SANTA COMES BEARING GIFTS FOR CITY’S BUSINESS LEADERS
Premier Notley leads the nice list with her cross-Canada efforts to promote pipelines
Santa doesn’t normally dole out gifts before Christmas Day, but this year he’s decided to arrive ahead of deadline.
Pondering the past year, there are many individuals and companies that made a mark on 2017, good and bad. And, as always, some will receive the gift of advice in the spirit of the season.
With 2017 drawing to a close, oil pipelines are at, or close, to capacity. Despite federal government approvals, a pipeline to open access to new markets for Alberta is not yet a reality. In fact, two projects were officially iced this year — Northern Gateway and Energy East. Two others that were approved, Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion and TransCanada’s Keystone XL, have yet to see shovels in the ground.
The lack of progress has galvanized Premier Rachel Notley, who recently completed a cross-Canada road show speaking about the energy sector’s importance to Canada’s economy.
For her efforts, the premier is deserving of two gifts. The first is a stuffed lion, because, like Daniel, she went into the metaphorical lion’s den of Vancouver to speak about the importance of the Trans Mountain expansion and, against all odds, received a standing ovation. Her second present would be the actual pipeline, with shovels in the ground and work well underway in 2018.
Next on Santa’s list is newly elected United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney, who has made no secret of wanting to eliminate the provincial carbon tax. For him, Santa is giving the gift of mentorship by Calgary businessman Jim Gray, who is known for looking to the horizon for opportunities or to overcome challenges, rather than wistfully gazing in the rear-view mirror, trying to recapture a lost past.
Santa has been nothing short of gobsmacked by Finance Minister Joe Ceci’s reactions to credit rating downgrades. His rather defensive response to the recent downgrade by Dominion Bond Rating Service did not address the agency’s concerns about the absence of a plan to balance Alberta’s budget. This Christmas, Santa would like to give Ceci a one-on-one crash course in finance to be taught by Mike Tims, vice-chairman of Matco Investments, and the paterfamilias of the finance community.
Since 2010, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce has been led by the youngest president in its 120-year history. But after seven years, Adam Legge is stepping down to pursue new opportunities at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business. Legge has represented the interests of Calgary businesses and made the chamber relevant again as a credible voice in addressing myriad issues, including the 2013 floods, government taxation, the recession and mental health. For someone who has worked tirelessly to make a difference, he gets a bottle of Yellow Spot Whiskey to enjoy at his leisure.
Through the efforts of Mary Moran and Calgary Economic Development, this city has embarked on a journey to economic diversification. Moran, with Mayor Naheed Nenshi, travelled to Silicon Valley and has sought input and advice from near and far.
This helped bring Rocket Space, the San Francisco-based tech accelerator for startups, to downtown Calgary and culminated with a bid to become home to the second headquarters of Seattle-based Amazon. Calgary will be in a better place for all the work done to prepare for the bid, even if it’s not successful. For all that and CED’s ad campaign stating Calgary would fight a bear on Amazon’s behalf, Moran receives a hiker’s safety package, complete with bear spray and a trap.
Cenovus CEO Brian Ferguson surprised the oilpatch and Bay Street in June when he announced he would step down in October after 33 years with the company and its predecessors. Now with some time on his hands, Ferguson will receive the latest BMC road bike, along with a trip to the Hotel Belvedere in Italy, from where he can experience some of the planet’s best road cycling.
For a while in 2017, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. was gobbling up assets. In March, it acquired the oilsands assets of Shell and Marathon Oil for $12.74 billion. It followed that with the purchase of Cenovus’ Pelican Lake properties for close to $1 billion in September. If history is any indication, Santa knows CNQ will continue to be on the hunt for attractively priced opportunities that consolidate its oilsands position. For that reason, Santa is gifting the company its own Pac Man arcade game.
In early August, the oilpatch was shocked by the passing of Rick George, who was instrumental in transforming the oilsands. George was as passionate about Suncor — which he led for 21 years — as he was about showing the world the oilsands could be developed in an environmentally responsible manner. Santa believes a research chair should be established at the University of Calgary in his memory that focuses on all factors important to a strong energy sector: environmental stewardship, operational excellence, Indigenous relations and public policy.
Despite the economy’s slow recovery, 51,000 people took the Calgary Counselling Centre’s annual depression screening survey in October — a five-fold increase from 2016 and a clear indicator of the stress that continues to manifest in this city. Sadly, if one event made Calgarians pay attention to the mental health challenges faced by many in this city, it was the death of George Gosbee.
As Brett Wilson recently wrote in this paper for the Herald’s Christmas Fund campaign, let’s make sure 2018 is a year where we move to action on mental health, rather than only speak of thoughts and prayers.
That would be the best gift of all.
Santa has been nothing short of gobsmacked by Finance Minister Joe Ceci’s reactions to credit rating downgrades.