Stelmach Wants More Royalty Review Input and Analysis

The Government of Alberta just issued a news release indicating that “While the formal consultation is over, we have not stopped listening. We want to make sure that people how have comments send them to the right place so we can consider this input as part of the review process.”

Nothing wrong with that per se and this initiative may be an obvious admission by the Alberta government that the old style of public consultation is not as effective as it should be at getting authentic citizen input. So citizens of Alberta here is your contact channels for your further input into the Royalty Review Report findings and process...www.alberta.ca and 427-0265. Get at ti and have your comments and concerns over the Royalty Review Report known to the powers that be. And you don’t even have to register as a Lobbyist to do this.

If you do not engage and the powers that be may very well make these decisions behind closed doors (again). If citizens of Alberta value accountability from their government to be reality not rhetoric they better start making those expectations known…loudly and clearly.

It looks like the energy industry gets their very own separate channel of continuing input and communications through the very capable Deputy Premier. He is said to “be the lead minister liaising with the energy industry.” This was the same approach used with the Mayor of Calgary and we saw how the municipal funding formulas were biased against Edmonton at the end of the day.

I am very wary about this approach. I expect everything that the industry says and presents to the government in this further consultation process will be fully disclosed by the government as the original inputs were done in public. This ahs to be part and parcel of a new spirit of an open, accountable and transparent government. I don't understand why doesn’t the government use the new all-party Standing Committee on Resources and Environment and have Industry make their cases there – in public and televised? The next scheduled meeting is October 2 so it is timely.

The Royalty Review Reports has some good advice in this regard too. At page 18 of the Executive Summary the Panel says:

“The government of Alberta must implement means to gather and assess the workings of all aspects of revenue policy and collection associate with energy resources in the province. This must be done on behalf of the citizens of Alberta, and its findings must be made public and have the highest degree of credibility. It must not be a confidential exercise internal to the government.”

Here is the strangest development of all. The Royalty Review Panel used Department of Energy data, senior staff and their advisers in determining what was going on with the industry-government relationships on resource revenues. The Department of Energy was chastised in the Royalty Review Report. The news release says the Minister of Energy is to “lead a technical analysis of the report.”

None of this fiasco is the current Minister’s fault but why on earth do they need a technical analysis of the report findings when it was the DOE data that was used with assistance of departmental staff and advisers who helped the Panel do the review in the first place? Surely they would not let any inaccuracies of a “technical” nature be included in the final document! What is this all about? If industry has a rebuttal on the figures and analysis – let them put it forward. Let’s not have another Melchin kind of faux Royalty Review when we were told “Don’t Worry – Be Happy – Your government has it all under control.”

The mandate of the Royalty Review did not allow for infrastructure, growth pressures and environmental issues to be considered in the public consultation. Too bad but understandable! Since the government has “…not stopped listening” Albertans ought to feel free to use this invitation to have input into the government at “the right places” so it can consider this input as well.

If industry gets a second kick at this – so should citizens. Wake up Alberta and get engaged. The opening sentence of the new release quotes Premier Stelmach: “The decision on the royalty report will affect Alberta and our energy sector for decades to come.” He can say that again - but the final decision his government will make will affect all Albertans in all walks of life and future generations too.

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.

Memo to Minister Lunn - Firewalls Will Not Stop Pine Beetle.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn is reported to have said his goal is to stop the mountain pine beetle from moving east beyond Alberta. The MPB is already well established in Alberta by the way and is moving east quite effectively. The methodology Lunn intends to use is burning larges segments of the forest instead of letting the beetle eat it. Mighty clever Mr. Minister! Mighty clever!

Lunn is reported to being “committed” to spending another $50m “…to keep the beetle out of B.C. boreal forest,” (WHAT!!!) The MPB has already devoured 40% of the BC forest and conservative estimates indicate the tipping point has passed and likely 80% is gone. This is like watering the lawn after the tsunami has hit the house.

Mr. Minister burning “firewalls” will not stop the beetle. They migrate on air currents so they will just leap over your stupid firewall and continue on. The beetle rides on air currents and that is how they got into Alberta from BC in the first place. They managed to cross the Rocky Mountains on air currents for God’s sake…how is a firewall going to make any difference in the face of that reality?

Firewalls are effective at one thing, controlling the spread of forest fires. That is what they should be used for. The beetles leave vast areas of standing dead dry trees that are prefect for a lightening strike and a massive size and number of forest fires. Given that reality burning firewalls around forest related towns like Banff, Jasper, Grande Cache, Hinton, Edson and Whitecourt would make sense. Firewalls are needed to protect these towns from forest fires NOT to stop the spread of the beetles.

B.C dropped the Beetle-ball and now it is obvious the Feds are being stupid about what to do about the infestation. Mother Nature is not happy and she is showing it. Our species like all others in the forest have one intelligent and responsible response to the beetle…ADAPT.

Here is a Great Blog on the Alberta Royalty Review - "King Ralph Shilling for Big Oil."

I can’t say I always agree – or even agree very often - with fellow Alberta Blogger Eugene Plawiuk. But Boy oh Boy I have to admire his work on the post he just did on the Royalty Review Report and reaction to it.

This post is an example of the Blogosphere at its best. Great piece of work Eugene – I will read it carefully and with great interest - once I finish the report itself.


For those outside of Alberta - I suggest you will want to read the Royalty Review Report too. 60% of the billions being invested on oil sands development gets spent outside Alberta in the rest of Canada.

Claims of Oil Royalty Review Causing Market Meltdown is Bogus

Another update on oil patch stock market fear mongering from the Hunter Royalty Review Report is in order. The Royalty Review Report came out on Tuesday and the next day business press was rife with quotes and claims of a draconian disaster and a “tumbling” market for the energy sector

Yes there was a dip in some stock prices reported for companies like CNRL and Suncor. Well by Friday, in the face of a $.51 cent drop in oil prices the G&M reports that CNRL and Suncor were ranked #3 and #4 in the Market Lifter Index. The TSX was up 101.64 points on Friday and these two companies were jointly responsible for about 16 of those points.

As for CNRL –it shed 5.9% of stock value on Wednesday and on Friday the stock was up $1.64. Meaning it had recovered all but 1.5% of that pre-Royalty Review Report value decline in only two trading days and it is trading at $76.84 - only $3.14 off its 52 week high.

Some melt down.