RUPERTKBD Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/hundreds-gather-for-wexit-rally-in-edmonton-as-groups-leader-pens-letter-to-jason-kenney/ar-AAJL46Z?li=AAggNb9 Quote A group of people supporting the so-called Wexit movement held a meeting in Edmonton Saturday. Hundreds of supporters met at the Boot Scootin' Boogie Dance DanceHall in the northwest end of the city to discuss the separation of the west. "A meeting like this is bringing awareness to the rest of Canada: we're sick and tired of being the welfare province," said Patrick King, a supporter of the separation. The Wexit Alberta Facebook page currently has about 30,000 members, while the VoteWexit.com Facebook page, which aims to encompass all of the western provinces, has 262,000. Peter Downing, the founder of Wexit Canada and Wexit Alberta, has also released a letter directed at Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. "We are calling on you to legislate a referendum on Alberta’s separation from Canada," the letter reads. "You or any one of your 62 MLAs can draft a bill to formulate a referendum on a clear and unequivocal question as to whether the people of Alberta wish to remain a part of Canada." The letter also calls for a series of what the group calls requirements, including the end of Alberta's contract with the RCMP, prohibiting federal payroll deductions, and the withdrawing from the federal Employment Insurance program. Global News reached out to the office of the premier on Saturday, but did not hear back in time for publication. However, Kenney has previously stated that he does not consider separation to be a realistic option. The Wexit movement has gained heavy traction in the weeks following the federal election, which saw Alberta vote in Conservative MPs for every riding in the province except for Heather McPherson, the lone NDP representative in the Edmonton Strathcona riding. The Wexit event in Edmonton was originally planned for a smaller venue but was moved to the dance hall after there was an increased interest. Firstly, I think the "hundreds" estimate is unhelpful. There's a pretty big difference between two hundred and nine hundred, but I suppose since they had to move the venue to the "Boot Scootin' Boogie" Dance Hall, in a city like Redmonton, it shows they're pretty serious. At this point, I think I'd like to see them hold the referendum. For one thing, Kenney will have to choose a side. Also, Albertans will have to decide if separation is really worth it, in light of details like First Nations land, share of the debt, currency, policing, border crossings, etc, etc.... Of course, just like Brexit, I'm sure there will be a ton of disinformation out there, but at this point, I'm kind of at the "put up or shut up" phase. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 8 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/hundreds-gather-for-wexit-rally-in-edmonton-as-groups-leader-pens-letter-to-jason-kenney/ar-AAJL46Z?li=AAggNb9 Firstly, I think the "hundreds" estimate is unhelpful. There's a pretty big difference between two hundred and nine hundred, but I suppose since they had to move the venue to the "Boot Scootin' Boogie" Dance Hall, in a city like Redmonton, it shows they're pretty serious. At this point, I think I'd like to see them hold the referendum. For one thing, Kenney will have to choose a side. Also, Albertans will have to decide if separation is really worth it, in light of details like First Nations land, share of the debt, currency, policing, border crossings, etc, etc.... Of course, just like Brexit, I'm sure there will be a ton of disinformation out there, but at this point, I'm kind of at the "put up or shut up" phase. The whole debt bit doesn't work when discussing Alberta. If you go down that path, Ottawa would owe us. JK has already stated he doesn't support a referendum on independence. Hip keeps running around saying that however JK only said he will hold a referendum on pulling Alberta out of equalization. That is a waste of money, who will say no to saving our money and secondly he can't accomplish it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 More info and an experts take on "landlocked oil" in a potential separation https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2019/11/03/alberta-separation-wouldnt-solve-problem-of-landlocked-oil-expert/#.Xb9PkNKIah- CALGARY — International trade experts say it's a pipe dream to think the landlocked oil-producing western provinces would have an easier time getting their product to international markets if they were to split from Canada. "Wexit" — an apparent play on the word "Brexit" used to describe the United Kingdom's planned departure from the European Union — was trending on social media after the Liberals secured a minority government in last week's federal election, but were shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Peter Downing, a founder of the western separatist movement that wants a referendum on separation, has said an independent country in the middle of the Prairies could leverage the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to gain coastal pipeline access. "We have more freedom as an independent country to get our resources to the coast than as part of Canada," he said the day after the election. "We'll have the best of both worlds: We'll keep our money and we'll have access to the coast." The UN convention, adopted in 1982, does say that "landlocked states shall enjoy freedom of transit through the territory of transit states by all means of transport." However, it goes on to say that terms "shall be agreed between the landlocked states and transit states concerned through bilateral, subregional or regional agreements," and that transit states have the right to ensure their "legitimate interests" aren't infringed upon. "It's not an unqualified right. They can't just say, 'OK, we need to get through here,'" said Silvia Maciunas, a fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ont. "They have to talk to the other state, which would be Canada." The "means of transport" in the convention refers to railways, waterways, roads and even porters and pack animals, but the treaty specifies that landlocked and transit states would have to agree to add pipelines to the list. Landlocked countries such as Ethiopia and Switzerland have long had agreements to use ports in other countries. Bolivia, on the other hand, lost its ocean access in a war with Chile in the 1800s and has been fighting to regain it ever since. The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled last year that Chile has no obligation to engage in talks with Bolivia. "Had the court ruled in the favour of Bolivia, Chile would have theoretically been obligated to enter into 'good faith' negotiations, whatever the heck that means," said Carlo Dade, director of the Trade and Investment Centre at the Canada West Foundation. "You can imagine how that would play out up here if Alberta, Saskatchewan leave ... We've seen enough out of B.C. to know how that would play out," said Dade. The British Columbia government has resisted, primarily through court actions, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion that would triple the amount of crude shipped between Alberta and the Lower Mainland. Add to that there is no real enforcement mechanism through the international court, Dade said. "The only thing the ICJ gives you is the ability to go from saying, 'Please give us access' to 'Pretty please give us access.'" This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedestroyerofworlds Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 That didn't take long for Alt-right bs to come to the forefront. https://pressprogress.ca/alberta-wexit-group-says-it-wants-to-roll-back-womens-legal-rights-and-outlaw-racial-agitation/ Alberta ‘Wexit’ Group Says It Wants to Roll Back Womens’ Legal Rights and Outlaw ‘Racial Agitation’ Separatist group’s platform takes aim at racial and gender equality In addition to cracking down on “racial agitation,” the new Republic of Alberta would also seemingly take aim at fly-in fly-out oil field workers from places like Newfoundland and the Maritimes. The platform suggests using the powers of government to maintain a “100% Alberta resident work-force.” The group’s views on immigration are somewhat murkier, simultaneously promising they would “promote immigration in accordance with economic and social need” but also vowing to withdraw from the UN Compact on Migration because it would “erode Alberta Sovereignty.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Colour me shocked...the Wexit party and supporters have very specific views on natives, women and immigrants.... https://mobile.twitter.com/VestsCanada/status/1192478859612045318 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Anyone seen a Wexit ? Anyone seen a Wabit ? Quality humour. You can't make this kind of crap up... Classic humour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 19 hours ago, thedestroyerofworlds said: That didn't take long for Alt-right bs to come to the forefront. https://pressprogress.ca/alberta-wexit-group-says-it-wants-to-roll-back-womens-legal-rights-and-outlaw-racial-agitation/ Alberta ‘Wexit’ Group Says It Wants to Roll Back Womens’ Legal Rights and Outlaw ‘Racial Agitation’ 4 hours ago, Warhippy said: Colour me shocked...the Wexit party and supporters have very specific views on natives, women and immigrants.... https://mobile.twitter.com/VestsCanada/status/1192478859612045318 Is it any surprise that people who think this might be a legit (or reasonable, given actual...you know, facts) avenue to pursue would be a few bricks short...? On a positive note it may help re-split the right, as they should be/the good lord intended Which would likely not only have the positive effects of adding 'progressive' back in to 'conservative' and veering them back towards the centre, where they belong, but also keeping the majority of the bigoted, religious zealot types on the fringe...where THEY belong. All while ensuring far more reasonable, centrist governance regardless of who might form government. It would likely also equate to one more party that's pro election reform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalie13 Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 VICTORIA – The province of B.C. would like prairie separatists to please desist from calling their sovereignty movement Wexit (Western Canada Exit) and are hoping to drive this point home in language the Wexiters can understand by coining the term BCexitwexit. “If Alberta wants an Albertadieu or Saskachewan wants a Saskatchewithdrawl or they both want a Saskalbertaketheirleave or manage to rope in Manitoba for a Albersaskmanitatafornow, that’s their business. But stop dragging us into it,” said BCexitwexiter Kyle Vasquez. While the Wexit secessionist movement centered in Alberta is relatively tiny at the moment, it’s worrying enough that B.C. is pushing back with its own pro-Canada movements that include BCexitwexit, BCremain, and BContinuetobepartofCanadabecausethealternativeisludicrous. https://www.thebeaverton.com/2019/11/b-c-exits-from-wexit-with-bcexitwexit/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 #BrokenAlberta Calgary-based Houston Oil & Gas ceases operations, leaving almost 1,300 wells needing cleanup Another Alberta oil and gas company has closed its doors, leaving more than $80 million in estimated costs to clean up its remaining wells, pipelines and facilities. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/houston-calgary-oilpatch-orphan-wells-1.5348828 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggy! Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 wexit won't happen but imo it's good to have media/people talking about federal government helping the west coast. Our political system at the moment really depends on ontario/quebec and a few ridings here in BC to see who gets elected. It's hard to balance east/west coast wants and desires but it does seem that Albertans rather threaten to leave then to stay quiet. Might be dumb and all but now government leaders have to deal with it. Kenney has done a 10/10 job with wexit reaction tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsurrey Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Great read Encana’s flight south only the latest example of Canada’s corrupt legacy of resource giveaways. ‘The endgame of Encana is sadly consistent with Canada’s corrupt and cowardly history around resource management, or lack thereof.’ The exit of Encana to the U.S. seemed like another opportunity for Alberta to heap blame on Ottawa for the self-inflicted shambles of provincial finances. Premier Jason Kenney wasted no time in again playing the dog-eared victim card: “It’s not just about Encana. It’s about the broader decline of the Canadian energy industry, which I think is a deliberate policy of the Trudeau government.” . Other energy players further cranked up the crisis narrative. Cenovus Energy CEO Alex Pourbaix called the move “a tragedy for Canada.” Former Encana boss Gwyn Morgan, self-described most powerful man in the oil patch and Fraser Institute alumnus, lamented: “The destructive policies of the Trudeau Liberals have left the company with no choice but to shift its asset base and capital program south of the border. Now, its re-election strikes the final blow.” Beyond the oil sector echo chamber lies the actual history of Encana; a story sadly emblematic of Canadian resource giveaways dating back long before Confederation. In 1867, P.E.I. and British Columbia remained British colonies. The Hudson’s Bay Company controlled an area larger than India, stretching from northern Quebec to what would become Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905. This vast monopoly domain was granted by Royal decree 200 years earlier, ignoring Indigenous occupation that pre-dated the trans-Atlantic pen stroke by many millennia. In 1869, the Hudson’s Bay Company agreed to relinquish its vast gratis territory to the young Canadian government in exchange for $1.5 million and deeded ownership of all its settlements. The company also kept five per cent of the most fertile prairie farmland amounting to almost 200,000 square kilometres, an area larger than present day Syria. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his Conservative party sought to bankroll a railway to the West Coast and reached out to friendly corporate interests eager to land the massive contract. An ensuing bribery scandal involved almost every member of the Tory caucus and caused Canada’s second elected government to resign in disgrace. After Macdonald was returned to power in 1878, his government signed a deal with the newly incorporated Canadian Pacific Railway Company several years later to finish the project for $25 million plus track previously completed, worth at least that much. In addition, CPR was granted 25 million acres of Crown land on either side of the rail right of way — again ignoring Indigenous title — and excused from paying property taxes for 20 years. In all, CPR came away with lucrative land holdings larger than South Korea, which it gainfully sold to settlers riding its railway west. What does this have to do with Encana? Around 1902, CPR bean counters realized that coal and petroleum rights were a profitable sideline, so they started to withhold subsurface mineral rights from the company’s land sales. By 1958, Canadian Pacific Oil and Gas was incorporated as a CPR subsidiary, which later became PanCanadian Petroleum. By 2000, PanCanadian was the most active driller in North America with operating income of $1.7 billion — more than double that of the railway division. The company created to build the National Dream had morphed into a resource titan based on a titanic land giveaway 100 years earlier. In 2001, the parent corporation Canadian Pacific split into five separate companies, including Fording Coal, soon sold to Teck Cominco for a tidy US$14 billion. A year later, PanCanadian Petroleum merged with the Alberta Energy Company to create Encana headed by Gwyn Morgan, now lamenting the loss of Canadian energy institutions. Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed’s government had launched the Alberta Energy Company with public money and land in 1973 as a way to jumpstart development in the oil sands and increase benefits to Albertans from their natural bounty. Around the same time, Ottawa incorporated Petro-Canada as a Crown corporation to have a federal public player in energy sector. However, Alberta has proved oddly hostile to moving beyond the passive role of rent taker. Petro-Canada was despised in the oil patch — its headquarters derided as Red Square before both Crown corporation and headquarters were swallowed by Suncor. One of the first actions of newly elected premier Ralph Klein was to sell off the public stake in Alberta Energy Company in 1993. Losing the only provincial public player on the field back in 1993 meant that the Alberta government lost the capacity to ground-truth a highly complex industry it was allegedly regulating. The province has since seen 5.6 billion barrels of conventional crude production worth US$316 billion at current prices, and is somehow $66 billion in debt. The crocodile tears now being shed in the oil patch about Canadian resource sovereignty are rather rich. After absorbing Alberta Energy Company, Encana embarked on a program of asset liquidation. Encana’s oil holdings — including oil sands expertise developed at public expense — were spun off to create Cenovus in 2009. The oil patch fire sale continues. This year Kenney slashed provincial coffers to give corporations a four-per-cent tax break. Husky Energy responded by firing hundreds of workers while posting a $233 million one-time tax windfall. What was left of Encana had already decided to decamp to the U.S., where it need not witness the budgetary chaos its founding province created as an unrequited enticement. Public pearl clutching from Kenney and other self-serving industry insiders do nothing to quell the dangerous separatist flames they themselves have stoked among unnerved oil workers facing global forces beyond their control. Not even the Globe and Mail could hold its nose in the face of such revisionist histrionics, stating in an editorial: “Blaming Encana’s failures on Ottawa is inaccurate and unfair. Its decline, and the decision to move its head office, stem from poor choices made in a Calgary boardroom a decade ago.” More than that, the endgame of Encana is sadly consistent with Canada’s corrupt and cowardly history around resource management, or lack thereof. More than a century after Sir John A. carved up the country with the railway barons of the day, grotesque government giveaways seem still the norm, while respect for First Nations has moved little beyond land acknowledgement lip service. Albertans, and all Canadians, have every right to be enraged about squandered opportunities and wasted resource wealth. Just make sure that history informs us about where to focus that anger. https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2019/11/08/Alberta-History-Squandered-Opportunities/ 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 30 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said: Great read Encana’s flight south only the latest example of Canada’s corrupt legacy of resource giveaways. ‘The endgame of Encana is sadly consistent with Canada’s corrupt and cowardly history around resource management, or lack thereof.’ The exit of Encana to the U.S. seemed like another opportunity for Alberta to heap blame on Ottawa for the self-inflicted shambles of provincial finances. Premier Jason Kenney wasted no time in again playing the dog-eared victim card: “It’s not just about Encana. It’s about the broader decline of the Canadian energy industry, which I think is a deliberate policy of the Trudeau government.” . Other energy players further cranked up the crisis narrative. Cenovus Energy CEO Alex Pourbaix called the move “a tragedy for Canada.” Former Encana boss Gwyn Morgan, self-described most powerful man in the oil patch and Fraser Institute alumnus, lamented: “The destructive policies of the Trudeau Liberals have left the company with no choice but to shift its asset base and capital program south of the border. Now, its re-election strikes the final blow.” Beyond the oil sector echo chamber lies the actual history of Encana; a story sadly emblematic of Canadian resource giveaways dating back long before Confederation. In 1867, P.E.I. and British Columbia remained British colonies. The Hudson’s Bay Company controlled an area larger than India, stretching from northern Quebec to what would become Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905. This vast monopoly domain was granted by Royal decree 200 years earlier, ignoring Indigenous occupation that pre-dated the trans-Atlantic pen stroke by many millennia. In 1869, the Hudson’s Bay Company agreed to relinquish its vast gratis territory to the young Canadian government in exchange for $1.5 million and deeded ownership of all its settlements. The company also kept five per cent of the most fertile prairie farmland amounting to almost 200,000 square kilometres, an area larger than present day Syria. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his Conservative party sought to bankroll a railway to the West Coast and reached out to friendly corporate interests eager to land the massive contract. An ensuing bribery scandal involved almost every member of the Tory caucus and caused Canada’s second elected government to resign in disgrace. After Macdonald was returned to power in 1878, his government signed a deal with the newly incorporated Canadian Pacific Railway Company several years later to finish the project for $25 million plus track previously completed, worth at least that much. In addition, CPR was granted 25 million acres of Crown land on either side of the rail right of way — again ignoring Indigenous title — and excused from paying property taxes for 20 years. In all, CPR came away with lucrative land holdings larger than South Korea, which it gainfully sold to settlers riding its railway west. What does this have to do with Encana? Around 1902, CPR bean counters realized that coal and petroleum rights were a profitable sideline, so they started to withhold subsurface mineral rights from the company’s land sales. By 1958, Canadian Pacific Oil and Gas was incorporated as a CPR subsidiary, which later became PanCanadian Petroleum. By 2000, PanCanadian was the most active driller in North America with operating income of $1.7 billion — more than double that of the railway division. The company created to build the National Dream had morphed into a resource titan based on a titanic land giveaway 100 years earlier. In 2001, the parent corporation Canadian Pacific split into five separate companies, including Fording Coal, soon sold to Teck Cominco for a tidy US$14 billion. A year later, PanCanadian Petroleum merged with the Alberta Energy Company to create Encana headed by Gwyn Morgan, now lamenting the loss of Canadian energy institutions. Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed’s government had launched the Alberta Energy Company with public money and land in 1973 as a way to jumpstart development in the oil sands and increase benefits to Albertans from their natural bounty. Around the same time, Ottawa incorporated Petro-Canada as a Crown corporation to have a federal public player in energy sector. However, Alberta has proved oddly hostile to moving beyond the passive role of rent taker. Petro-Canada was despised in the oil patch — its headquarters derided as Red Square before both Crown corporation and headquarters were swallowed by Suncor. One of the first actions of newly elected premier Ralph Klein was to sell off the public stake in Alberta Energy Company in 1993. Losing the only provincial public player on the field back in 1993 meant that the Alberta government lost the capacity to ground-truth a highly complex industry it was allegedly regulating. The province has since seen 5.6 billion barrels of conventional crude production worth US$316 billion at current prices, and is somehow $66 billion in debt. The crocodile tears now being shed in the oil patch about Canadian resource sovereignty are rather rich. After absorbing Alberta Energy Company, Encana embarked on a program of asset liquidation. Encana’s oil holdings — including oil sands expertise developed at public expense — were spun off to create Cenovus in 2009. The oil patch fire sale continues. This year Kenney slashed provincial coffers to give corporations a four-per-cent tax break. Husky Energy responded by firing hundreds of workers while posting a $233 million one-time tax windfall. What was left of Encana had already decided to decamp to the U.S., where it need not witness the budgetary chaos its founding province created as an unrequited enticement. Public pearl clutching from Kenney and other self-serving industry insiders do nothing to quell the dangerous separatist flames they themselves have stoked among unnerved oil workers facing global forces beyond their control. Not even the Globe and Mail could hold its nose in the face of such revisionist histrionics, stating in an editorial: “Blaming Encana’s failures on Ottawa is inaccurate and unfair. Its decline, and the decision to move its head office, stem from poor choices made in a Calgary boardroom a decade ago.” More than that, the endgame of Encana is sadly consistent with Canada’s corrupt and cowardly history around resource management, or lack thereof. More than a century after Sir John A. carved up the country with the railway barons of the day, grotesque government giveaways seem still the norm, while respect for First Nations has moved little beyond land acknowledgement lip service. Albertans, and all Canadians, have every right to be enraged about squandered opportunities and wasted resource wealth. Just make sure that history informs us about where to focus that anger. https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2019/11/08/Alberta-History-Squandered-Opportunities/ As I said a week ago: On 11/1/2019 at 9:16 AM, aGENT said: My knowledge is just fine thanks. All I see is a continuing abdication of any responsibility for 'Alberta's' part in this mess. I already stated that both sides are partially to blame including the arrogance of people like Lalonde on the 'East'/Federal side. But instead of dealing with people like him as adults, Alberta collectively decided (no doubt urged on by self serving politicians, likely bought by US oil companies who eventually benefited from this) to race to the bottom, with childish antics and tantrums over adult discussion and compromise. You're not mere innocent victims here, you were active participants in this fiasco. Until you guys get over that hurdle and acknowledge your part in all this, this discussion (whether here on a hockey forum or in actual, real life politics) will go nowhere productive. I mean "Unfortunately the group you are using fantasy what if's to defend has no interest in allowing the west to succeed." What a line of horse$&!#. The sad part of this is how many of you seem to actually believe that brand of garbage. And sorry, I'm not going to agree that we shouldn't have sold oil within Canada at a discounted rate etc. That's precisely how you nation build. Could you have perhaps negotiated for 'better' terms? Sure. But the overall plan (perhaps tweaked with some adult discussion and compromise) is exactly what we should have done. Sell and move discounted Canadian oil throughout Canada to Canadian refineries to supply our country with inexpensive fuel to power the economy, ship goods across it and invite investment. Sell any excess, higher value product, at global market prices to foreign countries. We all would have been WAY further ahead. 'Alberta' included. But you guys decided to take your ball and go home and sell to the US instead at basically those same discounted rates so they could build THEIR economy instead. What exactly did you 'win' there? It was INCREDIBLY short sighted. You were (and continue to be) played for suckers by US fat cats. I get it, that's hard to admit (nobody likes being taken advantage of or admitting they were outsmarted and swindled) but it's the entire reason for you're ongoing victim complex you collectively can't seem to get over. And the continuing inability to accept that responsibility and the fact that they have - and continue to be - used as pawns for fat cats, to the detriment of their own country and people, will evidently continue to haunt this country for generations. That this all goes back as far as the birth of CPR and people STILL haven't learned, is all the more tragic. But the rest of us are the one's who 'don't get it it' 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 8 hours ago, kingofsurrey said: Great read Encana’s flight south only the latest example of Canada’s corrupt legacy of resource giveaways. ‘The endgame of Encana is sadly consistent with Canada’s corrupt and cowardly history around resource management, or lack thereof.’ The exit of Encana to the U.S. seemed like another opportunity for Alberta to heap blame on Ottawa for the self-inflicted shambles of provincial finances. Premier Jason Kenney wasted no time in again playing the dog-eared victim card: “It’s not just about Encana. It’s about the broader decline of the Canadian energy industry, which I think is a deliberate policy of the Trudeau government.” . Other energy players further cranked up the crisis narrative. Cenovus Energy CEO Alex Pourbaix called the move “a tragedy for Canada.” Former Encana boss Gwyn Morgan, self-described most powerful man in the oil patch and Fraser Institute alumnus, lamented: “The destructive policies of the Trudeau Liberals have left the company with no choice but to shift its asset base and capital program south of the border. Now, its re-election strikes the final blow.” Beyond the oil sector echo chamber lies the actual history of Encana; a story sadly emblematic of Canadian resource giveaways dating back long before Confederation. In 1867, P.E.I. and British Columbia remained British colonies. The Hudson’s Bay Company controlled an area larger than India, stretching from northern Quebec to what would become Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905. This vast monopoly domain was granted by Royal decree 200 years earlier, ignoring Indigenous occupation that pre-dated the trans-Atlantic pen stroke by many millennia. In 1869, the Hudson’s Bay Company agreed to relinquish its vast gratis territory to the young Canadian government in exchange for $1.5 million and deeded ownership of all its settlements. The company also kept five per cent of the most fertile prairie farmland amounting to almost 200,000 square kilometres, an area larger than present day Syria. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his Conservative party sought to bankroll a railway to the West Coast and reached out to friendly corporate interests eager to land the massive contract. An ensuing bribery scandal involved almost every member of the Tory caucus and caused Canada’s second elected government to resign in disgrace. After Macdonald was returned to power in 1878, his government signed a deal with the newly incorporated Canadian Pacific Railway Company several years later to finish the project for $25 million plus track previously completed, worth at least that much. In addition, CPR was granted 25 million acres of Crown land on either side of the rail right of way — again ignoring Indigenous title — and excused from paying property taxes for 20 years. In all, CPR came away with lucrative land holdings larger than South Korea, which it gainfully sold to settlers riding its railway west. What does this have to do with Encana? Around 1902, CPR bean counters realized that coal and petroleum rights were a profitable sideline, so they started to withhold subsurface mineral rights from the company’s land sales. By 1958, Canadian Pacific Oil and Gas was incorporated as a CPR subsidiary, which later became PanCanadian Petroleum. By 2000, PanCanadian was the most active driller in North America with operating income of $1.7 billion — more than double that of the railway division. The company created to build the National Dream had morphed into a resource titan based on a titanic land giveaway 100 years earlier. In 2001, the parent corporation Canadian Pacific split into five separate companies, including Fording Coal, soon sold to Teck Cominco for a tidy US$14 billion. A year later, PanCanadian Petroleum merged with the Alberta Energy Company to create Encana headed by Gwyn Morgan, now lamenting the loss of Canadian energy institutions. Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed’s government had launched the Alberta Energy Company with public money and land in 1973 as a way to jumpstart development in the oil sands and increase benefits to Albertans from their natural bounty. Around the same time, Ottawa incorporated Petro-Canada as a Crown corporation to have a federal public player in energy sector. However, Alberta has proved oddly hostile to moving beyond the passive role of rent taker. Petro-Canada was despised in the oil patch — its headquarters derided as Red Square before both Crown corporation and headquarters were swallowed by Suncor. One of the first actions of newly elected premier Ralph Klein was to sell off the public stake in Alberta Energy Company in 1993. Losing the only provincial public player on the field back in 1993 meant that the Alberta government lost the capacity to ground-truth a highly complex industry it was allegedly regulating. The province has since seen 5.6 billion barrels of conventional crude production worth US$316 billion at current prices, and is somehow $66 billion in debt. The crocodile tears now being shed in the oil patch about Canadian resource sovereignty are rather rich. After absorbing Alberta Energy Company, Encana embarked on a program of asset liquidation. Encana’s oil holdings — including oil sands expertise developed at public expense — were spun off to create Cenovus in 2009. The oil patch fire sale continues. This year Kenney slashed provincial coffers to give corporations a four-per-cent tax break. Husky Energy responded by firing hundreds of workers while posting a $233 million one-time tax windfall. What was left of Encana had already decided to decamp to the U.S., where it need not witness the budgetary chaos its founding province created as an unrequited enticement. Public pearl clutching from Kenney and other self-serving industry insiders do nothing to quell the dangerous separatist flames they themselves have stoked among unnerved oil workers facing global forces beyond their control. Not even the Globe and Mail could hold its nose in the face of such revisionist histrionics, stating in an editorial: “Blaming Encana’s failures on Ottawa is inaccurate and unfair. Its decline, and the decision to move its head office, stem from poor choices made in a Calgary boardroom a decade ago.” More than that, the endgame of Encana is sadly consistent with Canada’s corrupt and cowardly history around resource management, or lack thereof. More than a century after Sir John A. carved up the country with the railway barons of the day, grotesque government giveaways seem still the norm, while respect for First Nations has moved little beyond land acknowledgement lip service. Albertans, and all Canadians, have every right to be enraged about squandered opportunities and wasted resource wealth. Just make sure that history informs us about where to focus that anger. https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2019/11/08/Alberta-History-Squandered-Opportunities/ It's the Type, so taken with a grain of biased salt but their facts are right and they're not wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted November 10, 2019 Author Share Posted November 10, 2019 So its becoming clear that the AB and federal CPC/reformers are going full fight mode vs. taking any kind of compromise approach to this next session of minority federal governing. Kenney and the band of old Reformers have come up with something so dangerously stupid its hard to believe this is where the "West" is at for political thinking. The Kenney-Manning "fair new deal" wants the items below. The worst idea for Albertans is changing to a provincial pension plan. If they actually do that I'd certainly flee the region before my pension got caught up in that ridiculousness. The rest is just unachievable blow hardness or meaningless acts. The dangerous part (outside of pensions) is that this is setting up decades more empty anger. -- Some measures the new Fair Deal Panel will study include: Establishing a provincial revenue agency by ending Alberta's Federal-Provincial Tax Collection Agreement. Withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan and establishing a provincial plan. Ending the province's relationship with the RCMP and creating a provincial police force. Opting out of federal cost-sharing programs. Seeking an exchange of tax points for federal cash transfer. Establishing a formal provincial constitution. Appointing a Chief Firearms Office for the province. "We must maintain leverage over the federal government over the next two years to ensure completed of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion," Kenney said. "We must use wisdom to carefully stage each element of this fight for fairness." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-fair-deal-panel-1.5354642 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 14 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said: "We must use wisdom Too late, they already went in the opposite direction. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted November 10, 2019 Author Share Posted November 10, 2019 6 minutes ago, gurn said: Too late, they already went in the opposite direction. the funniest part is Kenney claiming this is all necessary to get TMX built. Watch him take credit for it when its completed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 34 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said: So its becoming clear that the AB and federal CPC/reformers are going full fight mode vs. taking any kind of compromise approach to this next session of minority federal governing. Kenney and the band of old Reformers have come up with something so dangerously stupid its hard to believe this is where the "West" is at for political thinking. The Kenney-Manning "fair new deal" wants the items below. The worst idea for Albertans is changing to a provincial pension plan. If they actually do that I'd certainly flee the region before my pension got caught up in that ridiculousness. The rest is just unachievable blow hardness or meaningless acts. The dangerous part (outside of pensions) is that this is setting up decades more empty anger. -- Some measures the new Fair Deal Panel will study include: Establishing a provincial revenue agency by ending Alberta's Federal-Provincial Tax Collection Agreement. Withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan and establishing a provincial plan. Ending the province's relationship with the RCMP and creating a provincial police force. Opting out of federal cost-sharing programs. Seeking an exchange of tax points for federal cash transfer. Establishing a formal provincial constitution. Appointing a Chief Firearms Office for the province. "We must maintain leverage over the federal government over the next two years to ensure completed of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion," Kenney said. "We must use wisdom to carefully stage each element of this fight for fairness." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-fair-deal-panel-1.5354642 Actually all of those are smart moves. 15 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said: the funniest part is Kenney claiming this is all necessary to get TMX built. Watch him take credit for it when its completed. Governments of the day always take credit for good news and blame bad news on others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted November 10, 2019 Author Share Posted November 10, 2019 1 minute ago, Ryan Strome said: Actually all of those are smart moves. Governments of the day always take credit for good news and blame bad news on others. they're terrible and/or totally unachievable in some cases RS. The pension one is scary. Anyone under 30 should flee AB if Kenney gets his way on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Strome Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 36 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said: they're terrible and/or totally unachievable in some cases RS. The pension one is scary. Anyone under 30 should flee AB if Kenney gets his way on that. Actually I support that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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