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Alberta takes progressive leadership turn Breaks with government establishment, electing Alison Redford as premier; new leader must heal party rift, aims to build exports Gary Park For Petroleum News
The bedrock of Alberta politics had undergone its most radical shift in 40 years with the election of Alison Redford, a 46-year-old human rights lawyer who is viewed as a progressive among conservatives within the governing Progressive Conservative party, as the province’s next premier.
Although she won the party leadership in the early hours of Oct. 2 by a clear margin, Redford had to overcome long odds and stage a come-from-behind rally to, in her own words, turn the “party we are into the party we need to be.”
Endorsed at the outset by only one government member of the provincial legislature and openly critical of the government she served as justice minister and attorney general, she turned the Conservative establishment on its head, defeating five other establishment candidates, notably Gary Mar, a former cabinet minister and most recently Alberta’s agent in Washington, D.C.
Redford’s immediate challenge is now to reunify the Conservatives, which many observers believe will see an exodus of those at the core of government, including Energy Minister Ron Liepert.
Initial priorities The new premier has set two initial priorities — restoring C$100 million in education spending cuts and reforming administration of the health care system.
On the energy front, she has toiled hard over the past three years to build allies within the industry and attracted money for her leadership campaign by many powerbrokers, led by Murray Edwards, vice chairman of Canadian Natural Resources.
Redford talks about making Alberta a “global leader of sustainable hydrocarbon production,” promises to “deliver the message about Alberta’s success in the environmental regulation of the oil sands” and urges the construction of a pipeline from the oil sands to the British Columbia coast as a necessary first step towards tapping Asian markets.
But converting her broad-brush agenda into a detail strategy will take time.
For now, she said Alberta needs to explain why an export pipeline is necessary and how to broker “what will eventually become an economic benefits agreement” between industry and First Nations “in order to get it done.”
Environmental challenge Tackling the environmental challenge, Redford said she will take a more aggressive approach in tackling the industry’s critics.
“We have to get out there and tell our story, because we’ve been responsive, but also defensive,” she said, reinforcing the overtures she has already made to the Canadian government and other provinces to build a united energy front.
Redford also acknowledges that a vibrant oil and gas sector is essential to achieve her goals in education and health care.
Her campaign platform noted that nonrenewable energy resources feed about C$9 billion a year into a C$39 billion budget, most of which is consumed by operating costs.
She has set a major goal of reducing that dependence by capping the allocation at C$6 billion, with any additional revenues up to C$4 billion going into a Sustainability Fund, which will help “cover spending when times are rough,” and the Heritage Trust Fund, using interest earned to “keep public services working for Albertans.”
Expansion of markets Because global energy markets are “increasingly volatile,” Redford wants Alberta to lead a Canadian energy strategy that makes sure Alberta’s resources reach every corner of the country “at competitive rates,” with natural gas helping other provinces meet their environmental objectives and oil eliminating the risk of supply disruption or shortages in the refineries of eastern and Atlantic Canada.
While valuing “our close relationship” with the United States, it is vital to “expand markets beyond our southern border,” she said, suggesting the U.S. “remains a highly profitable export market (but) is shrinking due to the development of indigenous resources, making it imperative that Alberta expand its customer base.”
Redford is also committed to “developing and marketing the technical prowess” built up over the 64 years since Alberta became a commercial oil producer and see the province “play the kind of role in the global energy industry that Silicon Valley plays in the information technology industry.”
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