Notley says investors want action
International investors have urged the Alberta government to move quickly on planned changes to the province’s royalty regime and climate change policy, Premier Rachel Notley said Tuesday.
“They were certainly very interested in what we have to say — it was not surprising but also encouraging,” Notley told journalists during a conference call after her meeting with energy investors in New York earlier in the day.
“What they are looking for is stability and they are looking to hear that the Alberta government remains committed to welcoming investment and supporting a strong economic climate that would encourage investment.”
Oil and gas investments have slowed down as the global indus- try weathers a dramatic decline in prices. In addition, the NDP government, elected this past May, set up panels to review the province’s royalty regime and climate change policies, further keeping investors on the sidelines.
The two separate panels are expected to submit their recom- mendations to the government by December.
“When it comes to climate change and royalties, they (the investors) basically urged us to move forward relatively quickly and we indicated to them that’s exactly what we are doing,” she said.
Notley, who is on a trip to central Canada and the United States to drum up investor interest in Alberta, also dismissed suggestions her climate change policy was at odds with federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair’s national cap-and-trade system proposal.
On Monday, she told a business audience in Montreal that “a national cap-and-trade program may not be our best road forward.”
Notley said Tuesday the province will devise “a climate change strategy that ensures that capital remains in Alberta and is reinvested in Alberta into areas of renewable energy and others and that we see that as aligning with the framework that was outlined by Tom (Mulcair) on the weekend.”
The federal NDP has said it will not impose its national plan on provinces as long as they exceed or equal federal targets.
Notley, who opposes TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline, told investors in New York the province is aware “competition for investors’ dollars is fierce.”
“And I can assure you that we do not take them for granted,” she said during a speech organized by Royal Bank of Canada. “Our government will deliver the certainty investors seek. There will be no unpredictable changes.”
The premier said taking action on climate change is the price of admission to the big leagues of the world energy market.
“Previous governments have talked the talk but they failed to walk the walk. The energy industry has shown innovation and determination, but they haven’t had a cohesive policy framework to work in. We need to do better, and we will.”
Our government will deliver the certainty investors seek. There will be no unpredictable changes.
Aquilini Group, which owns the Vancouver Canucks NHL franchise, and is proposing an oilsands pipeline between Fort McMurray, Alta. and Prince Rupert, B.C. at an estimated cost of $14 billion.
The letter included the signature of Lax Kw’alaams hereditary chief Alexander Campbell, whose First Nation’s traditional territory includes Prince Rupert — the terminal point for Eagle Spirit’s proposed oil pipeline and marine terminal.
Various Lax Kw’alaams members, including the community’s mayor, said in June that Eagle Spirit was overstating First Nations support in the area.
However, Campbell said the group now supports Eagle Spirit, after a community meeting was held with the company in a local gymnasium this summer.
“They gave us time to ask questions, and a lot of people asked questions, and when they were here in Prince Rupert. I got up and said, ‘I don’t see how we can let this one bypass us,’” Campbell said.
In May, Lax Kw’alaams members voted against a $1-billion deal with Malaysia’s state-owned energy company, Petronas, over the construction of a liquefied natural gas facility in the area.
Campbell confirmed that Eagle Spirit is offering First Nations equity ownership in the pipeline in addition to business opportunities, educational opportunities and various other community benefits, such as support for the community’s seniors.
Eagle Spirit has yet to disclose the final details of its proposed pipeline route, but the company’s news release said “the parties are presently working together to determine the final route and towards the completion of final binding agreements.”
The company also established a chiefs’ council, which Campbell said would vet any and all development decisions related to the pipeline.
“As meaningful participants and owners of the Eagle Spirit project, we know that our economic future, as well as that of the Canadian economy, is best served by ensuring that oil can reach markets abroad in the safest way possible,” said Wesley Sam, the chiefs’ council representative in a release.
“We refuse to see oil shipped by rail through our traditional territories,” he said.