MLA report January 21

Hello Chestermere! Nice to see the days getting longer. Time to haul out the seed catalogues and start planning your garden! Remember it’s not too late to apply for flood repair funding. Deadline is March 16, 2016. If you need assistance contact our office and we will do our best to help.
With WTI oil dropping below US$30/bbl and Western Canada Select trading at under US$16.00 you may wonder if the government is acting to get its costs under control. You bet it is! The Finance Minister just announced that 7,000 non-unionized employees will not get their planned 2.5 % increase this year or next. Remember, this isn’t a pay cut. Savings of $28.5 million dollars this year in a $50 BILLION dollar budget represents a 0.057% decrease in projected government spending. The vast majority of government employees are unionized and we await the obvious needed restraint to come from the unions to help out with the current dire economic situation. So far it seems they’ll get their increases as planned. With about 50% of government spending going to salaries they have to get serious. Significant reductions can easily be made in management, through attrition and hiring freezes without cutting one “front line” job.
Our current government talks a lot about “value added” and “diversification” as the magic formula to reduce our dependence on energy for our prosperity. Remember, this government at the same time has pinned all its hopes of getting the budget under control on a fantasy oil price forecast. We spend a lot of time talking to our constituents, industry groups, and other experts and we hear common themes. First, we have to make sure that “value added” really adds value. The NW Upgrader is one example where this is seriously in question. The government forgets that we have all the refining capacity we need for Alberta’s needs. Guess what, you will still need pipelines whether they are carrying crude oil or gasoline. Crude oil, however, can be sold anywhere. Gasoline on the other hand is made for a specific market. You can’t turn around and sell gas made for China to the US as the quality standards are different. Second, most people tell us we need to diversify based on our strengths. So, what are our strengths? Oil and gas, agriculture, and forestry. The current pillars of our economy! Did you know we are world leaders in remote telecommunications and monitoring thanks to the oil industry? Far from being “embarrassing cousins” we are as good or better than anyone in the world in environmental protection. Technology being developed in Alberta will allow us to not only locate pipeline leaks instantly and precisely, but in many cases allow operators to fix the problem before there is a leak. Last week we attended a demonstration at UMATAC right here in Rocky View. They are using Alberta developed technology to extract oil from oil shale. This isn’t a lab experiment. It is world class Alberta technology that is being used commercially right now and could help many countries achieve energy independence. That’s just a couple of examples of diversification that makes sense and keeps Albertans working.
As always, we welcome your comments. Please get in touch.
Leela Sharon Aheer, MLA