CARR VS. WALL: IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr says the new federal budget does “quite a bit” for Canada’s ailing oilpatch.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says there are words of support, “but there’s not action.”
Carr insists new programs will fund research, innovation and other initiatives to reduce industry emissions. Wall says that won’t help the unemployed contractor in his hometown of Swift Current find work.
Carr says the Liberal government understands the economic pain being felt in Alberta and Saskatchewan due to the oil and gas price slide.
Wall says if Ottawa wanted to help, it should have earmarked money to clean up old oil and gas wells to create jobs.
I could go on, but you get the point.
Two prairie politicians — one Liberal, the other a conservative — are smack dab in the centre of a debate over how best to respond to the energy industry’s current troubles. There are deep differences over what should be done as Canada’s oilpatch trudges through its worst downturn since the 1980s.
It’s a tumultuous period for oil-producing provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past year, unemployment insurance claims soared 91 per cent in Alberta, 41 per cent in Saskatchewan, and 12 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Since October 2014, paid employment in Alberta has declined by about 65,000 jobs. The federal budget estimates more than 95 per cent of the positions were lost in industries directly related to the oilpatch.
In an interview from Winnipeg, Carr notes the government has little control over industry investment or prices, but says Tuesday’s budget will pull several levers to assist both the sector and its workers.
He lists off $82.5 million to support R&D and demonstration of clean energy technologies, and $62.5 million over two years to help deploy infrastructure for alternative transportation fuels.
There’s $50 million to invest in technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector, and a new $2-billion Low Carbon Economy Fund.
For unemployed workers, the government has overhauled employment insurance at a cost of $2.5 billion.
It’s boosting the length of benefits by five weeks for workers — and providing an additional 20 weeks to long-tenured employees — in 12 hard-hit regions, including most of Alberta, although not the Edmonton area.
Saskatoon and northern Saskatchewan are also included, but not southern parts of that province where the oil and gas sector drives employment.
“We understand very well the pain that’s going on in Alberta, in parts of Saskatchewan,” says Carr, MP for Winnipeg South Centre. “We know that this cycle is creating hardship for people across the country, particularly in Alberta, and that the government has some fiscal tools it can use to blunt the impact …
“So yes, the federal government is very aware of the consequences this has on people and their lives.”
While on a drive between Moose Jaw and Swift Current and in the middle of a provincial election campaign, Wall isn’t convinced. He notes EI enhancements don’t cover two-thirds of his province’s oilpatch.
He also pitched the idea of the federal government providing $156 million to speed up the remediation of old wells to provide jobs for about 1,200 oilfield workers. In Alberta, the Petroleum Services Association of Canada made a similar suggestion for a well cleanup program, with some support from Premier Rachel Notley.
There was no federal funding for the idea.
“This is a very disappointing budget,” says Wall.
“The federal government has said they understand the energy sector challenges and they were going to act on it, but have simply failed to follow through on their words. Right now, it’s just words.”
Carr says if provinces feel strongly about cleaning up old wells, something normally covered by petroleum producers, the premiers can talk to Ottawa about using their incoming infrastructure money for it.
“This is up to Premier Wall. If Premier Wall wants to put well reclamation at the top of his priority list for infrastructure spending, then that’s what he should do,” the federal minister says.
The same holds true for Alberta. “Well, if the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan say this is a priority item for them, then the government of Canada will listen carefully to that priority.”
Wall contends his province hasn’t seen any additional infrastructure money, other than its normal per-capita allotment.