Opposition jumps on Shell oilsands divestment to attack NDP policies

When news broke this week that Shell was selling almost all of its oilsands assets in the province, Alberta’s opposition parties pilloried the deal with something resembling verbal muscle memory.

“Shell is waving goodbye to Alberta ... The premier’s plan is not working,” Opposition leader Brian Jean said during question period, in a familiar refrain.

In a legislature hallway, Progressive Conservative interim leader Ric McIver told reporters the sale is a sign of the times.

“The government is decidedly not business-friendly. And a lot businesses that have been here for a long time are making a decision to have smaller investments in Alberta,” said McIver.

Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous fired back, defending the government and accusing the opposition of misleading Albertans.

“It’s quite irresponsible and, in fact, it’s actually hurting the investment climate in the province,” said Bilous.

The political discussion, mostly revolving around who to blame, bore little resemblance to the debate outside the legislature dome.

Albertans should get used to that, said Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt. The carbon tax, and its consequences, will be the big political issue for the opposition until the 2019 election, he said.

“Every bad thing that happens in the province will be tied to the carbon tax and any good thing would’ ve happened anyway. So they’re trying to have it both ways,” said Bratt.

For their part, Shell executives said the sale was part of a broader refocusing of the company’s priorities and a massive divestment program to pay down debt.

And not every oilsands transaction is a definite positive or negative for the province, said Jennifer Win- ter, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Calgary.

“It’s easy to perceive this as negative because so much of our energy news these days is negative,” said Winter. “These asset deals really do happen all the time ... For us, it’s a big deal, but for the rest of the world, it’s a bit of a shrug.”

With Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. buying most of Shell’s assets, one thing it does mean is that Canadian firms now dominate the oilsands. So far, the markets seem to think that’s not a bad thing. CNRL’s stock price rose about 10 per cent Thursday, after the deal was announced.

“That indicates that the markets think that CNRL is the better owner of the assets. In that sense, that’s good for the oilsands and good for Alberta,” said Winter.

It’s worth examining why Shell left, just as much as it’s worth asking why CNRL chose to make such a big investment in the oilsands, said Andrew Leach, a professor of economics at the University of Alberta, and one of the architects of the province’s Climate Leadership Plan, which included a carbon tax.

“CNRL certainly sees enough value to, for all intents and purposes, bet their company on this transaction,” he said.