Taking the energy reins in Alberta

Gary Park

Greg Melchin, a Calgary member of the Alberta legislature, will be the new energy minister in Canada’s dominant producing province.

He assumes the post after Murray Smith retired from politics before the Nov. 22 Alberta election and is now thought to be the front runner to head up an Alberta trade office in Washington, D.C. A chartered accountant and three-term legislator, Melchin said his initial priority is to show the government’s willingness to work with an industry whose “royalties and revenue drive a lot of things in this province.”

The industry is looking to Melchin to show leadership in expanding the pipeline and refining infrastructure to handle another 1 million barrels per day of oil sands production and get the output to markets in North America.

The Alberta-based Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development is also pressing the government to increase royalties and ensure a better return for the province.

Premier Ralph Klein led his Conservative party to a fourth term in office, but with a sharply reduced majority. The Conservatives won 61 of 83 seats, down from 74 in the 2001 election, while the Liberals climbed to 17 from seven, the New Democrats doubled their representation to four seats and the newcomer Alliance party captured one.