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Oil Patch Insider Ralph Klein turfed by party ‘faithful’
He was presiding over a Canadian province that was free of any debt, piling up multi-billion dollar budget surpluses, boasting an average after-tax family income of C$61,800 (C$7,700 above the national average), enjoying economic output of well over C$200 billion and pulling in thousands of people every month from across Canada.
If there was such a thing as security for any political leaders, this should be it. Right?
So why was Ralph Klein forced to shorten his planned departure as Alberta premier by his own political party?
It was one of those moments that make Alberta different from any other province.
Over the past 41 years only two parties have governed the oil and gas rich province — Social Credit from 1935 to 1971 and the Conservatives from 1971 to the present.
Tide slow to turn in Alberta As observers have been fond of noting, the tide is slow to turn in Alberta, but when it does you’d better not be in the way.
After 13 years as premier and 26 years in politics (eight of them as mayor of Calgary), Klein announced earlier this year that he planned to submit his resignation in October 2007 and step aside in early 2008 when a new party leader and premier was elected.
The endless goodbye, as it was described.
Turns out that for the first time in a teflon-plated career he misread the mood in his own ranks. He was facing an internal revolt that apparently escaped his attention.
There was unhappiness over Klein’s inability to articulate a vision for a population of 3.5 million people reveling in unimagined wealth.
There were mutterings that he was more interested in fishing and golf than tackling the more pressing issues facing Alberta.
Only 55% support for premier It all spilled over March 31 at the Conservative party’s annual meeting when delegates voted on whether they favored a review of Klein’s leadership — an annual formality that once saw Klein garner 97 percent support in the best traditions of some former Soviet republic.
This time he garnered the support of only 55 percent of about 1,180 party delegates in what is now called the “night of 524 long knives.”
It caught the 63-year-old former television reporter unprepared. He had anticipated 75 percent backing.
Crushed, chagrined, confused, Klein said he would take a few days to talk with family and friends about his future. The decision was quick in coming. On April 4 he announced a letter of resignation would be submitted this September and he would likely leave politics Dec. 31, once his successor was chosen
—Gary Park
AAEP to hear update on transit line spill Mark Merrill of BP will provide an update on the North Slope GC-2 transit line spill at the April 19 brown bag luncheon meeting of the Alaska Association of Environmental Professionals.
Merrill is BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.’s manager, Anchorage HSE.
The meeting will be at the BP Energy Center. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. The meeting begins at 11:45.
There is no charge. For more information call (907) 338-2238.
New York visits the ‘epicenter’ (Alberta) The New York Times has just described Alberta as the “epicenter of new energy-based Canadian economy.”
The New York Stock Exchange apparently agrees.
The boss from the Big Board was in Calgary March 30 and 31, spreading the word that the Canadian oil and gas industry has “grown to center stage” of the global industry.
NYSE President Catherine Kinney told her audiences that given the attention being paid to investment in Canada “it’s very natural for (Canadian energy companies) to want to be on the largest equities market in the world and to enjoy that visibility.”
In addition to meeting with some of the 17 Calgary-based oil and gas firms listed on the exchange (which trades the shares of 85 Canadian companies), she was fishing for new prospects.
Three new listings this year The momentum is already gathering pace, with three new listings from Calgary firms so far this year — including Baytex Energy Trust which has become the ninth trust on the NYSE, following Canetic Resources Trust and Enterra Energy Trust earlier in 2006.
Kinney was anxious to make the point that the NYSE is not trying to steal companies from the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Rather, she said, dual listings are the most effective strategy for non-U.S. companies and tend to lift trading volumes on both exchanges.
A spokesman for the Toronto exchange agreed that inter-listing often means Toronto gets 85 percent of a much bigger trading pool. In addition, opening a two-way street resulted in 21 U.S.-based companies listing on Toronto last year.
The trusts have found favor with U.S. investors, who are eager to take advantage of favorable tax treatment and regular cash payouts.
In addition to New York, Calgary has had visitors from London’s AIM Exchange and the Oslo Stock Exchange, probing prospects in the last couple of years.
—Gary Park
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