It’s tough for politicians to balance budgets so it might seem far-fetched to believe they can actually save money. But Medicine Hat’s politicians are doing it. By creating their Heritage Savings Reserve to steward resource revenues, the Gas City has sparked a light of fiscal responsibility for Alberta to follow. Medicine Hat has an abundance of energy resources. The city has over 4,000 gas wells and ambitions to increase its oil production to 5,000 barrels per day. When energy prices are [Read more]
Column: Pipeline protesters shouldn’t be funded by taxpayers
The next time you see pipeline protesters chaining themselves to a bulldozer, know that your taxes may have paid for their activism. The federal government has given $2.5 million of your money to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives so it can “shine a bright light on the fossil fuel industry by investigating the ways corporate power is organized and exercised.” The University of Victoria also kicked in $730,000 into the project that lists about 100 people as advisors and [Read more]
Column: Ottawa’s carbon tax is so bad it’s uniting Alberta and Quebec
Imagine a tax so bad that it’s uniting Alberta and Quebec. With all of the heated rhetoric over pipelines and equalization, that sort of unity seems like an impossibility. But it turns out the tax is all too real and it’s Ottawa’s carbon tax. The Trudeau government has been busy uniting the provinces against its economically damaging policies. Six premiers wrote to the prime minister urging him to change or scrap legislation that bans tankers on the West Coast and makes approvals for future [Read more]
Tackle equalization to stand up for taxpayers and Canada’s resources
Ottawa gave Alberta’s struggling energy industry a body blow by passing legislation to ban tankers on the West Coast and make the pipeline approval process virtually impossible. It’s tempting to seek retribution. So tempting. But there’s a better way for Premier Jason Kenney to stand up for Alberta and strengthen Canada: reform equalization. The Trudeau government passed the Tanker Ban Bill (Bill C-48) and the No More Major Projects Bill (Bill C-69) at the last minute before it rises for the [Read more]
CTF: Quebec feels Alberta’s pain, so why keep blocking pipelines?
As Quebec continues to face it’s own “dirty energy” export problems, their politicians should understand the pain Albertans are going through, but they are still deciding to oppose pipelines. Last year, Hydro-Quebec generated nearly $15 billion by selling more than 200 TWh of electricity. Despite these high sales, Quebec produces “too much” energy and Hydro-Quebec must regularly let water flow away without generating electricity, resulting in millions of dollars of lost revenue. Eager to [Read more]