Hunter and Dunn Have Fixed the Blame - Stelmach Has to Fix the Problem

The story is coming out and the narrative is unfolding. The picture we are seeing from the “Our Fair Share” Royalty Review Panel’s findings and recommendations and now the Auditor General’s Report is not reassuring that we have been governed well or competently for some time now.

I take this narrative back to an earlier Auditor General Report outlining the incompetent land dealings in Fort McMurray where highly developable land was given away and later “justified” with a trumped up post-sale valuation. The conditions imposed on the appraiser's scope and terms of reference on the lands were so limiting that there was no way he could not have come up with a “vindication” valuation that sanitized the administrative and governance incompetence.

I was disgusted then and I am even more disgusted now. There is a serious issue in our society around the public’s confidence in our institutions, including government. It is hard to think of a single institution in our society that has not let us down, misled us or breached our trust in the past 15 years or so. That goes from church to state and from business to regulators - and I could go on!

It is looking more and more like Klein is doing to Stelmach what Mulroney did to Kim Campbell. Klein has obviously left a legacy of poor governance coupled with an incompetent and complacent political culture. The federal PCs under Mulroney went from the largest majority in the history of the country to only 2 seats in the next election under Kim Campbell.

Shift happens Mr. Premier. You best get ahead of this mess and right away. Your reponse in a couple of week to the "Our Fair Share" and the AG Report will signal to citizens exactly who you intend to serve.

Politics is a confidence game (sic and yes - every pun intended). At its best it is about earning trust and respect and having the confidence of the citizens as expressed in their vote. It about being worthy of the citizen's consent to be governed.

Too many people in politics today are about power and not about public service or good governance. They see the matter of confidence as a game – yes a confidence game. They seem intent on swindling citizens who are persuaded to trust them and then we become victims of the politicians.

It gets worse, because too many times we see this confidence game played out “in confidence” meaning behind closed doors. That was too often the modus operandi of the Klein government as it drifted and diverted attentions from many serious issues.

That has to change and Premier Stelmach has to make that change happen. He has often said since becoming Premier that you get for form government by having the confidence of the people, by earning their respect and being worthy of their trust.

Truer words were never spoken. Now we have to see if Ed Stelmach’s political and governance actions ring true as well. My advice is to take some time to get it right Ed. Make some wholesale changes in the PC government and ask the party membership for some help and advice on how to clean this up too.

Do all this well in advance of going into an election. In fact announce now that the next election will not be until the fall of 2008. That will get your government out of the “red zone” that it has recently fallen into and where nothing happens without a cynical political filter. Right now we need some good governing and not petty politics or electioneering

The “Our Fair Share” Review and the Auditor General Report has fixed the blame. You need to fix the problem.

Hunter's Royalty Review Is a Tipping Point for Political Change In Alberta!

The Hunter Royalty Review Report is catching fire in the media and in the consciousness of Albertans, with industry and now with politicians. It has captured the attention of Albertans and is about to reach a tipping point where it commands and dominates the primary focus and attention of the Alberta citizenry It will not be the ballot question in the next election but it will be the context setting concern around which the ballot questions are decided in the pending spring election.

Albertans want see some serious changes…including in their government, how it operates and what it pays attention. That is partly the reason Stelmach won the PC Leadership last December. That desire for change has not yet crystallized or coalesced behind an issue or an event that usually tips the politics of change a swell.

I have been waiting to see what will be or moment that captures essence of the concerns of Albertans. Would it be around the quality of life, managing growth or the ecological angst that is raging just below the surface of so many Albertans?

I think we have this political changing tipping point/crystallizing moment with the release Hunter Panel’s work on the royalty review. As proof consider the MSM and Blogosphere response, the letters to the Editors and the open-line radio show coverage. Then realize that in the almost 6 months of the RRR consultation they had 56000 hits on their website. In the four days following the report’s release they had 210,000 hits…and it is still growing. That is not an indication of a merely passive interest by Albertans.

The last such crystallizing moment that triggered massive political changes in Alberta was in 1993. That was when Laurence Decore as Leader of the Opposition stood up in the Legislature in Question Period and held his wallet high above his head. He asked the then rookie Premier, Ralph Klein, when the government was going to get its spending under control? The emotional context was if we did not do this we would not be able to face our children and grandchildren because of the crippling financial burden we would have left them. The political result was not if and when cost cutting would happen. It was about if the cuts would be “massive or brutal.” They were both - and done way too fast for effective planning and sustainable development – which Klein has admitted – was non-existent in his tenure as Premier.

To be fair there was a long term Strategic Plan prepared and presented to Caucus and for full disclosure I had a hand in its preparation. But Klein was a one-man show leader (kind of like Harper today). As Premier he not prepared to engage and push it through...so we ended up with drift and decline to the point the PC Party had to push him out of leadership.

IN the early 90's Albertans knew uncontrolled government spending was a serious problem and at that wallet raising moment the politicians finally caught on too. Today we Albertans know uncontrolled growth is a problem. Now we also have the Royalty Review Reports as evidence that the government has not been doing its most fundamental of jobs. Our government has breached its trustee role where we expect it to protect the best interests of Albertans. We can see form the Review findings that our government’s trustee role both in collecting and accounting for resource revenues and the responsible sustainable development of our non-renewable energy resources is wanting…very wanting indeed.

Will the rookie Premier Stelmach catch on and be as decisive, determined and disciplined as the early days of the rookie Premier Klein was in dealing with this fundamental concern of Albertans?

Whose government is it anyway? Albertans are about to let the political class - regardless of partisan affiliation - know in, no uncertain terms, the unequivocal answer to that question. Changes could once again be massive or brutal - or both and fast.

It is Time to Resolve the Teacher's Unfunded Pension Issue

As school starts for a new year in Alberta the old issue of teacher’s unfunded pension liability is working its way through the political system. Premier Stelmach took the position during the PC leadership that the issue of pensions and contract negotiations were separate issues. He was then, and still is, keen to resolve the unfunded pension liability…if for no other reason it is still a real debt hanging over the head of the province and it is a significant burden on young teachers.

There is lots of history here and divided opinions – mostly based on ideology rather than logic. Some recent blogger and media commentary is available. For full disclosure, a few years ago I helped the ATA in their attempts to get the Klein government to revisit the unfunded pension liability issue with some moderate success but nothing conclusive. The efforts eventually paid off became it was a key issue in the PC leadership campaign. Many of the candidates took policy stands saying it needed to be resolved as a priority issue.

This is a key public policy issue that demands political leadership and there has never been a better time to resolve it. The issues are well understood and the solutions are obvious. To go through the current exercise of a province wide consultation on this matter is not going to add any light on the issues. The solution is to be found in the exercise of some pure political will and leadership. The current round of public consultations is no reason to delay a Government of Alberta decision on resolving the unfunded liability issues either.

It is time to get the unfunded pension liability issue dealt with and behind us. Then the system can move on to deal with the outstanding teacher contract concerns right afterwards. Nothing is really standing in the way of this resolution happening, except some old attitudes and personal grudges of a past Minister arising out of the 2002 teacher's strike.

Clint Dunford Decides to Pack it In

Thanks to Daveberta for bring to my attention the Clint Dunford (PC Lethbridge West) decision not to run again in the coming election. After serving four terms and having some health issues, Clint’s decision is no surprise.

Clint was one of the best Ministers in Klein's various government serving as Minster of Human Resources, Minister of Advanced Education, and Minister of Economic Development.

Clint is an intelligent and capable man who practiced politics honourably and ably. His wisdom and generous human spirit will be missed by those of us who value good government and caring governors.

Thoughts on Why Ed Stelmach Won the PC Leadership

My previous post was about why Dinning and Morton lost the 2006 PC leadership. That commentary was based on a study we did on leadership qualities Albertan’s were looking for in the the summer of 2003. A visit to the previous post will give you some context on the leadership attributes we considered.

What was it about Ed Stelmach that the Albertans liked about him when they showed up to chose him as their next Premier last December? The most significant positive Preparation driver for leadership in Alberta was someone with Business experience. None of the leadership candidates were strongly identified with having a business background, including Stelmach. However, his advantage was that he was also not identified with the other very negative Preparation attributes of being a professional politician, a lawyer or an academic. Other candidates were strongly identified with these negative attributes and that benefited Stelmach.

He was able to be identified with issues around the importance of Alberta’s role in Canada and the world. This was partly because of his past portfolios like Agriculture and top of mind issues like BSE and concerns about Alberta’s beef export access to American and other markets. His stint in International and Intergovernmental Affairs helped him understand and explain Alberta's place in a Canadian and international context. Stelmach’s recent success at the Council of the Federation, where he spent time explaining Alberta’s growth challenges and environmental plans, helped persuade most of the First Minister’s to sympathize with us and give us the benefit of the doubt and accept that we were engaged and up to the task.

In the end, I believe it was his personal qualities that made him the most attractive as the next PC leader and Premier. He was seen as an honest man with integrity and he campaigned aggressively on that theme. Even as a politician, he still farmed. That framed him to many as a potential leader who would not lose contact with the real lives of real people and not just identify and deal with the beautiful and bountiful or the rich and famous once he was in office.

His obvious ability to listen and even his lack of media skills would be perceived as positives in the campaign. Remember from the last posting, any media savvy candidate was seen as someone not to be trusted. They tended to be perceived as slick and masters of spin. The quality of being media savvy was a big leadership negative to Albertans in our survey results.

The other high value communications skill the survey showed was the ability to bring clarity to issues and to be a good listener. Stelmach is a very good listener. He sees and appreciates the complexity of most modern political issues and has a mind that likes to explore their implications and nuances. As a result clarity is sometimes sacrificed to his predilection for a fulsome understanding and "explanation" of the issues. In that way he is more like Jed Bartlett of the West Wing than George Bush of the Right Wing.

Being articulate was ranked as such a minor positive attribute that it could be considered as a neutral matter in our survey results. During the campaign, and ever since, the mainstream media in Alberta has made much of Stelmach’s “communications challenges.” Stelmach obviously lacks the polished “skill” of mouthing media-speak sound bite answers. That seems to drive the main stream media to distraction because they are so used to the professionally packaged politician. Citizens are not as concerned so long as they feel they can trust his judgement and his grasp of the issues. After all how many citizens get to (or have to) sit through an entire news conference or press briefing?

The second most important positive attribute for leadership from our study was being able to be an agent of change and to bring forth new ideas and support new ideas from others. This is where Stelmach's real potential lies, in championing changes. He has lots of change in progress in areas like energy policy, royalties and infrastructure funding. He is setting new priorities with an emphasis on innovation and technology, to concerns about managing growth and even raising issues about literacy.

He has instituted democratic reforms and reorganized the legislative policy committee structures to be all-party inclusive. He has introduced health reforms like legislation for smoking bans in public and work places. He is committed to cleaning up the teachers and other pension debts which was a holdover from Klein’s era. He is reviewing roles and responsibilities of agencies boards and commissions and the provincial government relationship with them including regional health authorities and municipalities. And he is instituting lobbyist legislation.

The record already shows Stelmach is an originator and supporter of new ideas and is a positive champion as an agent for change. None of this as yet to resonate with the mainstream media and, as a consequence, it is far from top of mind with the public. He is perceived by some, including me, as not having communicated very effectively nor has he executed political power particularly well.

There may be a change afoot however. The recent meetings in Moncton with the provincial Premiers at the Council of the Federation, Stelmach is being given media-based credit, for the first time, for his governance ability. He showed his capacity to articulate effectively, bring clarity to complex issues like climate change and GHG emissions and explain them in the context of accelerating economic growth pressures. And he has made the point of how Alberta's growth is benefiting the rest of Canada. All of these elements were identified by Albertans in our study way back in 2003 as the high value positive leadership attributes that we wanted for the next Alberta Premier.

Communicating clearly and executing the Premier's governance and political roles more effectively is a big part of what the PC government needs. These are key elements towards the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta revitalizing, rejuvenating and retaining its position as the preferred voter choice to govern the next Alberta.

An election is less than a year away and the Red Zone is a few months away. If our survey findings are still valid, letting Ed be Ed in ways that show off his personal qualities is one of our "secret" weapons to this continued success. Showing off Stelmach's personal qualities and capacities, especially as a champion for positive change, is big part of what we need to do to reconnect with Albertans. There is no time to waste Mr. Premier.

Wildrose Party States Its View of Alberta in Canada

Link Byfield, the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer, of the new Wildrose Party of Alberta had some interesting observations yesterday on his Citizen’s Centre for Freedom and Democracy weekly Commentary. He has graciously given me permission to “post any or all of it.”

As we approach Canada Day it is appropriate that we think of how this country works and how Alberta fits in it. And we Albertans have to have that political conversation. In that spirit, here is most, but not all, of Link’s comments.

Link’s reasons for a new Alberta based right-wing party are interesting. They say “…federal change must come from the provinces not Ottawa, and that Alberta is the province best positioned to force that change. It has become obvious that Alberta’s traditional parties will never stand up to Ottawa, and that a new party must be formed to do it. The change of command from Ralph Klein to Ed Stelmach has left a large void in Alberta’s provincial politics.”

They see the Firewall Letter approach to isolate Alberta as key to the future of Alberta in Canada and he says, “…thinking people have realized that the Reform Party vision of Canada can only be implemented by provincial governments. The small alternatives of the past were not broadly based, and focused on the wrong things. They offered either separation or more right-wing government. Most Albertans have never wanted either, and still don’t.”

He goes on to make some other interesting comments on the state of Alberta, relations with the Harper government and our place in Canada. “Besides, as long as Ralph Klein was premier, the Tories were unbeatable. Politically speaking, Ralph put the whole province happily to sleep.”

I agree with this statement.

“Now that he’s gone, Albertans are waking up fast to the eternal reality that they are sitting ducks to federal aggression. Any fond hope in the Harper Conservatives vanished when they flip-flopped on Kyoto, taxed income trusts, and blatantly pandered to the “Quebecois nation” on equalization.

It’s quickly dawning on Albertans that it is not the job of the country’s prime minister to defend Alberta, much as they wish he would. It’s the job of the premier of Alberta.
Klein never did it. Stelmach isn’t doing it. And nobody thinks Liberal leader Kevin Taft will do it either.

The most striking thing about Alberta’s political scene since Ralph left is that while the Tories are steadily collapsing, the Liberals are not rising. Nobody is.

Besides, as long as Ralph Klein was premier, the Tories were unbeatable. Politically speaking, Ralph put the whole province happily to sleep.

Now that he’s gone, Albertans are waking up fast to the eternal reality that they are sitting ducks to federal aggression. Any fond hope in the Harper Conservatives vanished when they flip-flopped on Kyoto, taxed income trusts, and blatantly pandered to the “Quebecois nation” on equalization.

It’s quickly dawning on Albertans that it is not the job of the country’s prime minister to defend Alberta, much as they wish he would. It’s the job of the premier of Alberta.

Klein never did it. Stelmach isn’t doing it. And nobody thinks Liberal leader Kevin Taft will do it either.

The most striking thing about Alberta’s political scene since Ralph left is that while the Tories are steadily collapsing, the Liberals are not rising. Nobody is.”

I disagree often with Link Byfield but I have say he always makes me think!

Happy Canada Day!

Disgruntled Alberta Refomers See the Province as the Way to Change Ottawa

Link Byfield made it known 2 weeks ago on the home page of his Citizen’s Centre for Freedom and Democracy that this group was “going political.”

The inspiration appears to be the Firewall letter of 2001 which Links calls the end of the Reform Party Era. He sees the way to reform Ottawa is now in the ands of the provinces and that Alberta is in the best position to pick up the torch or cudgel, depending on how you see it. So they have started a new Reform provincially based political party...the Wildrose Party.

I see Ted Morton’s picture along with Stephen Harper who both signed the infamous Firewall Letter to then Premier Ralph Klein in 2001. This was before these gentlemen were successful in elected politics.

So I expect Link sees the Firewall Letter spirit as a fulcrum and a provincial political party as a lever to get the job done. With so many strong egos and different perspectives on the far right, it is hard to see a way that a coalition will emerge…but a strong man might. Who might that strong man be? Alberta’s SRD Minister Ted Morton and Edmonton City Councilor Mike Nickel are names you hear bandied about for that role.

Our recent column published last Sunday in LaPresse has generated some email interest. This is the last LaPresse column until the fall now:

If money bought happiness, Albertans would be among the happiest people on earth. But they aren’t. Heading into the summer, this remarkably prosperous province is beset by anxiety.

Ralph Klein liked to say that after defeating the debt and deficit he “wanted to put his feet up for a while and enjoy the accomplishment.” He did, and we allowed it for too long. We became focused on the past instead of preparing for the future. As a result some important things are missing in Alberta today. The most obvious ones are leadership, stewardship and citizenship.

There is a shift in Alberta from the feel good sloganeering of the “Alberta Advantage,” past a general grumpiness, into genuine angst about the future direction of this province. For too many this new wealth that is being generated is not reaching them. Not only that, their cost of surviving, not just living, is on the increase. Pressures are mounting and the consequences are not happy ones for many ordinary Albertans. So much so, that in a bye-election on June 12, Calgary voters elected a Liberal to fill Klein’s vacant seat.

Albertans aren’t alone in their discontent. Across the country we can see an uneasy feeling that our political class isn’t up to the task of responding intelligently to the needs and aspirations of citizens, or to produce the trans-partisan leadership necessary to achieve this country’s potential.

When we look to Quebec, we have the spectacle of Jean Charest playing chicken with oppositions on his budget and the infamous "tax break for the middle class” that may (or not) trigger an election. The so-called fiscal imbalance in Quebec is shown to be a myth if equalization money from Canada can be used for a tax reduction when it is supposed to provide for equivalent public service levels. The ADQ and PQ parties are both on record as opposed to his cynical budget ploy by Charest. They say the tax break Charest wants would be better public policy if it were provided in the form of a debt repayment. That way the interest saved could be added to operating budgets through enhanced general revenues and that way serve the needs of Quebecers for generations.

That level of pessimistic leadership, and the resulting loss of citizen confidence, is evident in national politics too. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Quebec gambit of buying Charest’s victory with Ottawa tax money is backfiring.

The personal power agenda of the Prime Minister has alienated and aggravated just about anyone who he needs and wants within his sphere of influence. The confrontation with Nova Scotia and Newfoundland regarding the Atlantic Accord is a fight within the same partisan family. It is far removed from confident and competent leadership and governance.The Prime Minister has even managed to devalue his political stock in Ontario with his legislative agenda to add and redistribute new House of Commons seats. That is now perturbing Ontarians even more as Harper moves to realign the seat distribution in a way that undermine their power and influence and short changes the largest voter group in the country. With all the levers of power at his disposal for over 16 months and with no real threat of an election, unless he wants one, Harper has not been able to move beyond his political support ranking of the last election. Loyalty to his leadership from the Reform/Alliance side of the Conservative Party of Canada is eroding and his personal trustworthiness and political integrity is in decline as well.

Given that the big issue is going to be the environment and the fact it will continue to grow in importance this summer, Harper will become increasingly less relevant given his lack of traction, trust and tenacity on those issues.

The limits and limitations of partisan and adversarial politics are all too clear. Among citizens and their institutions, we are steadily abandoning hierarchical and paternalistic models of organisation and interaction. More and more, citizens live in a collaborative and consensual world that is built on relationships and networks, whether in the home, the workplace, or in their leisure pursuits. The very idea of Canada is a sense of inclusion and belonging; the ability to accept one another’s differences and make the most of collaboration on the interests and issues – environment, health care, education, social cohesion – we have in common.

Our tribal politics are far removed from the day-to-day reality of how citizens engage and interact with one another. Unless our political class changes its ways, the summer of discontent may last a very long time indeed.

Alberta's Tobacco Reduction Strategy is in Trouble

There is lots of good news coming out of the Budget Update. The surplus is up and the spending in under control. Stelmach has brought some much needed fiscal discipline back to this government in the short 3 month he has taken over the leadership.

Some serious concerns on the revenue side are being reported. Not that the revenues are down, they are not. The concern is the increase in tobacco tax revenue of some $40M over budget.

Indications are, according to Action on Smoking and Health this increase is due to higher sales volumes that are in fact caused by price discounting by manufacturers.

Alberta as a Tobacco Reduction Strategy that called for a 50% reduction in tobacco shipments between 2001 and 2011 but only a 15% reduction has occurred since 2001 and there have been repeated sales increases since 2003. The performance success on this health indicator is in serious jeopardy. Stats show that tobacco is the leading avoidable cause of 3,400 premature deaths in Alberta every year.

For the last several years, tobacco revenues have been repeatedly underestimated by Alberta Finance and these increases are a disturbing reminder that the Alberta Tobacco Reduction Strategy is not meeting its stated objectives. The performance measure for tobacco shipments is 2528 million cigarettes for FY2011 (four years from now). The total shipments for FY2006 were 4380 million cigarettes. This means that tobacco shipments need to decline by over 40% within the next four years in order to achieve the ATRS 10-year performance target. This reduction would require a Herculean effort by the Alberta government.

Dave Hancock, the Minister of Health and Wellness is calling for a total ban on smoking in workplaces and public places, something that was tied many times before but never got passed Ralph Klein, the former Premier.

Here is hoping this is an idea whose time has come under a new Premier.

Klein Criticizes Harper - Is There Trouble in Tory Land?

Small story in the Globe and Mail this morning where former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has called on Prime Minister Harper to reverse his reversal and restore the income trusts.

Klein reportedly said "The problem with Stephen has with income trusts is that he didn't keep his word so that doesn't sit well with the Canadian public." He call on Harper to reverse himself again for "redemption." OUCH!

Klein still has a considerable amount of sway with the libertarians of the fiscal conservative variety. Is this an indication of even more erosion of the old Reform/Allinace base from Harper?

Good to see Ralph is not putting himself out to pasture nor going quietly into that political night. Lougheed and Manning have weighed in on the public policy agenda very effectively. I wonder how Ralph will fair in the elder statesman role compared to those gentlemen.

Alberta and Continental Energy Supply Issue Heats Up

The geopolitical reality for Alberta in a political push for a continentalenergy supply policy was covered in an Op-Ed in the Edmonton Journal by Satya Das, my business partner. Nothing in the George Bush’s “Reign of Error” called the "State of the Union" speech last night suggested anything was going to happen to the contrary.

America is clearly going to be looking for a safe, secure, reliable and relatively friendly high volume energy supplier. The State of the Union speech talk about a reduction of gasoline usage by 20% in 10 years based on ethanol and alternatives is smog and mirrors from a dead duck President.

We Albertans need some serious thinking and planning about continental energy supply policy. If Harper’s giveaway on Softwood Lumber is any indication of how he will handle continental energy issues, we are going to be in trouble, as a province and as a country.

Ralph Klein is on the file, as is Brian Tobin fronting for the Fraser Institute. Even former Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan is now doing a mea culpa on Free Trade and talking about a North American Community – kind of like a "NAFTA +."

Managing Growth is a top prioirty for Premier Stelmach and major concern all over Alberta. The City of Edmonton is now making waves on that point too.

The policy aroudn continental energy supply should not only be made in Alberta it must be made for Alberta. Based on media reports on the U.S. Ambassador Wilkin's meeting with Premier Stelmach today the political process has begun.

Harper's New Green Con-version – Is it Environment Policy or Political Envy Driving the Conservative Eco-Agenda?

I am starting to wonder about the Harper Cons quick conversion to green. Is it the result of a real concern for the environment and a thoughtful purposeful reconsideration of an important public policy position? Or is it a just quick fix political response founded in fear and desperation and a large dose of green envy over Stephane Dion’s grasp of the issues.

Today Canada's Environment Minister, the Hon. John Baird spoke out and, according to media reports, appeared to do the usual Ottawa unilateralism with his disparaging and defensive comments on oil sands tax incentives in the news today. He says: "I cannot explain why the Liberal government of Mr. Dion made these changes," Baird said, speaking in French.

This is just altogether too cute because he is also trashing the Alberta government with these comments and he knows it - or at least he ought to know it. Doing it in French is the really cute part. Did he think Albertans would not hear about this if he only commented in French?

The tax incentive deals Baird is trashing was part a broader deal including more than just federal taxes. It was done in the mid 1990’s in collaboration with industry, Alberta’s PC government and the federal Liberals and covered royalties along with provincial and federal taxes.

This deal was done by the Chrétien government, and negotiated by Anne McLellan as Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources and Premier Ralph Klein and Syncrude’s Eric Newell. This is clearly not the “Dion government deal” as Baird tries to characterize it in the media today.

Premier Stelmach is widely known to be embarking on a royalty review of Alberta’s oil sands resources. But nowhere does Baird acknowledge this and suggest there nees to be come coordination and communications on this. He is trying to blame Dion for something that Dion was not any part of. Baird is ignoring, or worse, he is oblivious, to the impact of his actions and statements on Alberta’s energy sector and the Government of Alberta.

It would be nice if there was some evidence of a cooperative spirit between Progressive Conservative Alberta and Conservative Ottawa on this issue. But as Ralph Klein said last year “It doesn’t seem to matter who is in control in Ottawa, it is still Ottawa.” That reality was sure evident today.

Obviously it is timely to revisit the royalty and tax regime but industry needs certainty. An open honet porcess with a collaborative spirit from the two orders of government and input from the oil sands operaters is needed if this is going to work.

The Cons can obviously do what ever they want with the federal corporate taxes payable from oil sands extractors. But this tax review is not going to be at Dion’s expense. It is looking more like yet another Harper broken campaign promise akin to income trusts. Here is what Pierre Alvarez, the head of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is reported to have said today about the Harper Cons oil sands tax review: “… (he) was puzzled by Baird's comments about the tax regime, noting Prime Minister Stephen Harper had insisted in December there would be no changes.” Ouch!

In the days the tax regime was set up we had with oil prices in the “teens” and oil sands production costs around $20 per barrel. The deal was predicated on industry doing some serious risk investing in oil sands development, committing $5B over the next 25 years in exchange for the royalty and tax deal.

Well we know what happened. In the 10 years following since the deal was done and how successful it was. In fact industry invested about $27B in the first 5 years of the deal and we have about $100B of oil sands related projects in the hopper that is running much of Canada’s economy today.

Pitbull Baird was keen to try on the rhetoric to trash Dion but he missed his target today. Instead he ended up chewing up his leader’s credibility - and mostly in Alberta - and particularly in Harper’s home town of Calgary. Not a bad day’s work if you are looking for a career change after the next election.

Yes Minister Baird was cute and clever today, but he was definitely not wise…and at so many levels.

UPDATE January 19, 2007
Interesting to see the Edmonton Journal Editorial Board and Paul Stanway of the Edmonton Sun being on the same page about this today.