Alliance aims to restore Alberta ’s mojo

So many heavy issues are pounding Alberta’s economy these days it often feels like we’re stuck inside a car during a hailstorm.

Problems keep hammering against the roof with a thud: high unemployment, falling investment, pipeline woes, carbon constraints, low commodity prices, difficult federal legislation and, in the latest turn, China suspending meat imports from this country. As oilpatch legend Jim Gray said earlier this week: “We are kind of losing our mojo.”

Gray wasn’t saying it in a despairing way, but acknowledging we need to reverse course and get our confidence back.

An opinion poll shows the depths of the funk.

One in four Albertans surveyed earlier this spring believe the economy is getting worse, according to the poll conducted by Janet Brown Opinion Research. Just 23 per cent think it’s starting to recover, down from 45 per cent in the spring of 2018, according to the poll conducted in late April and early May.

When asked about their own household situation, only 17 per cent of the 900 Albertans surveyed said it was better compared to a year ago; fully onethird said it’s worse.

With oil prices closing near US$60 a barrel on Wednesday and last week’s approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, a few promising signs are emerging.

So what can be done to get our mojo back?

That question is one of the reasons a high-powered group of chief executives and entrepreneurs is launching a new group — the Business Council of Alberta — on Thursday, unveiling a non-profit organization that strives to build a more prosperous province.

The council’s founders include ATCO chief executive Nancy Southern, TransAlta Corp. CEO Dawn Farrell, ARC Financial founder Mac Van Wielingen and Coril Holdings founder and chair emeritus Ron Mannix. Oilpatch veteran Hal Kvisle, the former CEO of TransCanada Corp. and current chair of ARC Resources, will serve as the council’s chair.

“What we wanted to create was an organization that had senior leaders, not just from multiple industries in Alberta, but from across Alberta geographically,” Kvisle said in an interview.

Adam Legge, former president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, is the council’s founding president as the group kicks off with an announcement Thursday.

The Business Council of Alberta has more than 40 senior executives and companies already on board and aspires to grow its membership to include the top 10 firms in each of the 10 largest industries in the province.

Among its initial members are Enbridge, WestJet, Shaw Communications, Nutrien, Boardwalk REIT and Suncor Energy.

Legge said the organization will be different from other think-tanks or business organizations, representing an array of industries, digging into a limited number of policy issues and adopting a longer-term view toward improving Alberta.

The group will release a paper this week that looks at creating sustainable success in the province, including an examination of environmental, social and governance issues. The council intends to develop a new prosperity index and wants to establish a task force on skills and training.

“At our core, we will be a public policy and research organization that is focused on some of the long-term projects of shared prosperity for Alberta,” he said.

There are similar business councils in the country, both at the national level and in provinces such as B.C. and Manitoba.

Business Council of Canada CEO Goldy Hyder was in Edmonton on Wednesday and, while there’s no formal affiliation with the Alberta group, he said there is “a partnership . . . at a time of great urgency.”

“There is an urgency to a lot of the problems that are being felt in Alberta,” said Hyder.

There can be little doubt on that point.

Investment in the energy industry is falling and concerns about federal legislation such as Bill C-69 have created consternation in the province and beyond.

Farrell, who is also on the national council’s board, said the group needs to tackle issues head on and work to rebuild confidence in the province.

Turning around attitudes, like bringing back investment, won’t happen immediately.

Like trying to steer a ship, the key is to get pointed in the right direction and keep a firm eye on the course ahead.

Let’s hope the journey back has finally begun.