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An aid lifeline for slumping Alberta Alberta seeks federal cash infusion; Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says push for a national carbon price could ‘kneecap’ industry GARY PARK For Petroleum News
The Canadian government has answered a call for help from Alberta which is grappling with its worst economic slump since the early 1980s and is under pressure from Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, the other key oil producing provinces, to provide matching assistance.
Under an obscure federal program that has not been used in more than 20 years, the Liberal Party administration of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released C$251 million on top of C$700 million it promised in January to create infrastructure job.
Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the money will come from a Fiscal Stabilization Program that is available to any province faced with a year-over-year decline in its revenues that is greater than 5 percent.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, whose government is faced with a budget deficit of C$10 billion in fiscal 2016-17, said the federal aid was a good start in offsetting the plunge in oil revenues, but added: “Unfortunately it is not enough.”
The program allows a qualifying province to receive a payment equal to C$60 a person.
Saskatchewan and Newfoundland said they are examining their economic situations to see if they qualify.
Pressure from Alberta Alberta turned up the pressure on the federal government amid talk of a C$1 billion federal bailout for Quebec-based aircraft manufacturer Bombardier.
Notley said her province, where an estimated 100,000 people are looking for jobs, also needs relief in the form of adjusted employment insurance programs to broaden access for laid-off energy workers and extend the period when benefits are available.
In an abrupt about face, she also called for a nation-wide strategy to help get Alberta oil to overseas markets at a time when the first trickle of exports is leaving the United States.
Saskatchewan attack Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has emerged as a relentless critic of Trudeau’s economic policies which have dramatically raised the forecast budget deficit to C$30 billion in 2016-17, up 10-fold from earlier estimates.
In his latest attack on the federal government, Wall said the insistence by Environment Minister Catherine McKenna on setting a minimum national carbon price - most observers expect the figure to be C$15 a metric ton, on top of climate change measures by the provinces - will “kneecap” an oil and gas sector that is hurting to struggling for survival.
His stand has turned into a high-stakes political and economic showdown between the Saskatchewan and Canadian governments.
Wall said any new tax is “not right for Saskatchewan and, may I say, I don’t think it’s right for the country right now.”
He has refused to consider any new taxes heading into an April 4 provincial election and is demanding an economic impact analysis before the Trudeau government proceeds with a pan-Canadian climate strategy and national carbon price.
Ontario: carbon pricing ‘global reality’ Ontario Environment Minister Glen Murray said the global move to carbon pricing is “the global reality of this century and people who don’t realize that are not dealing with reality.”
Wall said Ontario should stay out of Saskatchewan’s business, rejecting any idea of a level playing field on carbon pricing among all 10 provinces, otherwise he argued Saskatchewan will lose its competitive advantage over other petroleum-producing jurisdictions.
But McKenna insists Canada should not wait any longer on a carbon price as the rest of the world moves toward clean energy and greener economies.
“This is the way we are going,” she said. “This is the opportunity to move to a lower-carbon economy, to create new jobs, to foster innovation.
“What we’re trying to do is create the right incentives so that we tackle climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but foster innovation in natural resource development as well as renewables.”
McKenna said “work streams” of government officials will report back to Trudeau and the provincial premiers within six months to “show a clear path to reducing emissions.”
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