Alberta Premier Rachel Notley had a snappy comeback for entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary after he offered to invest $1 million in Canadian oil – if she stepped down. This has not happened.
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Also Tuesday, Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark released his suggestions for a new royalty framework.
“The longer it goes on, the longer this uncertainty remains and the longer investment dollars are parked on the sidelines”.
The royalty review panel is chaired by ATB Financial president Dave Mowat.
The panel is trying to determine the best way to calculate the happy medium between the appropriate amount of money for Albertans given that they own the oil and gas resource, and the fair return for producers, who pony up the cash and take the risk to produce it.
“The last time a group of wealthy businessmen tried to tell Alberta voters how to vote, I ended up becoming premier”.
The final report was due at the end of December, but Notley says it won’t be ready until the end of January.
“He knows she is not going to (resign), so he knows his money is safe”, Mason said.
The government has already signaled that some or all of a dozen programs set to begin in the 2016-17 fiscal year may be delayed, including plans to reduce school fees and fund rural bus service.
The second shows that Notley’s election had no effect on the price difference between West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Western Canada Select (WCS), which are benchmark crude oil prices. In the process it has sucked $6 billion out of the Alberta budget this year alone and contributed to job losses in the tens of thousands.
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“As the provincial government continues to look at ways of diversifying the economy, Phillips assured the crowd that the government will not abandon Albertans “…when the chips are down”.
