Bay Street warms to Alberta message during Kenney visit
Premier shares plans to swiftly establish province’s ‘open for business’ credentials
Jason Kenney used his first major speech as Alberta’s premier to try to convince Bay Street that what’s good for Alberta is good for all of Canada — a message that appeared to land on receptive ears.
The self-proclaimed federalist, who often took a combative stance while campaigning on pledges to go after those who hurt Alberta’s oil and gas industry, stressed common ground at a packed luncheon in Toronto on Friday, where he said the health of the energy sector is “a Canadian issue.”
The standing ovation that greetedhim surprised even K en ney, who laid out his plans to move quickly to establish Alberta’s “open for business” credentials with tax cuts and regulatory relief to speed up approvals.
“I was frankly blown away by the response,” he said in an interview following the speech, adding that he has already heard that some capital spending and real estate decisions are being “unfrozen” in the wake of the election victory of his United Conservative Party last month.
But while appealing to Bay Street is key to his plan to make Alberta “the most pro-business jurisdiction in Canada,” Kenney did not back off some targets that could chip away at that support.
Among them is HSBC Holdings PLC, a global bank that had indicated it would stop funding oilsands projects or pipelines connected to them. Kenney also targeted large institutional investors, who he criticized for taking too narrow a view when making investment decisions based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations.
“We think simply scoring carbon output is far too narrow a criteria for investors or public policy,” Kenney told the Financial Post, adding that he believes not enough weight is being given to social impacts such as labour rights, human rights and Indigenous rights, as well as environmental impacts beyond emissions.
“We are going to make the case to major institutional shareholders in Toronto, New York, and Europe that they need a broader matrix to make ethical investment decisions,” he said.
Kenney renewed his attack on HSBC, which he called a “high-profile hypocrite” on the issue. He pledged to try to recruit other provinces in retaliating against the decision not to fund oilsands projects by boycotting all government business with the global bank.
“We’ll no longer accept the application of a double standard to our energy industry,” Kenney said. “But we’re sure as heck not going to allow them to (go unchallenged as they) finance Putin and Saudi (Arabia) while boycotting Canada.”
HSBC has pledged to continue doing business in Canada in the face of Kenney’s attacks. The Alberta premier told the Financial Post he doesn’t think he has to worry about a similar fight with Canada’s large domestic banks.
“A third of their book (of business) is based on energy (companies). They absolutely need them, and the Canadian economy needs us,” Kenney said. “So that’s my message today. It’s about shared prosperity, and the Canadian financial services industry — the banking industry — is inextricably linked to the Alberta energy sector.”
Kenney met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford before his speech in Toronto on Friday, and he said the pair bonded on their shared “open for business” attitude.