Debates of Feb. 8th, 2017

Job Losses in the Energy Sector

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Chair, I thank the member for his excellent synopsis of what is really happening in Alberta.

We have a provincial government that feels we are fighting against it. We have a federal government that feels we are fighting against it. Things like carbon taxes are not helping.

Back in 2016 the province lost a total of almost 53,000 jobs. That is 53,000 people. The sad part is, 35.6% of those losses were people aged 34 or younger. Those people will go on and find a job, whether it be in the U.S. or a different country, but they will not come back. We have lost them. They have moved on. We can give all the platitudes we want about the child care benefit, but it does not help them. At the end of the day, those are real stories from real Albertans, and that is why we are having this debate tonight.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Chair, we know about the crisis in Alberta. We know that the crisis across Canada is rising unemployment, but surely, I can put the question to my colleagues.

I am hearing from Albertans, including oil sands workers. They are fed up with the boom and bust oil economy.

I am saying this in all seriousness, I am hearing this from constituents. Is it not time that we stopped relying on the up and down price of oil and started to move to real investments, to a diversified economy, including a diversified energy economy?

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Chair, I am glad to welcome my colleague from the NDP to the debate. We share the same city. I am glad she has heard from Albertans. The counterpart in her constituency provincially happens to be the premier. I would suggest she has a significant amount of pull on that end.

However, it is funny. She raises the boom and bust cycle. She is essentially campaigning for a bust cycle with the way that New Democrats are running the province with the carbon tax and the minimum wage. We could go on about the provincial NDP, but again, this is about how we help Albertans and what that side of the House will do to help us.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Chair, I rise tonight as the member of Parliament for the people of Calgary Rocky Ridge. As a Calgarian and Albertan, I witnessed an economic catastrophe unfolding in my riding. These are my friends, my neighbours, my former business clients, my fellow Albertans who are suffering from the effects of a devastating economic downturn.

This January, I met with unemployed workers and employers as part of our jobs task force.

I heard from Gary, who has been out of work for two years. He has spoken with various headhunters who freely tell him that at his age, in his early fifties, it is unlikely that he will ever find work in his field again.

I heard from a man names James, a skilled worker, a mechanical engineer with 25 years of experience. He has a wife and children. He cannot even get entry-level in the service industry or retail employment, because he is told over and over again that he is over qualified. This man just wants to work. If he cannot get work in his own field, he will take anything, but there is nothing available. James feels like a prisoner in his own home, since going out costs money. The only comfort I could give James was to tell him that he was not alone.

I heard from a senior executive who had to lay-off 60% of his employees, 2,300 skilled workers, and sending them into a recession with little hope of work in their field. He also had to cut the remaining salaries by up to 20% and cut their benefits.

I heard about an engineer who recently decamped to Detroit of all places. I mean, this is Alberta. We have people moving from Calgary to Detroit for jobs. When that happens, we know the world has been turned on its head.

I heard from an oil and gas entrepreneur who said that he has talked to international energy investors in London and New York. These are people who choose and decide where employment is going to be created. They make decisions on multibillion dollar projects. These people now believe that the initials AB for Alberta stand for anywhere but.

I heard of businesses large and small fleeing Alberta, causing a commercial vacancy rate in excess of 22% in Calgary.

I heard from a small business owner whose sales and profits are down. His personal income taxes are up. He did not receive a promised small business tax reduction. His payroll deductions that he remits on behalf of his employees are going to also increase.

I heard from a mortgage broker whose clients recently graduated from university, took out mortgages, and wanted to start families in Calgary. These people now worry they have no hope for employment, and are beginning to take their families and their uncertain futures elsewhere.

I heard from professionals who have come to Calgary from all corners of the world for the employment opportunities that existed there. These people are now having to leave and look elsewhere in other oil-producing jurisdictions.

I heard from oil patch veterans who lived through Pierre Trudeau's national energy program in 1982, and these people say that today's situation is actually worse.

These Albertans joined me to discuss the causes of the jobs crisis, and to propose measures that the Government of Canada can take to help remedy the situation. One theme came up time and time again, stop making things worse.

Stop introducing carbon taxes, which make our energy sector less competitive and make everything more expensive. Stop using anti-industry and anti-energy rhetoric, such as talking about phasing-out one of the largest employers in the province. Stop increasing payroll taxes. Stop scaring away investors, and the jobs they create through mixed messages about phasing-out the oil sands. Stop playing politics with the National Energy Board.

Simply declare that the government has confidence in its rigorous processes, and that it will approve the pipelines that it approves. Stop driving Alberta jobs to Texas and the Dakotas, or even places like Nigeria, Venezuela, Madagascar, or the gulf states. Stop damaging other industries, like housing, by fiddling with mortgage rules. Stop cheerleading the Notley government's ruinous carbon tax policy.

The crash in oil prices was not caused by the current government, but if it wants to help, just please, stop making things worse.

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Chair, I want to hear from the member across the way about what impact he thinks the accumulation of strategies and programs announced by the federal government have had on unemployed energy workers in Alberta.

Does he believe that the EI measures were helpful? Does he believe that the infrastructure investments have been helpful? Does he believe that the many visits to Alberta by myself and the entire cabinet, expressing the kinds of values that we are expressing here tonight, have been helpful and useful? Or, does the member simply think that everything that the Government of Canada has done or said means nothing?

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Chair, as we are having this discussion, it is perhaps more important what the people I have met in my constituency had to say. While extending someone's EI by five weeks, it is cold comfort to Gary, James, or the people I met who have been unemployed for two years.

It means nothing to the small contract worker who is not eligible for employment insurance, who might have gone from working 40 hours a week to five hours a month. These people do not even show up in the statistics, yet these people are not making any money. They are not working, but they do not seem to count anywhere.

When I met with my constituents, I did not hear a whole lot of cheerleading from the people in my riding.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Chair, I was also fortunate enough to be born in Edmonton, and spent the first 25 years of my life there before moving to Vancouver, so I am very familiar with the importance of the energy sector in Alberta. In fact, I grew up within spitting distance of refinery row in Edmonton. One thing I learned from Peter Lougheed and others is the value of adding value to the product.

The Library of Parliament, a few years ago, did some research, and found that if we took $10 billion of bitumen and refined that into refined oil, we would turn that into $20 billion. If we take that refined oil, then process that into the upper level ethylenes, like kerosene, gasoline, naphtha, and aviation fuel, we turn that into $30 billion. If we then take that, and use it as feedstock for a plastics and petrochemical industry, we turn it into $40 billion.

Therefore, why would we ever want to support a pipeline that simply exports raw bitumen, so we send that bitumen to places like China and Asia for them to refine that very valuable product, and get the jobs and extra value that comes from refining? Why does his party support the export of raw bitumen, when that product should stay in our country to create jobs, and add extra value and billions of dollars to the Canadian economy?

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Chair, our party would also support the export of raw vegetables and not say, “Why can't we prepare a salad and ship that halfway across the world?”

The market will find a way to efficiently decide where products are built and how distribution channels will operate.

I do welcome the suggestion from those benches though, that they are pro-investment for upgrades. Perhaps they will get on board should a large project be proposed for Edmonton, or for his own riding, or for anywhere else. Perhaps they can support that large upgrade energy program, should it ever be proposed.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Chair, first of all I wish to inform you that I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Edmonton Strathcona.

Mr. Chair, the subject tonight, and you gave it at the beginning, is to take note of job losses in the energy sector. In some of these debates, it has been easy to lose sight of that very simple fact. Anyone who has spent any time in Alberta over the past couple of years cannot have avoided taking note of the devastation that has been wrought on the economy in that province and on tens of thousands of families. That is why we are here tonight. We are here to take note of that, and one would hope come up with other than the pious platitudes of the Liberal government and start talking about solutions.

We talk about the immediate effect on those families. I have met some of those families, and there are members of my family who live in Calgary and who have been hard hit by this. There is a 25-year veteran of the oil patch, a senior geologist with two kids in university, so I know what it is like to see up close and personal someone losing his or her job after working so hard for so many years in that sector. That is why it is our obligation to start looking at this long-term, and see what those solutions can look like.

The first thing to point out is that the Liberals promised a great deal on employment insurance, but as we speak today, 6 out of 10 unemployed Canadians cannot access employment insurance. That is the current state in Canada. That has to change.

We also believe that we have to start working toward a sustainable economy. The Liberals talk a good game on that. We talk about losing trust in the Conservatives, but when they pushed through Kinder Morgan under the failed process of Stephen Harper without doing what they swore they would do, and when they said to the Dogwood Initiative that they would redo the process, they did not keep their word.

They pushed that through, and it is not going to get built because they have not respected their word and the people of British Columbia are going to stand up to Kinder Morgan. There is no way it is going to go through in its current form.

Let us be clear, the only way forward, the only way we can protect workers and families is to aggressively pursue the innovative diversified clean economy of the future, and leave the outmoded and unstable energy economy of the past behind.

I remember being in Alberta several years ago and reading a bumper sticker that made me smile, but I was trying to figure out the reference. The bumper sticker said, “God, if you give me another boom, I promise not to blow it this time”. I can understand when I go to Alberta and talk to people who are losing their homes, what it is to live in a boom and bust cycle, and I do not think of the people outside of Alberta, because it is primarily in Alberta that those job losses have occurred in the energy sector

Saskatchewan has had a hit as well, but I do not believe enough people in Canada understand the effect of that boom and bust cycle on families, and how many tens of thousands of families have been hard hit.

The current situation and the hardships faced by workers due to the collapse in oil prices around the world are the direct result of the failure of successive Liberal and Conservative governments to develop a diversified energy economy in Canada. It is the federal government's responsibility to take meaningful action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change.

Do not get me wrong, we understand that our natural resources are a blessing. Of course they are, and a lot of countries in the world are very jealous of the fact that we have access to so many resources, but the Paris accord was signed with one very clear purpose in mind, to make sure that Canada could contribute its share to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and its share of coming to grips with the reality of global warming.

Unfortunately, again, the Liberals have talked a good game, but they have not met the very specific criteria of section 4 of the Paris accord. There are two requirements in there. The most important being, that every time we talk about climate change in Canada, we have to have a plan to reduce and we do not have one.

We also have to have an economy-wide plan that puts us all on the same page in terms of reducing GHGs. We have not done any of that.

It is worth noting that Canada's market share of the global clean energy market dropped five points, and that is the most of any other of the 24 largest exporting countries. In fact, when it comes to clean energy exports, the Czech Republic now beats Canada. The lost opportunities cost Canada $8.7 billion in 2013 alone, and we cannot repeat the mistakes that led us to this place.

Canada cannot be left behind in the energy economy of the past.

That is why we are calling upon the government to set its bland rhetoric aside and come up with a real plan for the future and for the sustainable development of Canada's energy sector.

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the member's expression of values. Does he believe we should keep the oil in the ground? If his answer is we know we have to move it for a while, would he rather move it by pipeline or rail?

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

The interesting thing about the Minister of Natural Resources, Mr. Chair, is that he is an expert at setting up straw men, all the better to knock them down himself. What a spectacular false argument coming from someone in a party that always claims to understand that energy and the economy have to be taken care of at the same time. All we had to do is listen to what he just said. What a ridiculous false argument.

He talked before about the loss of trust in the previous government. It was the Liberals, and the Prime Minister, no one else, who promised British Columbia that none of these projects would go forward without a credible, thorough environmental assessment. They broke their promise to British Columbians and that is why Canadians do not trust them on anything to do with energy right now.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Chair, my riding of Yellowhead has not been affected as much as a lot of parts of Alberta, but some of the communities in my riding have. Two-thirds of the community of Grande Cache, a community of 4,500 people, have been without jobs for over two years. The communities of Hinton and Edson have been taking in residents from Grande Cache, assisting them in trying to find jobs. In fact, one chap worked for me for a couple of weeks until he could find some work. Yet the provincial government has not assisted them. Nor has the federal government.

Could the hon. member tell us where he sees roles for provincial and federal governments in these communities that are being devastated?

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague from Yellowhead for reminding everyone that the tragedy of the loss of jobs in Grande Cache has to do with the closing of a coal mine, first and foremost. However, it is another example that in the energy sector, because that is what it is, we have to have a long-term plan. We have to ensure we think of those families and communities, first and foremost.

One of the very few economic theories that is actually specific to Canada is the staples theory. It is a history that we have in our country of developing raw natural resources, exploiting them rapidly, and not thinking long term about developing them and adding the value here. I think the same thing is going to happen in the next few weeks when we look at the failure of the Liberals to deliver a plan for softwood lumber, and that is going to affect communities right across the country.

It is a question of how we develop our natural resources, which we should remind ourselves are a blessing that a lot of countries in the world would give anything to have. We just have to remember that it is not enough to leave it up to the market in terms of sending things off raw and hoping things will work out for the best.

There was a challenge from one of my Conservative colleagues before, asking if we would stand and be in favour of refining, upgrading, and processing here. I am a former environment minister and have a good track record as an environmentalist. I stood and fought all I could to keep the Shell refinery in Montreal because I knew how much that meant in terms of value-added jobs.

Therefore, I am on the same page as the member when it comes to a long-term plan to ensure we have good jobs in the energy sector in Canada.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Chair, a lot of people are surprised when I tell them which province has the most wind farms in Canada. Most believe it is Quebec, but it is actually Alberta.

My colleague from Edmonton Strathcona spoke about the need to transition and diversify the economy.

Could the member for Outremont talk about current efforts to bring about this diversification? Also, does he see a future for Alberta as the Canadian leader in renewable energy?

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech. It gives me the opportunity to remind the House of the wonderful opportunity afforded to Canada by the Paris agreement, which seeks to address the problem of global warming by reducing greenhouse gases.

We signed that agreement and, if we respect it, we will have the opportunity to create tens of thousands of good jobs in renewable energy. We have the universities, the expertise, the technical schools, the wind resources, and the knowledge of hydroelectricity to create clean energy and the economy of tomorrow. All that is available to us.

All it takes is a federal government that believes in it and that will begin to play an active, credible, long-term role.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Chair, as members in this place have said, Statistics Canada has reported unemployment in Alberta the highest in 20 years. Approximately 12% of those between 15 and 24 years old are still looking for work.

The downturn has not just impacted workers in the fossil fuel sector, though. It is impacting communities reliant on those sectors. It is also impacting the renewable sector. The question that must be asked is this. How many more decades will we rely on a boom and bust economy until we finally implement an economic policy and the necessary measures for a more stable and sustainable future, not just for Alberta but for the whole country?

I hear this constantly from my constituents, including those working in the oil and gas sector. They are tired of this boom and bust economy. They raised this with me at the door in the last election. They want their governments to invest in a more diversified economy, including a more diversified energy economy.

A starting point could be to finally pursue a broader approach to energy generation and use than energy from and jobs involved in fossil fuels. The Minister of Natural Resources told an energy forum this week that everyone knew what was going on, that we were in an energy transition, and that the agenda worldwide had changed dramatically. Why the narrow frame posed by the Liberals for tonight's debate?

As clearly expressed by the International Energy Agency, and surely no one in this place can disagree with it, as we belong to it and so do all the big energy producers, “We see clear winners for the next 25 years – natural gas but especially wind and solar....in practice, government policies will determine where we go from here.”

The International Energy Agency advises that the way forward is government policies shifting significantly to support deployment of renewables and energy efficiency, coupled with the fact that the costs of both are declining. It says that the Paris agreement is a major step forward, but can only be achieved with policies that accelerate further low carbon technologies and support the next frontier for renewables. It agrees that investors need clarity and certainty from policy-makers, but government must not just maintain but heighten its commitment to achieve energy security and climate goals.

What is interesting is where the support is found in our country for this recommended shift in government investment. One example is iron and earth. This is an initiative by oil sands workers who are boilermakers, electricians, pipefitters, ironworkers, and labourers committed to incorporating more renewable energy projects into their work scope to ensure a more sustainable energy future for Canadians. Oil sands workers say their skills match well with those needed for the renewable and energy efficiency sectors, but they need federal investment to upscale the energy sector workforce, to expand manufacturing capacity for renewable energy, to support contractors and unions wishing to transition to the clean energy economy, and to integrate renewable technologies into existing energy projects.

The Government of Alberta, to its credit, is investing in pilot projects using geothermal for conventional oil and gas. A growing number of experts say the time may be right for geothermal to assume a higher profile, especially in oil-rich Alberta.

It is also important to recognize that it is not just the oil and gas sector that is suffering. Media reports today say that the solar industry in Alberta alone cut its sales by 50% for residential installation. It is not because people do not want it. It is because the governments are dragging their heels on the incentives.

While provincial incentives are starting to roll out, where is the promised federal action to incent renewables? We need heightened action from the federal government. We all agree there must be a period of transition to ensure jobs for the future. The emphasis has to be jobs. Where is the federal just transition strategy?

The Conservatives budgeted for support for renewables and energy efficiency, then they cut that spending to cut their deficit. There is no appreciable increase in spending by the current government, but we have promises. Where have we heard that before?

The Liberals continue to fast-track energy projects absent genuine consideration to energy alternatives. The strongest commitment heard from the Liberals to date has been the call of the Minister of Natural Resources for a “gradual shift” to cleaner renewable energy. Canadians need more. We need, as the International Energy Agency said, heightened investment, heightened support, so we can have jobs for the future.

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Chair, tens of millions of dollars are dedicated to exactly what the member wants: investment in renewable energy, incentives for the private sector, and innovation.

Very often people do not remember, or choose to forget, that it was innovation that found a way to extract fossil fuels from the oil sands in the first place. We have an awful lot of confidence in the entrepreneurship and the innovative capacity of Albertans and other entrepreneurs to do the same.

I would ask the member for some advice. How does she think the Government of Canada could better incent the private sector for renewable energy sources?

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Chair, first, the government could start delivering the money that was promised. In the last budget, we had commitment after commitment, but gosh darn, when is that money going to flow? It may be starting in 2017. Where is the urgency?

As our colleagues from the Conservative Party say, we have so many people out of work, and not just in Alberta but across the country. Where is the sense or urgency?

We are a member of the International Energy Agency. We support the creation of jobs, supposedly. Let us deliver those resources. Let us have a just transition strategy. Let us start investing in our technical schools. We have five of those in Alberta. For heaven's sakes, there is a waiting list.

There is so much the federal government can do. Do not sit on the money; start delivering it.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Chair, I want to outline a few facts here.

First, when this side of the House was in government, the greenhouse gases produced in Canada were the lowest in our history. Second, right now we account for 2% of all of the GHG produced in the world. Third, we have the strictest environmental regulations when it comes to developing oil and gas.

My question for the hon. member is exactly this. Why is she so against the development of oil and gas and jobs?

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Chair, I regret to say this, but I do not believe the member heard a single thing I had to say.

It is the actual oil field workers who are begging our governments to start investing in the new energy economy. Everybody knows the new energy economy is coming. They want to have a piece of the pie.

I did not say anything to demean the fossil fuel industry. I spoke about the support for the coming industry. As the minister has said, Albertans have shown they can use innovation to develop the oil sands. The geothermal industry and a lot of economists are now saying to use that same innovation and the same support to move into the new energy economy.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Chair, I would like to hear my colleague's comments in relation to value added and what we can really do with the fossil fuel industry if we take leadership as a country.

Several years ago, I had the chance to travel to Norway. It is a country that is deeply invested and deeply reliant on fossil fuel extraction. It has very firm policies in place to say that every bit of fossil fuel extracted will create maximum jobs, and will have maximum benefit for the economy. Its shipbuilding industry, refining, and transportation policies are all oriented around maximizing every piece of work that can happen from fossil fuel extraction. Its taxation of the resource was so committed that by the time I left Norway, it had a $900 billion public pension fund set aside for diversification of the economy and investment into renewables.

The Norwegian experience from a social justice and environmental point of view is inspiring. I would like to hear my colleague's comments on how Canada might follow that lead.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Chair, as my former colleague raised, it has always been in the policy of the New Democrats to push for value added in all of our resource sectors.

Between my city and Red Deer is a major petrochemical industry. We need to support that. In the conference that the Minister of Natural Resources spoke at on Monday, we had representatives of that sector.

However, to give a different perspective, value added is also appreciating the skills base that the workers in the fossil fuel industry have that they could apply to other sectors so we can have a continuation of well-paying jobs.

[Darshan Singh Kang, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Edmonton Mill Woods.

I have been a proud Albertan and Calgarian since 1970 and have lived through the boom and bust cycles of the energy industry.

Alberta's energy resource sector is a source of high quality and well-paying jobs not just for many Albertans but for many Canadians who come to our province to live and work. That means there are an estimated 190,000 direct Canadian jobs linked to the energy industry with countless other indirect jobs that depend on the industry. These are fellow Albertans and Canadians who face financial insecurity at the moment international oil prices drop.

We must remember that oil is an international commodity. When prices are high, Albertans and Canadians thrive but every time we see boom and bust it is the international nature of the market that has devastating consequences on the lives of everyday Albertans.

Our boom first began in 1973, causing prices to soar from $3 to $15 U.S. per barrel. The sector proved to be an excellent source of well-paying jobs but demonstrated to be very volatile. By the 1980s, the price of oil was well over $30 U.S. a barrel. Again people flooded into our province to take advantage, again unemployment evaporated, again housing prices skyrocketed, and again everyone profited.

[An hon. member]

Don't skip over 1982.

[Darshan Singh Kang, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

By 1982-1983, the Alberta energy sector again collapsed and everyday Albertans and Canadians suffered the consequences. Unemployment in Alberta rose from 4% to 10%. I invested in real estate during these good times but paid a heavy price like lots of other Albertans.

I am a certified welder and I also lost my job during that time. I could not afford to pay my bills and my family lost their home and everything. I worked as a taxi driver to keep food on the table. It took my family over a decade to recover.

In the early 2000s, the price of oil began to rise again and the cycle continued. Prices climbed from $30 to $150 U.S. a barrel in 2008. That year saw a 70% reduction in the price of oil and it returned to $31 U.S. per barrel. After 2009, the prices began to rise again, but this was short-lived.

The energy sector crashed again in 2014. Alberta unemployment shot up to 10%, but this time our government provided Albertans with historical investments to help with the recovery. Our government increased time for employment insurance for Albertans, adding an extra 20 weeks for a total of 70 weeks to those who had never claimed employment insurance in the past. Our government has provided over $250 million in stabilization funds, $240 million in university research funding, and continues to invest in infrastructure with a total of 127 projects in Alberta worth over $4.2 billion. There has been more funding invested in infrastructure in the last year compared to the previous five years combined. We approved two new pipelines, which will create an estimated 27,000 jobs in Alberta alone by ensuring we protect the environment while growing our economy.

Our government's investments and confidence in Alberta has led to a return of private capital investment in our province.

Wood Mackenzie estimates that oil and gas companies will be doubling new project developments in 2017.

Canada's oil rig count has more than doubled from 81 to 193 since early January. This is well above the 126 oil rigs that were active in Canada at the same time last year.

Alberta's GDP is expected to grow by 2.3% in 2017, due in large part to rising oil prices and production. The Conference Board of Canada recently outlined 2017 will see Alberta begin to recover. Oil prices averaged $52 U.S. in January 2017, compared to $31 U.S. in January 2016, with estimates this trend will continue.

These times have been tough on my fellow Albertans who work in the energy sector and their families, but our government is working for them. We have their back.

To my fellow Albertans and the party opposite, please work with us, do not be skeptical. Our government is working hard to create a more prosperous Alberta and a more prosperous Canada.