econ

27Oct

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Grassy, not Shaun, of the Dead

Updated 28 October 2024 This post is contributed by Ian Urquhart who taught political science at the University of Alberta for over thirty years. He is the author of Costly Fix: Power, Politics and the Nature of the Tar Sands. You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. - Margaret Thatcher Zombies. The Undead. They’re in neighbourhoods everywhere now – part of the ghoul fun of Halloween. Most will be dragged back to their crypts in a few weeks. Not the Grassy Mountain coal project. This zombie still will be lurching through the corridors of provincial power and the Crowsnest Pass at least until well into 2025. Grassy Mountain’s First Death Sentence Many will recall Benga Mining’s Grassy Mountain venture. Benga proposed ...

20Oct

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

Why AIMCo needs more scrutiny and transparency- Part 1

Note to readers: Updated 21 October 2024 On 6 November the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund (AHSTF) will be holding its annual public meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Rocky Mountain Room, 2nd Floor of the Queen Elizabeth II Building in Edmonton. The annual public meeting is open to members of the public either in person or via social media including Facebook. I attended the last two meetings in person and have been able to raise important questions of policy. In the 2022 meeting (transcript here), I was the only member of the public present in person. In 2023, I was pleased that there were nine members of the public raising uncomfortable questions which generally were deflected by officials of Alberta Treasury Board and Finance (TBF) and senior Alberta Invest...

30Sep

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Economic Data, Investment, Opinion/Research

Book Review- John Rapley’s Twilight of the Money Gods

Twilight of the Money Gods, the title perhaps a nod to Frederick Nietzsche’s Twilight of the idols, is an explosive critique of the discipline of economics as a religion. John Rapley, according to his Globe and Mail biography is political economist specializing in global development, the world economy and economic history. Rapley born in Canada, completed doctoral studies in Canada and pursued post-doctoral work at Oxford University. This book is the best book I have read on the history of economic thought. Particularly interesting is his description of the evolution of political economy of Smith and Ricardo into the neoclassical canon of Alfred Marshall. He situates the great debate on free trade within the context of a rising and dominant and the Britannica English corn laws. He ...

27Aug

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Uncategorized

Three Big Things- last week in Alberta

Imperial’s Slap on the wrist A new sheriff is in town Another example of rural municipalities ignored Imperial’s Slap on the wrist Last week in Alberta we had a taste of what it’s going to be like in UCP Alberta. First off was the “Notice of Administrative Penalty” addressed to Imperial Oil Resources Limited (IMO) of $50,000 under section 227(e) of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA). As the notice, reads the contravention took place on 19 May 2022- more than two years ago and was “confirmed” three months later. The offence was described in a very matter of fact way- included industrial wastewater, in the industrial wastewater control system in contravention of section 4.2.3(a) of EPEA Approval 46586-01-00, thereby contravening section 227(e) of the En...

Letter to Federal Minister of Finance re. Alberta Pension Plan

17Aug

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Uncategorized

Letter to Federal Minister of Finance re. Alberta Pension Plan

I sent the attached letter by regular mail to the federal Minister of Finance last week. My intention is to draw her attention to the private member's bill, C-387 introduced by Edmonton-Strathcona M.P., Heather McPherson during the last sitting of Parliament. The letter is self-explanatory. Ms. McPherson's unreported Bill represents an important widening of the war front in fighting the Alberta government's ill-advised foray into pension investment as part of its sovereigntist agenda. At the foot of this post are earlier posts penned on the Alberta Pension Plan gambit. including a 30-minute interview with Ms. McPherson. Edmonton, Alberta T6C 4R1 12 August 2024 The Honorable Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Member...

1Jul

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Environment, Opinion/Research, Politics

The Pronouncements of Rebecca Schulz

In this 4,000 word essay I recount and analyze the dozen or so news releases put out by Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz since last June. On 9 June 2023, after the 29 May election Rebecca Schulz was appointed the minister of Environment and Parks. Under the order of precedence for cabinet, Schulz was in the middle of the pecking order at ninth after the Premier. However since her appointment Schulz has overshadowed Smith energy and minerals minister, Brian Jean and has become indispensable in supporting Premier Smith assault against the federal government and, in particular, Environment and Climate Change minister Stephen Guilbeault. In an particularly unsavoury remark in a friendly conversation with Tucker Carlson, Ms. Smith urged Carlson to put Stephen Guilbe...

21Jun

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Uncategorized

A sabbatical?

Over the past 8 years I have created over 300 blog posts on Albertarecessionwatch.com and Abpolecon.ca beginning with "Redwater court decisions sides with lenders,” on 21 May 2016. The decision in favour of Grant Thornton LLP, a receiver tasked by ATB Financial to settle Redwater’s bankruptcy to ensure repayment to ATB, was to figure in eight further posts. Eventually, the Alberta Energy Regulator and the Orphan Well Association went to the Supreme Court of Canada where in January 2019 the Court found the polluter pay obligations of the oil company trumped claims under the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Following the case reinforced for me the importance of an impartial judiciary and its role in adjudicating claims brought by governments, citizens and corporations. What follows i...

NDP Leadership campaign- policies compared

31May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Education, Energy, Environment, Health, Opinion/Research, Politics

NDP Leadership campaign- policies compared

Introduction Every voter in Alberta’s NDP leadership race has their own set of public policy interests. Some of these voters have few if any interest in politics and have few policy issues except those involving their pocketbooks. Pocketbook issues include being able to eat, own a cell phone, have a place to call home, access a family doctor and affordable transportation. Whether this is the typical NDP voter is another question, but at the end of the day if the successor to Rachel Notley is to defeat Danielle Smith’s UCP they will need to understand these pocketbook issues. NDP leadership policies can be found at these websites: · https://voteforjodi.ca/jodis-leadership/# · https://teamganley.ca/policies · https://www.sarahhoffman.ca/priorities ...

Democracy in Alberta – Continued- Opinion

31May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research, Politics, Uncategorized

Democracy in Alberta – Continued- Opinion

I commend to readers the article by Elizabeth Smythe, my former intergovernmental colleague in Wednesday’s Edmonton Journal. Opeds by Dr. Smythe and Jared Wesley in The Tyee are honest attempts by political scientists to do what they are trained for- to provide objectively-based warnings about how fragile our democratic institutions have become. Recent moves by the Smith government to smother dissent in municipal councils is another worrying sign (Bills 18 and 20). As Wesley states in the Tyee "There’s no hard-and-fast line between democracy and authoritarianism. Just ask people from autocracies: you don’t simply wake up one day under arbitrary rule." A 30-minute interview between Jared and I can be found at this link The State of Democracy in Alberta- A conversa...

30May

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Budget, Credit Ratings, Economic Data, Environment, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

Alberta’s Public Accounts Committee- Thoughts on Accountability and Public Service Neutrality

The purpose of this post is to the delve into the accountability aspects of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Alberta through the lens of one meeting which took place on 7 May 2024. The transcript of the meeting can be found here and the video proceedings here. Readers may wish to skip over the detail about the meeting to read the conclusions at the foot of this essay. I attended this meeting because a colleague and I provided briefing material for Marlin Schmidt, NDP MLA for Edmonton Goldbar about the Auditor General’s report on Key Audit Matters. This post serves as a companion piece to my interview with Professor Jared Wesley on the state of democracy in Alberta. As discussed below, the Public Accounts Committee serves as one of the principal structures of holding governm...