Despite the latest spike in oil prices and months-long push by oil and gas industry for the stripping back of environmental regulations, Albertans are concerned about overreliance on single sector.
By Janetta McKenzie , News release from the Pembina Institute
CALGARY — A majority (61 per cent) of Albertans say they do not want taxpayer money to be used for a new pipeline, with even more (67 per cent) saying they think the province’s economy is too dependent on the oil and gas sector.
New polling commissioned by the Pembina Institute and conducted by Probe Research in late April and early May suggest Albertans’ views on energy policies are not aligned with priorities being brought forward by the Government of Alberta and oil and gas industry leaders. These have included a broad push for environmental deregulation, as well as a proposal for a new oil pipeline that has so far been funded exclusively with Alberta taxpayer dollars, and has still yet to attract a private sector proponent.
“Despite years of repeatedly being told another pipeline would be the answer to all their economic concerns, Albertans know that when the industry itself isn’t jumping at the chance to invest, something isn’t adding up,” said Janetta McKenzie, director of oil and gas at the Pembina Institute.
Question: If oil companies are not willing to invest in a new pipeline, taxpayer money should be used instead.
Question: Alberta’s economy is too dependent on oil and gas.
“It’s now been a year since Premier Smith said a private company would come forward within weeks and put their dollars on the table for a pipeline. Despite all that’s happened since then – the Major Projects Office opening in Calgary, the significant stripping back of federal review processes, and now the MOU resulting in far weaker environmental rules for the oil and gas sector – still no company has shown interest. Albertans are sending a clear message: if the private companies still don’t see a good enough business case to put their own money into this project, taxpayer dollars must not be gambled on it.”
Though both Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith continue to promise that any new pipeline will only go ahead if it is privately financed, pressure on the need for taxpayer subsidies has been ongoing for months. Adding to that pressure, the concept of a new west coast pipeline has regularly been used as a symbol of Alberta sovereignty. Last year, Premier Smith said that the question of whether the pipeline will be built was “a test of whether Canada works as a country”.
“While politicians may be tempted to believe, especially with Alberta separatism on the agenda, that a pipeline must now be built at almost any cost, Albertans themselves don’t agree,” said McKenzie. “Most Albertans simply want politicians to present a reasonable economic plan that goes beyond an exclusive focus on oil and gas – rather than letting a single industry continue to set the whole agenda.”
The polling also suggests most Albertans support industrial carbon pricing (around 60 per cent in favour versus around 20 per cent against), in part due to its role in supporting the growth of sectors other than oil and gas. This ongoing public support is despite the regulation having come under sustained attack from the oil and gas industry in the last 12 months.
Perhaps most surprisingly, despite much consternation over the last several years from the Government of Alberta about the scale and reach of federal climate and energy policies, nearly half of Albertans agreed that if the province fails to do enough to combat climate change, the federal government should step in with policies of its own (49 per cent in favour, versus 38 per cent against).
“There is an idea that seems to have taken root over the last year that Canadians, and especially Albertans, don’t care about climate change anymore. But this polling shows that Albertans haven’t given up on the need for policies that both address climate change and create a better, more stable economic future for them and their families,” said McKenzie. “Not for the first time, the national conversation is dominated by pipelines and oil and gas expansion. Leaders in Alberta and Ottawa should stop and ask themselves if that’s based on an imagined idea of what Albertans really want right now.”
Question: If the Alberta government does not do enough to address climate change, the federal government should step in with policies of its own.
Links of Interest:
- Articles about, or mentioning, the proposed pipeline through BC
- Articles about, or mentioning, Albertan separatism
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