Tag Archives: Gov of Alberta

Energy, Politics

In the Midst of a Global Energy Transition: Canada’s New Pipeline

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Someone sent me a Facebook post in which North Island-Powell River MP Aaron Gunn points to a Petro Canada sign advertising gas for $2.09.9 a litre. 

Gunn wrote, “Ridiculous. 4th-largest oil reserves on the planet. $2.09 per litre at the pumps. It’s time to build pipelines, refineries and an energy policy that puts Canada, and Canadians, first!” 

My first response, when I calmed down enough to have a polite response, was ‘does he think a fully operational pipeline is going to drop out of the sky?’ 

So far, no proponents have stepped forward to build the proposed pipeline. Premier Danielle Smith of Alberta recently said there are some Middle Eastern and Asian investors who expressed interest in a minority stake. IF a proponent steps forward and clears all the necessary preliminary steps, it is still going to take years before oil flows through the proposed pipeline. 

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Politics

History-making nine-question referendum punts Alberta into unprecedented territory

By George Lee, The Macleod Gazette, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Editor’s Note: Light profanity appears in a direct quotation in this story.

A nine-question referendum announced by the premier Thursday charts new territory for direct democracy, as the government looks to define and entrench an Alberta approach for dealing with immigration and Ottawa.

The United Conservative Party (UCP) initiative appears to feature the most — and most complex — federal or provincial questions ever asked on a single referendum ballot in the country’s history.

The electorate’s participation will help the government shield Albertans from an intrusive Ottawa and its potentially harmful policies, Danielle Smith said during a televised and streamed address.

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Politics

Alberta confident on carbon pricing deal as minister announces $28 million for clean tech

By George Lee, The Macleod Gazette, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Alberta and the federal government remain on course to reach a carbon pricing agreement pledged within their Nov. 27 memorandum of understanding, the province’s new environment minister said last week.

Calling the system “a very complex way of dealing with industrial carbon pricing,” Grant Hunter said Alberta’s large emitters are competitive at the current rate of $95 per tonne of emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent.

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Politics

Separatism: Most Albertans Don’t Buy IT! – new Angus Reid poll finds

It has been a week since Premier Danielle Smith declared “I support a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.” 

On January 2, Elections Alberta approved the Alberta Prosperity Project’s petition for ‘a Referendum Relating to Alberta Independence.’ If they can obtain 177,732 signatures, it will trigger a referendum on whether Alberta should separate from Canada and become an independent state. 

A new Angus Reid poll suggests that most Albertans aren’t buying into the separatism. 57% of the respondents stated they would definitely vote to stay in Canada; only 8% would definitely vote to separate. If you add in the people who are leaning one way or the other, these numbers change to 65% vs 29%.

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Politics

Mark Carney’s Political Tightrope

In addition to being a former candidate in our area, Jennifer Lash is a former senior advisor to Canada’s Minister of Environment with a lot of insight into what motivates the Liberal government.  So Cortes Currents recently asked her,  “Tell us a little bit about the tightrope that Mark Carney has been walking with separatism rising in Alberta and Quebec; environmentalists saying that we should be adapting faster; the rising cost of living, needs for more housing, more jobs; Trump’s economic tantrums, the need to just diversify Canada’s economy and the threat of recession.”

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