Lougheed hasn’t received recognition he deserves

LETTERS

Have you ever acted on a dream? I woke up fantasizing about the need for recognition for an unheralded Alberta hero, the hard-working Peter Lougheed, who has not received the recognition he truly deserves.

A good friend (numbers buddy) of mine recently told me we are still giving away about $3.5 million per minute to the many foreign oil giants, even at $50 a barrel.

I recall the stories of Peter’s leaving playing football, after finishing university, and having a chat with a former editor of The Herald, employed now with The Devoir, and asking him how to get into politics. He advised Peter to join the Alberta Conservative Party; even a three-legged donkey can get into that party.

His success was fast, and when the Fort McMurray tarsands started, he predicated a 30-year boom for Alberta’s families with a 30 per cent royalty regimen. His prediction of that fair royalty evaporated through the 44 years of Conservative governing in Alberta and the golden goose was given away, predictably, back to the many parasitic oil giants. The Lougheed 30 per cent was reduced to a mere seven to nine per cent by the Ralph Klein empire. My query to the auditor general of Alberta revealed that our royalty rates in fact were seven to nine per cent and that we were still paying back (subsidizing) the same oil companies about half of the received royalties. This proves why our Heritage Fund is only around $10 billion, compared to about $3.25 trillion that the Norwegian government has stashed in their fund, from the advice of our shamefully forgotten hero, Peter Lougheed.

My dream and resolve is that there should be an emblem of sorts, perhaps a 20-foot shrine erected at the footsteps of our Alberta Legislature. To this end, I will be the first to contribute a fair sum to start this most deserving fund to be held by some volunteering bank institution and to celebrate my 95th birthday.

To change the subject to today’s political scene, do you think Mr. Kenney and his “Unite the Right” same-old 45-year-old party will atone and apologize to Albertans for the giveaway of the hundreds of billions of their Heritage wealth? They are depending on the memory loss of Albertans.

Albertans know why they threw out the right-wing Conservatives, united or not! Let’s give the new government a chance while they wrestle with the gigantic deficit and minuscule royalty income.

Frank J. Toth

Lethbridge