Morons

"We are not morons" was the screaming front page headline in the Edmonton Journal yesterday

Alberta's royalty review panel fired back Wednesday at industry critics of its report, arguing its call to hike energy royalties by 20 per cent is reasonable by global standards and based on sound data provided by the oilpatch itself.

Since issuing its report to the Stelmach government last week, the panel led by former Al-Pac president Bill Hunter has been accused by some in the energy sector and investment community of basing its report's controversial conclusions on flawed math that doesn't reflect reality. Hunter and fellow panelists said the industry's arguments distort the real picture as they see it.

"We're not a bunch of morons, as is indicated by some of the folks who are fighting against us," Hunter said in a group interview with Journal columnists and reporters Wednesday.

Nope they aren't morons, but the guys in the Tired Old Tory government are as another report showed today.

The provincial government sat on a report for seven years that outlined massive failures in policing its $100-million-a-year farm fuel benefit program, before similar concerns were raised by Alberta’s auditor general in 2006.

Now it must explain how Albertans can be sure the almost $1-billion spent on the program in that time was used wisely, said Liberal critic Hugh MacDonald.

Auditor General Fred Dunn said last year the process “does not verify the information in application forms before issuing a certificate” for the program, which gives farmers a six-cents per litre deduction on diesel, and eliminates the tax on both diesel and gas the government would normally get.

“Nor does it have any other processes to ensure that only eligible individuals get certificates -- or to identify people who became ineligible,” Dunn wrote, adding that the “department has not completed a renewal process or requested confirmation of eligibility from registrants since 1997.”

But the government did produce an audit of the renewal process -- one year later, in 1998. And the 10-page document outlined identical concerns to the auditor’s in 2006, which themselves came three years after Dunn declared the program “high risk”.

Which is what the Royalty Review also said, that the Government lost $8 billion in royalties paid. It went somewhere but nobody knows where or if it was even collected.

It's a joy to watch capitalists tarred with the same brush as the left by Big Oil. Of course the facts back the Royalty Review board not the Petro Bullies.

In 2006, Alberta's top five energy firms alone earned more than $17 billion. That's twice the province's 2007 budget surplus, and eight times the $2-billion annual hike in royalty fees called for by a government-appointed review panel.

Drillers complain that their sector -- already hit by low natural gas prices and a surplus of rigs -- would be decimated if the report is implemented.

But panel members stress that 82 per cent of conventional natural gas wells, and 57 per cent of conventional oil wells, would actually see royalty rates decline, based on 2006 prices.

Report finds Alberta still a bargain, even with higher royalties

Higher oil sands royalties could cut 13 per cent of the value from current and planned projects around Fort McMurray, but Alberta would remain one of the cheaper places to do business in the world even with more money going to government, according to research by British energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Of 100 fiscal regimes around the world analyzed by Wood Mackenzie, money paid to government in the oil sands is ranked as the 11th-most generous system for industry. Should higher royalties and taxes be instituted, the ranking would fall to 44th, still in the top half.

Canada’s oil nationalism

Sudden change in fiscal regimes is bad for planning. Yet it is hardly surprising that a resource-rich government wants a bigger slice of the pie when oil is topping $80 a barrel. At an estimated 64 per cent share of the value of oil sands projects, Alberta’s “take” would remain moderate compared with the likes of Venezuela and Russia. And the Canadians are at least being upfront about simply wanting a bigger cheque, rather than hiding behind professed environmental concerns.

The biggest impact would come from an increase in the royalty on production after initial investment has been recovered, hitting operators with projects already up and running. The value of projects still in the investment phase should suffer less, as the affected cash flows are further in the future. Rather cynically, the proposals largely preserve the attraction for new developers, while milking existing producers a little more – after all, where will the latter go?

The silver lining is that this measure could cool a sector suffering rampant cost inflation – and cut speculative valuations on potential takeover targets – by making potential new entrants think twice. Moreover, if the pace of development really does slow, it will be time to upgrade long-term oil price projections in those project models.

Gee I said that here.

And a comment in Ken Chapman's blog also points out the simple empirical fact that ;

In "Alberta's Royalty Review and the Law of Grandparenting" IAPR Fellow Nigel Bankes, a Professor in the Faculty of Law, reviews the law on this question and concludes that the royalty review panel has proposed nothing that violates existing contracts or is otherwise inappropriate or unusual.

Big Oil is painting all of us as morons, the real morons of course run the Government of Alberta on their behalf.

Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you.

SEE:

Stelmach Sells Out

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Albertans Are Simpletons Says Government

Simple Simon to the Pie Men pay us our due. This is rich the Tired Old Tories are calling Albertan's simple minded because we want a fair share of our oil and gas royalties. After having spent a decade tightening our belts.

It's popular to say Albertans need a bigger share from oil and gas companies, but Tory MLAs insist public opinion polls alone won't determine whether they hike energy royalties.

They were largely unsurprised by an Edmonton Journal-Calgary Herald poll that suggested 88 per cent of Albertans don't believe the government collects its "fair share" from oil and gas royalties, and that two-thirds want Premier Ed Stelmach to fully adopt recommendations from his royalty review panel, including its demand for a 20-per-cent overall increase on royalties.

Treasury Board President Lloyd Snelgrove, one of Stelmach's top lieutenants, said he understands that people want a fair share, but also expressed concern that opinion is being heavily influenced by the media, the panel's report and a scathing auditor-general's report this week. It said the government ignored internal advice to collect an extra $1 billion annually from energy firms.

"It is very simplistic to look back and say, 'Oh, we could have had so much more,' when in fact who knows what taking that billion dollars out of the economy three years ago would have meant in the loss of jobs, the loss of corporate and personal income tax," Snelgrove said Wednesday.

Well you were elected to know just that and clearly you didn't so it's time to go.

Voters could punish premier in the next election if he doesn't raise royalty rates, poll shows

EDMONTON - Premier Ed Stelmach's decision on royalty rates may be a do-or-die issue for his Conservative government, suggests a poll commissioned by the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald.

It also suggested 67 per cent believe Stelmach should adopt in its entirety the panel report, which recommends a 20-per-cent royalty hike and a new oilsands tax.

Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you.

SEE:

Royalty Is NOT A Tax

Fearless Prediction Confirmed

Morons

More Shills For Big Oil

Stelmach Sells Out

King Ralph Shills For Big Oil

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Rio Tinto yet to pay compensation over sacred site destruction
Reuters | August 26, 2021 |

Juukan Gorge cave sites seen before the destruction. (Screenshot via YouTube.)

Mining giant Rio Tinto is yet to pay compensation to the Aboriginal group whose ancient rock shelters it destroyed for an iron ore mine in Western Australia last year, company officials told a parliamentary inquiry Friday.


The incident last year destroyed the historically and culturally significant site at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region that showed evidence of human habitation 46,000 years ago into the last Ice Age.

The destruction created public outrage that led to a dramatic overhaul of Rio’s leadership and a review of the Australian laws that are supposed to protect significant sites of the world’s oldest living culture.

An interim report from a federal parliamentary inquiry in December said Rio should pay restitution to the Puuti Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people (PKKP) with the final report and recommendations due in coming months.

The head of Rio’s Australian operations, Kellie Parker, told the inquiry on Friday the company was committed to “doing the right thing” around paying restitution but said that details around the financial component of any compensation were subject to a confidentiality agreement at the PKKP’s request.

Rio Tinto has rehabilitated parts of the Juukan Gorge and is working to restore the shelters in a structurally sound way, she said.


THE WORLD’S BIGGEST IRON ORE MINER DOES NOT PAY ROYALTIES TO THE WINTAWARI GURUMA FOR THREE OF SIX MINES IT OPERATES ON THEIR ANCESTRAL LAND

More broadly, Rio has moved responsibility for company relationships with traditional owners and mining near significant sites to operational managers, rather than the company heritage division. It has also committed to review mining plans around all areas of significance and “modernise” agreements with traditional owners, Parker said, without clarifying whether this could include backpayments for historic royalties.

Rio Tinto does not pay royalties to traditional owners for some mines where mining began prior to the native title act in 1993.

The world’s biggest iron ore miner does not pay royalties to the Wintawari Guruma for three of six mines it operates on their ancestral land, even though those mines are operational today, said Tony Bevan, a director at the Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation.

The miner posted record half year earnings of more than $12 billion in July.

WGAC want royalties to be considered as part of a modern agreement as well as compensation for heritage destruction and an ability for them to visit their traditional lands for which access is currently denied.

News emerged this year that Rio failed to protect WGAC artefacts that had been salvaged from its Marandoo iron ore project including 18,000-year-old evidence showing how people lived during the last Ice Age. Those and other artefacts were thrown in a Darwin rubbish heap.

Parker said that Rio was modernising agreements, with particular focus on social as well as economic contributions, but did not directly answer repeated questions by Senator Patrick Dodson about the number of mines that Rio doesn’t pay royalties on.

The PKKP said that it continued to work in good faith with Rio Tinto on the recovery and rehabilitation at Juukan Gorge as well as the development of a co-management model for their operations.

“The results on these will be the true test of our relationship with Rio Tinto,” it said.

PKKP said it wanted a relationship-based co-management system with Rio that reflected a shared commitment and respect for its rights, and participation in decision making throughout all phases of a mine, from development to closure.

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Sam Holmes and Simon Cameron-Moore)

Canadian artists may soon receive royalties when their work is resold

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is pictured in 2017. 

Photo courtesy of Thomas Ledl/Wikimedia

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Canadian politicians are drafting legislation that would amend the country's copyright law to grant artists royalties when their work is resold.

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez are drafting an amendment to the Copyright Act that would give artists a "resale right," The Art Newspaper reported.

"Our government is currently advancing work on potential amendments to the Copyright Act to further protect artists, creators and copyright holders," Champagne spokesperson Laurie Bouchard told the Globe and Mail.

"Resale rights for artists are indeed an important step toward improving economic conditions for artists in Canada."

The Canadian Artists Representation, a nonprofit that supports visual artists that has proposed such reforms, said in a statement Friday that it was pleased that the Artist's Resale Right is "gaining momentum within the federal government."

"The ARR is a royalty that enables artists to share in the wealth they create," said April Britski, the national executive director of CARFAC in the statement.

"It is particularly beneficial for Indigenous and senior artists, aligns Canada with many of our international trade partners, and it is one of many ways the federal government can help visual artists recover from the pandemic and prosper for years to come."

In an April presentation, CARFAC proposed that 5% of all eligible secondary sales of artwork sold for at least $1,000 should be paid back to the artist, noting that it "is a copyright royalty, not a tax."

"It would not be collected by the government nor would it be spent by government," the proposal reads. "Furthermore, the government would not be involved with collecting, distributing, or monitoring the payment of royalties."

The organization noted that more than 90 countries including Australia, Britain, Mexico and all members of the European Union have similar royalties for the resale of work.

The art news website Hyperallergic noted that attempts to pass similar acts in the United States have failed, including the American Royalties Too Act proposed by Democratic lawmakers in 2014.

The Art Dealers Association of Canada has argued that the royalties would create a bureaucratic burden for small galleries, The Art Newspaper reported, and could raise the price of art and reduce sales.

About Time

This is news in Texas.

Alberta scraps royalty tax credit after 3 decades

- The Alberta government eliminated the Alberta Royalty Tax Credit on Thursday in a move that Energy Minister Greg Melchin said would add $111 million a year to government coffers when it comes into effect on Jan. 1.

The tax credit is one of the last vestiges of the Alberta-Ottawa energy wars of the 1970s, enacted in 1974 to counter a move by the federal government to eliminate tax deductions for royalties paid by oil and gas companies.

Leach suggested that the credit fell victim to politics. All the major candidates in Alberta's Tory leadership race advocate steps to increase the province's share of resource revenues, which amounted to $14 billion in the last fiscal year."We think it's responding to uninformed criticism of Alberta's royalty regime," he added.

Thursday's decision received unqualified support from an unlikely source --provincial NDP leader Brian Mason.

"We are very pleased that the government has finally been forced to cancel this corporate giveaway," he said. "The end of this program means a victory for Albertans."

Now lets adjust that pitiful 1% royalty we get paid for the people of Albertas resources namely the Tar Sands.

Yes it is a sop to the complaints raised about the fact we have the lowest royalty rate in the world. I like the guy who says we are uninformed....we are well informed that we are being ripped off.

First, contrary to popular belief, the Alberta government derives much more in royalties from natural gas than it does from oil. In 2004-05, it received $9.7 billion in resource revenues. Of this, $6.4 billion was from natural gas royalties, $2.0 billion was from oil royalties, andthe remainder was from other sources such as land sales. BMO Report January 2006 Alberta’s Long-range Outlook: “Oil’s Well”

Heck Newfoundland has a higher royalty rate than we do for all that Tar Sands oil.

And lets not forget that the Alberta Advantage did not begin under Ralph but under Lougheed,and it was created by OPEC and the oil boom of the seventies. Yet the Lougheed government still gave out corporate welfare. Without both Federal and provincial state capitalism the Tar Sands would never have been developed.

See

Oil Royalties


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AFL Demo Falls Flat On Its Face

Ouch. Suppose we called a demonstration and no one came?

The majority of the 15 workers that did show up were probably Wobblies who have been active on every wildcat picket line over this last month. Dual carders, folks who belong to both the IWW and their regular trade union. The IWW has been gaining support amongst the building trades union rank and file pissed off at their union's lack of democracy.

While the union bosses couldn't organize a rally, demo, or meeting bigger than a gathering in a phone booth, cause they are pork choppers, far removed from the rank and file. And when they do organize rallies its the paid union staff that show up.

This is not only disappointing but shows that the real resistance of the workers in Alberta not only to our bad labour laws, but to the Oil royalty rip off will be led by rank and file militants not the labour bureaucracy. That was what made last months wildcat actions successful. But as soon as the labour bureaucrats joined in well it died.

While the Oil Bosses bused in their workers and paid them to attend their Anti-Royalty Rally at the Leg on Wednesday the AFL's excuse is that their demo was poorly attended cause it was payday. Well that was a brilliant move wasn't it. The pork choppers don't even know when pay day is up in Fort McMurray. Or when shift changes occur. Talk about being out of touch. They should have just organized a counter demo in Edmonton instead.

Unions drive message home despite poor turnout

By CAROL CHRISTIAN
Fort McMurray Today staff
Friday October 19, 2007

It may have been a tiny crowd at a royalty rally for oilsands workers Thursday night but that didn’t undermine their support for changes to the current royalty system.
About 15 people attended the rally hosted by the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL). Gil McGowan, AFL president, wasn’t really surprised at the turnout given it was payday, and shift change day so many workers had already left town.
He explained the AFL went ahead with the meeting because of concerns Premier Ed Stelmach was going to announce his decision on the royalty panel recommendations today. That didn’t happen at press time; the premier is rumoured to have television airtime booked next Wednesday.
McGowan presented his top 10 reasons why big business won’t leave Alberta even though companies are “rattling their sabres” and threatening to pull out of the province.
“The oil is here. They’re going to stay here because there’s money to be made and there’s nowhere else to go,” stated McGowan. Other reasons included that oil companies have always known the government has the right to unilaterally raise royalties and companies are not going to turn their backs on billions of dollars of investments already made here.
He mentioned other jurisdictions like Alaska and Britain have increased royalty rates by as much as 80 per cent yet it hasn’t scared off investment. The royalty review panel is recommending a 20 per cent increase for Alberta.
McGowan pointed out some of the same companies threatening to leave Alberta continue to invest in Venezuela where royalties are higher than here and profit margins lower.
“We don’t have to be intimidated by the scare tactics being employed by big oil,” said McGowan.

While the premier is talking tough, there’s still a concern about closed door meetings between government and big oil companies, he said. Believing the companies are trying to intimate the government McGowan is urging workers and Albertans to tell their MLAs not to lose their nerve.
“We have to help them get the backbone they need to stand up to big oil,” he stated. “The time for accepting bargain basement royalties is over.” If government cows to oil companies, McGowan added Albertans can show their displeasure at the ballot box.
Petition letters to the premier available at the rally said the royalty report should be seen as a bare minimum for action. Anything less than that is a failure by government to stand up for the best interests of Albertans.
“Any effort to water down the recommendations would be a unnecessary capitulation to big oil,” said McGowan.
The local rally was held for workers in contrast to the one the day before at the legislature in Edmonton organized by business. Referring to that rally as a “paid political commercial brought to you by ownership,” Barry Salmon, an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) official, said owners are more interested in their own bottom line than the best interests of Albertans.
Salmon said the panel came up with a mediocre report that was already a compromise favouring big oil.
This was intended to set a marker so when government introduces its decision, it will be seen as a compromise. “Albertans will believe its acceptable because they will be told it’s a compromise between the royalty recommendations and big oil demands.
“We’re being had,” he said, adding Albertans are now involved in a shell game with the government and big oil.
As part of their scare tactics, oil companies are threatening some 19,000 jobs, said Mel Kraley, IBEW assistant business manager. Yet, he noted, there some 21,000 temporary foreign workers in Alberta. McGowan believes the number of workers is closer to 60,000.
Several workers in attendance took the opportunity to express their concerns.
Ron Davidovich said the government should “feel ashamed” for finally asking for royalty review. “We’ve got billions of dollars lost in this province,” he added at a time when seniors can’t get the care they need and are struggling on fixed incomes. The extra $2 billion from increased royalties could help seniors among other things, he said.
“As soon as we encroach on them (oil companies) ... we hear some nice stories,” said Roland Lefort, an official with the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers union.
He added when the Kyoto Accord was first introduced, oil companies bemoaned the financial hardship it would cause. As a result, “Albertans believed Kyoto was going to destroy the economy.” The royalty review is no different, Lefort said.

Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you

See:

I Am Malcontent

Who Will Decide About Royalties

Alberta's Tar Sands Gamble

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Who Will Decide About Royalties

Big Oil and their pals in the investment industry according to this story in the Globe and Mail today.The folks who have been whining the most are having secret meetings with Stelmach's Government.

According to Tristone, which has worked closely with Alberta civil servants in Edmonton to produce new work it will present on Monday

“I think Stelmach's going to make the right decision,” said George Gosbee, chairman of Tristone Capital Inc., a Calgary investment bank that has worked to broker a balance between higher royalties and keeping the province's economic engine running.

These are the same guys that said this earlier this month; Tristone CEO sees lower gas output if cost rises

International oil producers will flee Alberta if the Western Canadian province's government implements a proposed hike to oil and natural gas royalties and taxes, an investment bank said on Monday.

Going ahead with a recommended 20 percent, or C$2 billion, hike to Alberta's take from oil and gas production in the province will actually cause government revenue to drop as production falls by half-a-million barrels a day, according to Tristone Capital Inc, an investment bank that serves the oil and gas industry.

"The C$2 billion increase per year in the government's take is an absolute fallacy," George Gosbee, Tristone's chief executive, told reporters.

Instead of an increase, government revenue would fall by about $1 billion a year if the proposals are adopted, the banker said.

Tristone's study is the latest in a series of industry arguments against the royalty hike proposed last month by a government-appointed panel.

Tristone did not make their predictions or objections known to the original Royalty Commission.

Tristone Capital Inc., a brokerage that did not participate in the public review, published a lengthy response to the panel's report,

Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you


SEE:

Headline Says It All

Ohhh Pulllleeeaasse

Alberta Needs A Chavez

Albertans Are Simpletons Says Government

Royalty Is NOT A Tax

Fearless Prediction Confirmed

Morons

More Shills For Big Oil

Stelmach Sells Out

King Ralph Shills For Big Oil

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Robot Protest

Robot comes from the Russian word Robotnichki, meaning drudgery and worker. A wage slave by any other name.

And when the Oil Rig bosses pay their wage slaves to protest on their behalf against the workers own self interest this is what you get.

During the speeches, the workers showed little emotion, cheering only sporadically.

The Alberta government said yesterday that only $15.2-million was spent on new exploration rights for conventional oil and natural gas in a bimonthly auction.

It is the lowest total this year for conventional energy, a sector in which proposals for higher royalties have provoked considerable anger from industry.

For exploration rights in the oil sands, $15.7-million was collected, which ranks as a median result for the year, ahead of 10 other auctions. With oil prices at a record, the call for higher royalties on that resource has caused less controversy.

In sum, the sale of exploration rights so far this year is down 62 per cent to $1.18-billion from $3.14-billion in the same period a year earlier.

Exploration rights on Crown land in Alberta are posted for sale by the provincial government at the request of individual companies and are awarded in a blind auction where energy firms submit sealed bids. The government take from these auctions can vary dramatically as energy companies spend aggressively when commodity prices are high but pull back quickly when they fall.

A record take of $3.43-billion was reached in 2006, up more than 50 per cent from the previous record of $2.26-billion in 2005. That, in turn, surpassed the long-standing record of $1.15-billion set in 1997, which was reached in part because of the first oil sands boom following the adoption of a generous royalty regime.

This year's decline mirrors collapses recorded in 1981, 1999 and 2002.

That's because such auctions tend to generate less money in Alberta than in other jurisdictions, generally because access to drill for oil and natural gas is seasonal and in the oil sands the raw resource is of lower quality than in major oil fields elsewhere.

Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you

See:

Real Oil Workers Rally

I Am Malcontent

Who Will Decide About Royalties

Alberta's Tar Sands Gamble

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The Reason For Alberta's Deficit-Big Oil

Just like back in the nineties when Alberta gave big tax breaks to big oil, we went into a deficit. And Deja Vu if it didn't happen again.

Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) paints a picture of declining production and royalties from Alberta's natural gas industry for the rest of the decade, but sharply rising oilsands royalties.

Royalties from natural gas and the oilsands totalled more than $8.8 billion in 2009, but just over $4.6 billion in 2010 -a big cause of the provincial deficit.

"The government is running a province which assumes they will take in $6 billion to $8 billion a year, and this is not happening," CERI CEO Peter Howard said.

Premier Ed Stelmach has said the province aims to balance its budget by 2013. CERI's estimates suggest that will be a challenge if they are depending on royalties.

The institute estimates Alberta will be back to 2009 royalty levels by about 2016, when oilsands royalties will be more than $7.2 billion, with just $1.1 billion coming from natural gas.

Yep Big Oil gets Royalty breaks that resulted in the deficit and schools get cuts!

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach says school boards may have to "hold some of their labour costs low" in coming years as the province looks to rebuild its coffers, but critics blame the Tory government for looming teacher layoffs.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Provincial+education+funding+falls+short/4494419/story.html#ixzz1HcKHRDNU

Martha, Henry, and Ed

Common sense from the common folks. And one thing you don't do is threaten Albertans with "we will get up and leave", cause you will get told "git up and go", "we can do it ourselves". It's an Alberta attitude of self reliance that the right wing likes to lay claim to, except when the shoe is on the other foot.

More Albertans support Premier Ed Stelmach's royalties strategy than do not, but his plan has fallen short of many people's expectations and may have created a "lose-lose" situation for the rookie Tory leader, a new poll indicates.

As the debate simmers, the online poll conducted by Leger Marketing shows most Albertans -- 61 per cent -- believe the oil and gas industry overinflated the negative consequences that higher royalties would have on the sector.

"The program fell short for many Albertans," Tremblay said.

The poll indicates many Albertans are skeptical of industry warnings, with six in 10 respondents agreeing the oil and gas industry overinflated the negative fallout from higher royalties. And just 38 per cent of people polled believe the new royalty regime will create job losses in Alberta, while 46 per cent do not.

As for the threat that the oilpatch will withdraw investment, about one-third agreed, but slightly more than half didn't buy it -- although the numbers show more Calgarians remain concerned than people in other areas of the province.

Only 28 per cent of Albertans agreed Stelmach's decision will have a negative effect on them or their families, either through work or through investments, while 52 per cent disagreed.

However, only 37 per cent of the people surveyed said Stelmach's decision will have a positive effect on them or their family through improved government spending on programs or infrastrastructure, while 39 per cent do not.

The poll of 804 Albertans, fielded from Friday to this Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Also see Enlightened Savage for his take on this poll.

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Fearless Prediction Confirmed

My prediction that Alberta CEO Prince Edward would sell Albertans out over the Royalty Review is confirmed from a couple of sources.

From the EnerPub Blog:

Alberta premier Ed Stelmach is expected to decide how much of the report’s recommendations to implement by the middle of October. There is considerable public pressure to increase royalties. However, Alberta’s oil lobby also has significant political influence because of the oil and gas sector’s large contribution to the economy. And the government will be loathe to jeopardize the future of an industry that accounts, directly and indirectly, for about half the province’s GDP.
The likely outcome, therefore, is a more modest increase than the panel recommends.

Edmonton Sun columnist and usually an Ed booster; Neil Waugh weighs in worrying that given his track record the man who would be king might well cop out.

There's one compelling and disturbing thing about the Alberta government's royalty review.

And that's where Premier Ed Stelmach exactly stands on clawing back the oil, gas and, in particular, oilsands royalties and restoring what Bill Hunter's royalty review panel calls "our fair share."

The premier talked tough a few days ago when he said, "I won't be intimidated" by the powerful Big Oil lobby.

However, he hasn't actually said in plain Ralph Klein English what large numbers of Albertans now expect him to say: Alberta's royalty rates must go up.

The premier's office cranked out a release saying that instead of finally revealing where Ed stands on royalties, the Tories now want to "open communication channels" with the oil industry. While government bureaucrats will conduct a "technical analysis" review of the Hunter panel's recommendations to boost the royalty take by at least $2 billion.

Fears that the PCs were now in full retreat went from bad to extreme when it was revealed who is conducting the "shared understanding" with the oilpatch fat cats.

Justice Minister Ron Stevens, next to Dave Hancock, is the softest target in Stelmach's cabinet.

And instead of the finance department running the numbers, the energy bureaucrats - the same guys who messed up in the first place - will be marking Bill Hunter's homework.

Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you.

SEE:

Morons

More Shills For Big Oil

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Ed's Ides of March

The best not kept secret in Alberta was finally blurted out last Friday, while farmer Ed was glad handing and announcing another pre-budget billion dollar give away, one of his MLA's gleefully announced to the media that the provincial election would be March 3rd. And sure enough right after the throne speech on Monday, Ed announced his own Ides of March, the election is now on and will be Monday March, 3.

Stelmach has something no other political premier can match for wooing voters - lots of money. Before the writ was even dropped, the Tories pledged $6 billion a year over the next 20 years on capital projects, including municipal infrastructure, schools, highways, housing and health facilities. And there's plenty more where that came from. Just watch the promises over the next three weeks leading up to the March 3 vote.

Yes I know the Ides of March are technically March 15 but heck what's twelve days for the man who would be Harry Strom. After all as Wikipedia informs us; The term has come to be used as a metaphor for impending doom.

Picking up from the Presidential primaries south of us the clever lads in charge of Ed's messaging have made this their slogan; “Change that works for Albertans.”

How about Change the government that has not worked for Alberta. Or Change that hardly works for Albertans. Or maybe "We didn't have a plan then, we don't have one now." The irony is that it is still the same old Tired Tories who are in charge. Just because they changed their leader doesn't mean they have changed.

Ironically Ed's election announcement got swamped in the news by the real election; the one south of us, as the press covered Super Tuesday primaries for U.S. President. And Ed sounds a lot like Republican loser Mitt Romney who claims Washington is broken, but forgets to mention its because the Republicans held the White House, Congress and the Senate till 2006.

Imagine a government running to change itself. Well after all it needs to do something because it has done little since 1993 but maintain the course. In fact most of the changes Ed promises are changes that Ralph refused to make. Like his musing that if elected he would eliminate health care premiums, something both the NDP and Liberals have campaigned on since 1993. Like his delayed Royalty implementation plan Ed will eliminate them four years after the election, just in time for the next one.

That's like his royalty increases which will be negotiated and not come into effect until 2009, or perhaps 2010 or even 2011 in some cases.

Alberta’s New Democrats want the province to consider adopting Alaska’s energy royalty rates, which are 60% higher than the new royalties put in place by Premier Ed Stelmach.

NDP Leader Brian Mason took an election campaign shot at the Tory premier today as he described how adopting Alaska’s system would add $4 billion a year to Alberta’s royalties.

Mason says Stelmach’s plan to increase royalties by only 20% next year amounts to “giving their political donors in the oilpatch a $4 billion gift.”

He also says Stelmach’s review panel was never given key documents, so a new panel should be given all the information and 90 days to reconsider royalties.

The NDP says these documents showed that the Tory government had ignored years of internal advice that Alberta’s royalties could be increased by at least $1 billion a year.

And while Ed barely gets Albertans any real money for our oil he allows Big Oil to continue to pollute and destroy the environment with his so called green plan.

Greenhouse gas levels will climb for 12 years

His next election promise was to increase the number of doctors in the province, despite the closure of hospital beds in Edmonton because of the lack of doctors and nurses, thanks to Ralph's cuts way back a decade ago.

In recent months, people with broken bones have waited longer for care because of a shortage of nurses for recovery beds. The Royal Alexandra Hospital closes two or three operating rooms a day.

In the past week, about 40 elective surgeries over two days were cancelled due to staff shortages.

Now, the region has stopped trying to reopen 33 acute-care beds that have been closed since summer.

"We're officially giving up," Buick said. "We have to retrench sometime. We're just grinding so hard all across the system.

"The pressure is carrying on, and with flu season just beginning to come up now, we're realizing we cannot go on as business-as-usual" for the last three months of the fiscal year, which ends March 31.

The public notice comes as Alberta health regions are speaking openly about projected budget deficits. Massive staff overtime costs, an unexpected hike in nurses' pay plus a huge recruitment program for foreign nurses could leave Capital Health $20 million to $30 million over budget by spring, said Sheila Weatherill, the region's president and CEO.

Still, that pales compared to the outlook in the Calgary health region, which projects an $85-million deficit.

Health Minister Dave Hancock refused this week to consider bailing out Edmonton, Calgary and five other health regions facing deficits that could total more than $100 million.

His pronouncement immediately drew flack from the Big Doc in charge;

But according to Dr. Trevor Theman, registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, that is likely not possible: although the need is there, it would require a near-doubling of current training spending from the province and involve recruiting dozens of more people to train them - with staff to train physicians already an issue for the existing 250 spots.

"Edmonton and Calgary are already maxed out in their ability to train, and even if there were more money, it's an issue of human resources," said Theman. "You need trainers available and you need people who have clinical experience to handle that training."

In fact, the only way to achieve the province's doctor target, said Theman, would be by relying chiefly on recruitment of overseas physicians, which is already the province's principal new source of doctors.

Yep like the oil sands the Tories solution to labour shortages are more temporary workers!!!

And again an election promise is made that could have been resolved in the past year of Ed's tenure as premier.

But unlike Ralph who kicked off the last election kicking the disabled and the poor Ed has embraced them.

CALGARY - Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has announced a plan to allow severely disabled people to earn more money without losing their provincial income benefits.

Campaigning in Calgary today, the Progressive Conservative leader said his proposal would allow disabled people to earn an additional $500 per month without affecting their living allowance under the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program.

Stelmach says helping AISH recipients go to work gives them a higher sense of esteem.

He says 36,000 Albertans who receive AISH benefits would be eligible under the program.

Singles would be able to earn up to $1,500 a month while single parents or couples could take home $2,500 and only lose half of their allowance.

But like any of his musings and announcements in the past year since his election as party leader he could have done this without calling an election. It's just another shallow promise. And a cheap one at that, if he really was concerned he would have also adjusted AISH payments, which are also federal funds, to rise with the Cost of Living, an allowance all MLA's get.

The Liberals with their mediocre charismatically challenged policy wonk leader Kevin Taft are campaigning with the message; It's Time. Time for what? The slogan aeon's ago was It's Time For A Change, that was when Lawrence Decore was leader, and it really never changed till now. Now they have truncated it. It's Time ...and you immediately want to add in; for a new leader.

Despite polling numbers that show massive dissatisfaction with the PC's under Stelmach, support for the Liberals is not there. Rather this election will be about winning over the mass of undecided voters.

Polls have suggested the Tories still have a comfortable lead but that as many as one voter in three hasn't decided or won't say who they will vote for.

Undecided voters have proven to be poison for the Tories. In the 2004 election, they lost ground in Edmonton and Calgary after an estimated 200,000 disillusioned party supporters stayed home on voting day.

Tory hold on Alberta apt to fade

Some of the elements that contributed to the perfect storms that reshaped the Ontario and Quebec scenes in the past are in place as Alberta heads to the polls, including an uncertain premier, Ed Stelmach, and an unfocused malaise with the direction of the province.

That combination alone would be enough to make next month's vote the provincial story to watch this year. But there are more fundamental reasons than a rare and still elusive Alberta horse race to keep this campaign on the national radar for its duration.

The fabric of Alberta is changing. Its population has been growing at twice the rate of the national average. Even the language barrier has not prevented the siren calls of a booming economy from resonating beyond its provincial borders. The latest census figures on Canada's linguistic makeup showed Alberta to be one of only two provinces outside Quebec where the francophone population has been increasing.

Many of the new Albertans bring a more activist outlook on the role of the government. Their initial experience with an overextended social infrastructure and a degrading environment is unlikely to convert them to a different vision. Over time, they will transform the political culture of the province.

And just to show how out of touch the Liberals are; Taft also predicted no chance of an NDP breakthrough, suggesting they could even lose existing seats.


He wishes that was true. But Brian Mason and the NDP have been electioneering since last fall, and the party was raring to go with candidates nominated in both Edmonton and Calgary.

Of course Taft's prediction may be predicated upon reading the Liberals own press; the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald, that will try their best to make this appear to be a race between the Tories and the Liberals, no one else need apply.

Tories, Liberals address social issues Edmonton Journal

For the Liberals this election is make it or break it, without a victory it will be time to show Taft the door. And so far his campaign is not getting off to a great start.

A homeless couple asked hard, frustrated questions of their own to Liberal Leader Kevin Taft this morning as he laid out his party's strategy to end the plight of thousands of other Albertans without a home.

Taft reannounced a Liberal plan that his deputy leader Dave Taylor released a month ago - temporarily cap rent increases until new housing units get built, hire a provincial housing director to coordinate various cities' 10-year homelessness plans, and boost outreach services.

The mid-morning campaign event drew the attention of Diane and Les McIntyre, two newspaper distribution workers who've lived in a nearby shelter on and off for the last five years because of addiction problems.

As reporters fired questions towards Taft's lectern, Diane McIntyre yelled her own from the sidelines.

"The high rent, we can't afford it. so it doesn't give you incentive to get off the street. because you can't afford to get off the street."

"Like, we need to know, like, where are they going to put (the housing?) There's a lot of questions because nobody wants to put affordable housing anywhere, because it's all drug and alcohol... there's no incentive. There's no incentive."

Taylor responded that the only answer it to create more affordable housing, spread throughout the city. He couldn't say how much the Liberal approach would cost.

For the NDP this election is about making gains in Edmonton and breaking into Calgary.

The right wing rump party the Wildrose Alliance will take right wing votes away from Ed, leaving both the NDP and Liberals able to move up the middle, when disenchanted PC voters stay home in droves.

And when it comes to internet savvy the NDP out does the Liberals and PC's, again.

It's a political faceoff on Facebook, and so far the NDP's Brian Mason is in the lead.

Not that anyone expects the NDP to be there come election time in a month. But Mason had signed up 730 friends on the social networking site, to about 620 for Kevin Taft of the Alberta Liberals at press time yesterday.

UNSPOKEN-FRIEND RACE

"Everyone's been monitoring it - it's kind of an unspoken-friend race between the two opposition leaders," said NDP spokesman Mark Wells, who said his party plans to hit web outlets with a ton of material during the campaign. He also noted both opposition leaders have been blogging through their sites as well.

The Liberals are confident they've got a solid web presence, said executive director Kieran LeBlanc.

"Kevin's been on Facebook for over a year and he gets quite a few hits - we've been using it to announce events and generally get the message out, and it works pretty well."

The Liberals, whose site was voted by local press as the most useful during the last election campaign, also use mail servers, intranet for candidate conversations and are regularly updating event videos on YouTube, she noted.

The Alberta Progressive Conservatives said web use is part of their strategy and they "won't reveal our strategy before the election has started," said spokesman Joan Forge. "We'll be using that...oh, what's the term - I'm not very technical ..."

Social networking?

"Yes, that's it."

And it doesn't appear as if Premier Ed Stelmach will be joining the unofficial race for friends any time soon, either.

NO PAGE FOR PREMIER

For one, he doesn't have a Facebook page. For another, the number of pages opposed to the premier on Facebook outnumber those supporting him by about 10 to one.

Nope no Facebook page for Ed, and he still hasn't sued over edstelmach.com.

And besides neither Ed nor Kevin can make this claim;

Brian Mason used to be a bus driver, so he knows what it means to get up at 4 am for the early shift and work on Christmas Eve. How many other political leaders can say that?

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