Alberta's premier, Ed Stelmach, has been joining the chorus that is imagining risks of a federal NDP government. But who is he speaking for? Only two of every ten Albertans actually voted for the provincial Tory government. And that government is totally out of step with Alberta opinion polling on almost every issue. On climate change and the environment as well as the tar sands, the difference is stark.
At the height of Alberta's boom a 2007 poll by Probe Research found that among Albertans, 85 per cent are either very or somewhat concerned about environmental issues in the province. An overwhelming majority of Albertans (91 per cent) expected protection of the environment, even if this slowed down opportunities for oil sands development.
There was even large support for a moratorium on new developments. A full 71 per cent believed that the Alberta government should suspend new oil sands project approvals until environmental and infrastructure issues have been resolved (poll results published by the Pembina Institute).
To take this a step further, a June 2010 Alberta Tory commissioned poll found that there is no clear majority on whether the environment or jobs should be the top priority and in fact Albertans surveyed were closely split -- 48 per cent of Albertans surveyed saw the environment as more important than creating jobs and only 40 per cent felt the other way.
A startling Leger Marketing poll at the height of the boom revealed that the majority of Albertans felt they were not benefiting from the boom and 17 per cent said they were worse off. A Parkland Institute research report confirmed that their salaries were being eaten up by high levels of inflation and those on fixed incomes were being left behind. Even mainstream voices like that of former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed were calling for the government to intervene and pace the development of the tar sands.
Alberta is heading into another boom and labour shortages loom once again on the horizon.
The NDP position is actually moderate relative to the priorities of Albertans. The NDP have not called for a moratorium on new approvals nor for government intervention to control the pace of development, both moves the majority of Albertans would support.
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Ed Stelmach and the chorus might be better off doing their homework on job creation. The oil industry has the lowest ratio of jobs per dollars invested -- it is not a vehicle for job creation. Despite this, the Cap-and Trade vision articulated by the NDP addresses potential job risks by reinvesting the revenues in direct government spending initiatives, which, as mentioned, have much higher job-to-dollar-invested ratios than the oil and gas sector.
Additionally, the potential jobs impact of climate change action such as cap-and-trade is a reality that corporations are already costing in to their investor risk and economic modelling. Shareholders are increasingly demanding that companies report on the investment risk and mitigation strategies they have in place for those costs. The Chartered Accountants of Canada advises strategies and reporting for greenhouse gas emissions, potential cost risks and liabilities. Suncor has already incorporated the price for carbon into economic modelling for projects. Shareholders have also approached Canadian Natural Resources, Canadian Oil Sands Trust and Encana management on climate change related issues.
The spectre of job losses is also premised on an industry that is operating close to the bottom line. That is not the reality for the oil and gas industry. The profits in the oil and gas sector in Alberta have been absurd. An October 2010 Parkland Institute report states that between 1999 and 2008, Alberta's traditional oil and natural gas industry enjoyed more than $121 billion in excess, unearned pre-tax profits (these are profits above and beyond cost levels plus a normal return on investment). For the tarsands, the number is between $97 billion and $167 billion in pre-tax unearned profits from 1997 to 2009. Large chunks of that wealth leave the province and the nation for the pockets of the shareholders of foreign corporations.
Ed Stelmach and his Tory government do not speak for the majority of Albertans and their brand of Alberta stereotype is way off-base on issues of the environment -- it is partisan rhetoric. Albertans themselves support action on climate change, which is also, after all, a global imperative.
The Liberals and Conservatives have been busted on their joint efforts to rewrite the Canada Health Act allowing Physicians to bill outside the Act and to allow Americans into Canadian hospitals for treatment of health problems.
This while there is no facility for Canadian citizens!
The trick is, under their scheme most of the population in Canada will be forced off the Canada Health and into the private insurance arena where they will only receive partial coverage (Think here your dental insurance). We will be faced with 150.00 to 400.00 per month health care premiums!
They have worked in concert with the Health Insurance Industry to provide a collage of lies in health care costs to justify their situation. In part, by charging their health Care plans with nonsense driving up the costs. See:
http://albertathedetails.blogspot.com/2011/04/canada-health-care-what-are-legitimate.html
And, they jointly turned the bulk water export decisions over to the provinces. Yet to be done Open NAFTA to include the water export. That will drive water costs up to above 100.00 a month because as a commodity we cannot charge Americans more than we pay.
Harper says he will change this country so none of us will recognize it. He has the tools where he can do just that! SEE: Summary of PNWER
http://albertathedetails.blogspot.com/2011/03/conservativerepublican-alliance-pnwer.html
How can it be that Albertans are so overwhelmingly opposed to their provincial government's agenda, and yet they vote in a huge Conservative majority time after time?
Yes, yes, I know.....we on the left feel disenfranchised; the mass media supports the Conservatives; young people don't feel the current political system "speaks" to them; blah blah blah blah. The whining is endless.
Here's a solution to the problem of huge Conservative majorities getting elected time after time: People on the left should get off their selfish, lazy asses, spend an hour or so of their precious time away from their computers or the mall----and VOTE!
Left-wingers who can't be bothered to vote are exactly as culpable for what happens in the tar sands as Ed Stelmach is. It is their fault, just as much as it is Ed Stelmach's.
Here is Alberta's political situation in a nutshell:
Only approx. 22% of Albertans voted for Ed Stelmach's Conservative government in the last election. Another 20% (47% of the total votes) voted for the split opposition, which, due to FPTP, resulted in only 13% (total opposition) seats. Yes, unfair, isn't it?
In what journalist Andrew Nikiforuk calls "Petrostate Politics, the other half of Albertans who never bother to vote are afraid of changing the status quo, egged on by a right wing that tells them repeatedly that they will lose their jobs if they do.
Thus, without strategic voting or a coalition in Alberta -- unless something drastically changes -- the situation for progressives is pretty much hopeless.