Alberta Soap Box 🇨🇦

Roman Empire

The path that Canadians are on can be described by a quote by Alexander Tyler, (15 October 1747 – 5 January 1813) who was a Scottish advocate, judge, professor and writer. His quote coins the major problem with being able to sustain a democracy. I doubt any Canadian, if they looked around at todays going on, wouldn’t be able to relate to his quote. The following is what he had this to say about the falling of the Athenian Republic some 2000 years ago.

Mackenzie Valley Pipeline still not built

Remember the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline? This project was first proposed in the early 1970s when demand  for natural gas was increasing and peaked to $15.38  MMBtu. It was finally approval in 2011 after prices tumbled to $4.57 MMBtu low. Today in 2016 it’s still not built . 46 years and waiting. How about the twin gateway pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat BC proposed in 2006 to run bitumen to the west and wet gas eastward. Today Alberta premier Notley has completely abandoned the project. And let’s not forget about phase 4 of the Keystone pipeline from Alberta to Nebraska that was under discussion since 2011 which was rejected by Obama in 2015. We can’t forget about the latest Trudeau debacle with the Pacific NorthWest LNG  pipeline approval with 190 conditions. And lastly, how about the new Kinder Morgan expansion pipeline from Alberta to Vancouver? Well, It’s stalled.

Yes, strong opposition from civic governments, First Nations, environmentally concerned citizens, and others have put the kibosh on all of these projects. Billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs halted. All the optimism and cheerleading from our political leaders didn’t amount to a hill of beans. Our politicians are either living in a fantasy land or are simply not serious on helping Alberta get out oil to market.

What I find interesting about Alberta’s landlocked situation and declining revenue is how this will affect the rest of Canada in the long run. While Notley is crossing her fingers that oil prices rise and her government has enough revenue to continue with their wild spending without approving any new oil projects or expanding markets, Ontario’s premier Wynne has all her hopes on a lower dollar propelling Ontario’s  economy. Quebec isn’t any better off with its disappointing slow growth.  To date no eastern premier has a winning hand and is going to be looking for more handouts. Maybe this going to be the perfect storm to force oil opponents to get Alberta pipelines to a sea port? They going to need the petro dollars.

With Ontario on track to rack up $50 billion in new debt between now and 2020-21, the province’s net debt is on track to escalate to a whopping $350 billion. Ben Eisen of the Fraser Institute said “the condition of Ontario’s economy is much less rosy than the government suggests. The fact Ontario now outpaces the national average is partly a function of weakness elsewhere”. The fact is , the high petro dollar that Premier Wynne blamed for Ontario’s problems isn’t the problem with Ontario. It’s Wynne’s management.

Between 2000 and 2014 , Alberta’s individual and corporate taxpayers shipped an estimated $200 billion plus to the federal government. This isn’t chicken feed and is going to be missed. The idea the low Canadian dollar propelling Ontario to great riches isn’t going to be Canada’s saviour as hoped for by the Ontario and federal liberals . As embarrassing as it is they need Alberta’s oil wealth.

I wouldn’t be surprised in the near future , behind closed-door and out of the media, these environmental, holier than thou,  NDP and Liberal governments do a 180 degree reversal and become oil and pipeline friendly. Cash is king. And without cash these left wingers aren’t going to be kings. They need money to spend and Alberta can supply. All Alberta needs is new overseas markets.

Today the politicians are once again tooting up another pipeline. Canada’s Energy East Pipeline Project.  A pipeline from West to East. A 4,600- kilometre pipeline that can carry 1.1-million barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries in eastern Canada.

I truly hope this isn’t another political fantasy and the need for cash will make it happen.

I’m sick and tired of  left-wing politicians pretending they want pipelines. With the exception of a few left mayors who know we need petro investment dollars to fund infrastructure , the majority have consistently rallied or campaigned against the Alberta Oil Sands. To date we have no Keystone pipeline, no Gateway pipeline and no new Trans Mountain pipeline to a seaport. Bottom line, there has been no real support from any NDP or Liberal politician for these pipelines. The only out spoken political pipeline champion is Saskatchewan conservative premier Brad Wall.

Alberta premier Notley is trying hard to persuade Albertans she is pro oil sands and pipeline, but her actions say otherwise. The fact is, Notley’s NDP are no converts to oil or pipelines. Notley’s chief-of-staff , Quebec born, Brian Topp, lost the last BC election for his candidacy by insisting on a “no pipelines” platform. Before that he ran for leadership of the federal NDP on an anti-oil, anti-oil sands and anti-pipeline platform. Graham Mitchell, the chief of staff of our Energy Minister was previously employed as an anti-pipeline lobbyist for LeadNow, a foreign-funded eco-activist group. Shannon Phillips co-wrote a book with a Greenpeace militant activist. The NDP and their progressive friends have been vilifying and actively opposing the oil sands and pipelines for over a decade. Their pro pipeline rhetoric is simply BS.

Thanks to Notleys anti-oil actions, the business mood in Alberta has turned sour. With billions in investment leaving Alberta and tens of thousands of workers laid off with more coming, the mood is turning desperate. In the early 1980’s downturn, Alberta’s unemployment reached 10%, home prices were being decimated and bankruptcies were common. But even in the dark times, Albertans knew the oil projects would be back. Today, with the NDP’s anti-oil stance and carbon tax proposal on public and industry, it’s going to be a fat chance industry is going to flock back to Alberta to save the day. Take energy for example. According to a letter sent to the members of the North Peace Gas Co-op, Albertans are about to get hit with a new NDP carbon tax which will cost its members an extra $3500-$3900 annually by 2030. The family farms will also get taxed an extra $6900-$7900 per year. How are Albertans going to get this extra income to pay?

I agree with Notley’s talk about diversifying Alberta’s economy . But trashing the oil industry before there is an industry to take its place is stupid. Make shift government subsidized jobs aren’t going to cut it long-term. Alberta needs good paying  long-term manufacturing jobs like the ones we were loosing. We need to export our goods for new dollars, not just recycle old dollars. The fact is, the manufacturing sector of the Alberta economy hasn’t increased  past 6-7% since 1985. The sectors that  made it look like Alberta diversified from oil, relied on oil and gas themselves. Sectors like the construction industry , finance and real-estate and business and commerce sectors grew, accounting  for the 10% decrease from the oil sector’s GDP from 1985 to 2013 . The fact is, Alberta hasn’t been able to significantly  diversify away from oil in the past 30 years.  This point Albertans should be aware of before they let Notley seduce them into the green job fantasy .

Albertans need to know what’s going to replace their good paying petro jobs before Notley axes the industry. The Calgary by-election taking place on March 22, 2016 in Calgary-Greenway NE riding is a good place to start asking the serious questions. What jobs are going to replace the oil jobs? Where’s the budget? Why aren’t the NDP seriously promoting the East Energy Pipeline. Even if you can’t vote in the by-election get out to the debates and get these questions answered. Keep the NDP’s feet to the fire even though they have no hope of winning Greenway away from the PC’s.

Please comment below or email: ALBERTASOAPBOX@gmail.com

After three pipeline turn downs ( Keystone, Gateway and the Kinder Morgan) you would think Albertans would get the message. Somebody with deep pocket and influence does not want Alberta oil sands to expand and hit the overseas market. The liberals, like Obama, have set up enough red tape that the 4th pipeline, East Energy, will be tied up for years, all the while telling Albertans they support the project but have to wait for the process to finish. Eight years Obama kicked the Keystone football down the political road giving Albertans false hope when he never had any intention of approving the project. So the question is, are Albertans going to sit back and let the Trudeau Liberals and the Alberta NDP do the same with the East Energy pipeline?

It’s well-known that environmental measures have been used for protectionist ends, with negative consequences for Alberta. The three groups that have been using the environment to shut down the oil sand is the Liberal movement, the environmentalists and the oil sands competition. The Liberals, eager to please the UN, feel that the expansion of Alberta’s oil sands is stalling efforts to deal with global warming which is in conflict with the UN agenda 2030. Being staunch supporters of the UN agenda the Liberals see no future in fossil fuels. They want to concentrate all their effort on Ontario manufacturing and get Canada off a carbon based economy. The extreme environmentalists see fossil fuels as dirty and polluting the environment and are also followers of the UN agenda 2030.

Montreal Pipe Line Ltd. Since 1941 imported 5 BB from Portland.

Then there  is the oil sands competitors including Montreal Pipeline Limited. The ones with motive that want the oil sands stopped so they can keep their market share for as long as they can. The Saudi plan is to slow down the move to green energy by reducing oil prices and pump as much as they can so they can diversify their own economy. They know the oil market is shrinking and want to milk oil for as long as they can. Montreal Pipeline Limited has pumped 5 billion barrels to Montreal from the Portland sea port since 1941, and has no incentive for a eastern pipeline. There’s no mystery why the Alberta Oil Sands is being discriminated against and why no one is protesting or complaining about Venezuela’s ‘Orinoco Belt’ consisting of large deposits of extra heavy crude ( deposits of about 1,200 billion barrels) or Saudi oil being pumped/shipped to Montreal. These three groups are working together on a common goal. The three amigos, Political left, radicals and competitors.

It’s hard to understand Albertans giving the NDP, an anti oil sands party,  just over 41 per cent of the popular vote and a majority government in the 2015 election. 25% of Alberta’s revenue comes from fossil fuels. Why would so many voters choose to vote in a government that promised to limit expansion of the oil industry when its our biggest revenue and job generator. Notley was a known supporter protesting to shut down the oil sands. Even more puzzling is why voters would give 28% to a 40-year-old has been progressive (PC) party run by left over left-wing Allison Redford cronies with a new face painted on. Its like these voter had a death wish for Alberta.

So far Albertans have been too complacent to rise up and do anything to protect their oil resource industry. How can Albertans just stand by and watch the Saudis collect billions of dollars from Canada to diverse their own economy by pumping oil to Canadian market? Why is Montreal allowed to import oil from a US sea port, at the same time blocking Alberta Sea port access?  How can Albertans just stand by and allow the Liberal and NDP governments to not help Alberta at least keep the Canadian oil market with a East Energy pipeline?

Albertans like to talk a lot but when it comes to taking action, nada! It was painful to watch Calgary, a city of over 1 million, barely able to get 50 people  to show up to support the Alberta Oil Sands and protest Tim Horton when Tim’s came out against the oil sands.

If Albertans aren’t going to get up and fight the battle for their jobs and prosperity, how can they expect anyone to take them seriously or help organize protest events. They are just going to have to suck it up and be grateful for the crumbs they get from Ottawa. Its going to take a massive public show of support to change the destructive path Alberta’s on. I hope Albertans rise to the battle.