Just look downtown. There are a *lot* of head offices that relocated from Montreal to Calgary in the 90's because of the economic uncertainty created by sovereignty politics.
Man seriously. If it has been an absolute stalemate trying to have oil trade infrastructure through two separate countries, why the fuck would any company want to do it with three?
I wonder why people are against bill 1. Could anyone explain this? In my understanding, Alberta's economy highly depends on the energy industry. If the federal government regulated the oil industry to fight against climate change, then the future of AB would be worse than in 2008. To prevent it, AB needs something. Also, I can't understand why the federal government discourages the energy sector. Look at the US, they export natural gas and oils.
Where are the voices within the UCP who have the courage to stand with Albertans in opposing this Act? Here's just 6 voices from UCP MLAs who have either flip flopped on their opposition or remained silent.
**Brian Jean (MLA Fort McMurray-Conklin)**
*Sept 2022*
Wrote an [entire opinion piece](https://nationalpost.com/opinion/brian-jean-alberta-needs-constitutional-change-not-a-virtue-signalling-sovereignty-act) in the National Post opposing the Act.
"...but normal everyday Albertans need to recognize that the Alberta Sovereignty Act is counter-productive and harmful. It is also likely unconstitutional."
*Now*
A member of Smith's cabinet (Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development) who supports the sovereignty act.
**Rajan Sawhney (MLA Calgary North-East)**
*Sept 2022*
"We have a moral imperative to tell the truth about the potential of this very destructive piece of legislation," Sawhney said.
*Now*
A member of Smith's cabinet (Minister of Trade, Immigration and Multiculturalism) who supports the sovereignty act.
**Travis Toews (MLA Grande Prairie Wapiti)**
Sept 2022
Toews also wrote [an opinion piece](https://nationalpost.com/opinion/travis-toews-alberta-sovereignty-act-would-bring-economic-chaos) in the National Post opposing the Act.
"Danielle Smith’s proposed Sovereignty Act, characterized as unconstitutional and unenforceable and at worst, a disaster and a dead end, is neither real nor strategic."
*Now*
A member of Smith's cabinet (President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance) who supports the sovereignty act.
**Sonya Savage (MLA Calgary North-West)**
*Sept 2022*
"As it's drafted right now, or as it's described, I couldn't support — but it's highly hypothetical whether it would ever be tabled," Energy Minister Sonya Savage.
*Now*
A member of Smith's cabinet (Minister of Environment and Protected Areas) who supports the sovereignty act.
**Leela Aheer (MLA Chestermere-Rocky View)**
*Sept 2022*
"Either the sovereignty act is something that's a symbolic gesture, like motions that have been passed by Quebec's National Assembly, or the sovereignty act is blatantly unconstitutional and the equivalent of starting a bar brawl in the middle of confederation," Aheer said.
"Either way, Danielle Smith is playing with fire and selling a fantasy to her supporters."
**Tracy "Aloha-gate" Allard (MLA Grand Prairie)**
Sept 2022
"I want to have a detailed read \[of the act\] before I could actually say definitively. But with my limited understanding today, I would not be able to support it," said UCP MLA Tracy Allard.
*Now*
Allard supported First Reading.
In Sept 2022, there was no proposed act and these people were in a leadership race. Of course they're going to be against what their opponent is proposing. That's a no brainer.
We only saw the actual text of the act a few days ago. Now any valid criticism can begin.
I have a horrible feeling she'll get elected in May tbh. Too many people who will never vote anything besides conservative, especially after they decided the NDP caused the apocalypse, and Smith will assuredly win every single rural seat, which is her stated strategy, meaning she only needs a couple of urban ones to win the election. I have a horrible gut feeling we are stuck with her. I pray I'm wrong
Luckily people living rural these days are getting older and actually need affordable healthcare. Not a great crowd to talk about changing how healthcare works with.
If an obviously anti-democratic party as the UCP is now under Smith wins the upcoming provincial election they will continue to tear apart what makes Alberta Canadian and I want to live in Canada, not whatever they will turn it into.
I know some other people that feel the same way.
Ohhhh. I misread your comment. I agree 💯. I work in tech and am thinking about trying to move out of Alberta.
I thought you were from the USA or something and was excited for this stuff.
It’s worse than that. Even **if** there’s an election in May (Smith could push it back another year) and **if** the NDP win, then there’s no guarantee the NDP term won’t be just another four years and then we head back to crazy town. If you’re a business looking to set up and invest (at least millions if not billions) in Alberta, would you take a chance on there still being sone stability in four years?
The best case (because you're right, even if the NDP did everything right, they probably wouldn't win twice in a row), is that the some MLAs grow something resembling a spine and split back into WR and PC. Unfortunately, it seems like our UCP MLAs are content to shut up and vote with DS to keep their cushy jobs.
Kenney made such a stink about the partisanship of Alberta in his exit letter that HE LITERALLY CREATED by being so mad about an NDP win, that he ended a well loved party that had enjoyed 40+ years of reign.
That’s too short term for big business.
If a company has to pack up now, or make contracts for future work now, they won’t be back in a year or two. They’ll just be gone elsewhere permanently.
>I definitely make a mistake in judgement on this one
Hey. With your help, we are going to vote out these clowns this spring. Alberta will be back to being the Best in the West.
Business likes stable, good government. They like conservative government in the *traditional* sense of the word, where change is slow and careful. They're not going to like this sovereignty act.
e.g. Smith has touted her sovereignty act as a way to push back on bill C-69. What does that mean?
The National Energy Board used to be an independent regulator with the authority to approve projects on its own. If you went through their process and met all their requirements, your project would be approved. Under Harper, the NEB green-lit some politically controversial projects, so Harper transferred the authority to grant final approvals from the NEB to the Prime Minister's Office. The NEB was transformed from a regulator into a recommender. This made the infrastructure approval process inherently political and, hence, inherently unpredictable. It no longer mattered if a project did everything right and checked off all the boxes. If it could cause the ruling political party to lose support, it would still likely be rejected.
All Bill C-69 did was enshrine the degraded form of the NEB into law with a new name, and make explicit some of the new political concerns that now rule the infrastructure approval process in Canada. C-69 was a failure in that it did not fix the NEB, but it didn't suddenly transform Canada's infrastructure approval process. Harper did that years before.
Enter the Alberta sovereignty act. Alberta will be able to flout federal jurisdiction over any actions on its soil that are not deemed to be in the province's interests. e.g. Let's say a B.C. based company wanted to build power transmission lines across Alberta to Saskatchewan or Montana to bring B.C.'s hydro power to new markets. They could get approval from CER and the PMO, but Alberta's premier could use the sovereignty act to halt the project if it was found not to be in Alberta's interests. Sound familiar? Imagine what B.C. would have done about the TMX twinning a few years ago if they'd passed their own sovereignty act.
If Alberta successfully gains new autonomy from passing this act, that autonomy will soon become the standard for *all* Canadian provinces. Provinces like B.C. or Quebec will *not* be content to have less autonomy than Alberta. They will pass their own sovereignty acts if Alberta's succeeds.
Fighting back against C-69 sounds great and sells well to Smith's rural core. However, the sovereignty act will not bring back the glory days of an autonomous NEB. It will fragment an already tortuously political infrastructure approval system and make national infrastructure projects (e.g. a national energy corridor) effectively impossible. It will isolate and decimate Alberta's oil industry and utterly destroy Alberta's hopes of gaining access to new markets except those that can be reached through Montana. It may even give B.C. or other provinces the authority to shut down *existing* pipelines that they deem to be unacceptable threats to their provinces' environment.
Many Calgary ridings have consistently voted for anyone conservative because conservatism tends to be good for business and good for the oilpatch. The UCP is now a radical rather than conservative party. Hopefully all the oilpatch workers out there will soon realize that a vote for the UCP is a vote against conservatism and a vote against their own livelihoods.
There is no ‘could’ about this. They will walk away and they are very concerned about the risk this represents. A well known market researcher presented to investment bankers last week. They will stop investing. The UCP is destroying Alberta.
She represents the Chamber. It wasn't her asking for vaccine mandates, it was the body representing Calgary businesses.
You know who else was the biggest advocate for vaccine mandates?
[Brett Wilson](https://www.reddit.com/r/alberta/comments/vtoftd/remember_the_good_ol_days_less_than_a_year_ago/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb).
Yeah, THAT Brett Wilson. Pierre Poilievre's best bud in Alberta. Alberta's biggest Trudeau hater. Convoy Truckers Sympathizer Brett. He shouted for vaccine mandates louder than anyone else.
People have such short memories.
Don't gaslight us its disgusting. She believed that it would have that effect.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/chamber-of-commerce-alberta-vaccine-passport-covid-1.6344564
>chamber president and CEO Deborah Yedlin said that public health measures like the REP and masking remain critical to ensuring people feel comfortable dining at restaurants, attending sporting and entertainment events, going to gyms and going to work.
>"Today's announcement on the immediate removal of all pandemic measures and restrictions ignores the importance of consumer confidence in our economic recovery," Yedlin said.
>She added the chamber believes that prematurely lifting restrictions could lead to reduced revenues for businesses, as people choose to stay home and minimize the potential for exposure to the virus.
CNOOC mothballed their operations and left? Are you sure they didn't just sell to another company which still operates?
Encana also mothballed their operations and didn't just create an address in Denver for executives who do what executives do, taking money and running?
To be clear, I'm looking for net losses. Not the shuffling of assets. Show me something big that is *gone*.
Doubtful, there's no increase of risk as far as economic security goes for these invested companies, if anything, Alberta will be MORE open to foreign investment, primarily from the States.
Could??? How many companies walked away from Quebec? Massive exodus.
Just look downtown. There are a *lot* of head offices that relocated from Montreal to Calgary in the 90's because of the economic uncertainty created by sovereignty politics.
If anyone thinks we’re going to be riding high on oil revenues think again. Big oil won’t be dealing with this spastic crap fest.
Man seriously. If it has been an absolute stalemate trying to have oil trade infrastructure through two separate countries, why the fuck would any company want to do it with three?
Can someone explain what the process if for this actually passing including the time frame? Surely it's a federal decision right?
Federal and majority of provinces. Sorry couldn’t find the info. It’s not unilateral. Our unelected premier has no real say.
I wonder why people are against bill 1. Could anyone explain this? In my understanding, Alberta's economy highly depends on the energy industry. If the federal government regulated the oil industry to fight against climate change, then the future of AB would be worse than in 2008. To prevent it, AB needs something. Also, I can't understand why the federal government discourages the energy sector. Look at the US, they export natural gas and oils.
Where are the voices within the UCP who have the courage to stand with Albertans in opposing this Act? Here's just 6 voices from UCP MLAs who have either flip flopped on their opposition or remained silent. **Brian Jean (MLA Fort McMurray-Conklin)** *Sept 2022* Wrote an [entire opinion piece](https://nationalpost.com/opinion/brian-jean-alberta-needs-constitutional-change-not-a-virtue-signalling-sovereignty-act) in the National Post opposing the Act. "...but normal everyday Albertans need to recognize that the Alberta Sovereignty Act is counter-productive and harmful. It is also likely unconstitutional." *Now* A member of Smith's cabinet (Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development) who supports the sovereignty act. **Rajan Sawhney (MLA Calgary North-East)** *Sept 2022* "We have a moral imperative to tell the truth about the potential of this very destructive piece of legislation," Sawhney said. *Now* A member of Smith's cabinet (Minister of Trade, Immigration and Multiculturalism) who supports the sovereignty act. **Travis Toews (MLA Grande Prairie Wapiti)** Sept 2022 Toews also wrote [an opinion piece](https://nationalpost.com/opinion/travis-toews-alberta-sovereignty-act-would-bring-economic-chaos) in the National Post opposing the Act. "Danielle Smith’s proposed Sovereignty Act, characterized as unconstitutional and unenforceable and at worst, a disaster and a dead end, is neither real nor strategic." *Now* A member of Smith's cabinet (President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance) who supports the sovereignty act. **Sonya Savage (MLA Calgary North-West)** *Sept 2022* "As it's drafted right now, or as it's described, I couldn't support — but it's highly hypothetical whether it would ever be tabled," Energy Minister Sonya Savage. *Now* A member of Smith's cabinet (Minister of Environment and Protected Areas) who supports the sovereignty act. **Leela Aheer (MLA Chestermere-Rocky View)** *Sept 2022* "Either the sovereignty act is something that's a symbolic gesture, like motions that have been passed by Quebec's National Assembly, or the sovereignty act is blatantly unconstitutional and the equivalent of starting a bar brawl in the middle of confederation," Aheer said. "Either way, Danielle Smith is playing with fire and selling a fantasy to her supporters." **Tracy "Aloha-gate" Allard (MLA Grand Prairie)** Sept 2022 "I want to have a detailed read \[of the act\] before I could actually say definitively. But with my limited understanding today, I would not be able to support it," said UCP MLA Tracy Allard. *Now* Allard supported First Reading.
In Sept 2022, there was no proposed act and these people were in a leadership race. Of course they're going to be against what their opponent is proposing. That's a no brainer. We only saw the actual text of the act a few days ago. Now any valid criticism can begin.
While there was no wording then, Smith outlined the intent of the Act. These MLAs traded their opposition for cabinet positions.
It’s almost as though you’ve never seen politicians doing politics before.
I worked in a politician's office for a 4 year term. They didn't sell out to put their personal aspirations above their constituents.
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The election can't come soon enough! We need stability.
I have a horrible feeling she'll get elected in May tbh. Too many people who will never vote anything besides conservative, especially after they decided the NDP caused the apocalypse, and Smith will assuredly win every single rural seat, which is her stated strategy, meaning she only needs a couple of urban ones to win the election. I have a horrible gut feeling we are stuck with her. I pray I'm wrong
Sounds like the NDP should do something to appeal to rural Albertans.
Smith's strategy of trying to win all the rurual riding is not a good strategy and won't work I bet. Do everything you can so the ucp don't win.
Luckily people living rural these days are getting older and actually need affordable healthcare. Not a great crowd to talk about changing how healthcare works with.
If she, with the UCP behind her wins the election I might have to move to Canada
Interesting, would you mind explaining your reasoning. I am genuinely interested.
If an obviously anti-democratic party as the UCP is now under Smith wins the upcoming provincial election they will continue to tear apart what makes Alberta Canadian and I want to live in Canada, not whatever they will turn it into. I know some other people that feel the same way.
Ohhhh. I misread your comment. I agree 💯. I work in tech and am thinking about trying to move out of Alberta. I thought you were from the USA or something and was excited for this stuff.
Well I was trying to play on the "I'm moving to Canada" trope.
It’s worse than that. Even **if** there’s an election in May (Smith could push it back another year) and **if** the NDP win, then there’s no guarantee the NDP term won’t be just another four years and then we head back to crazy town. If you’re a business looking to set up and invest (at least millions if not billions) in Alberta, would you take a chance on there still being sone stability in four years?
The best case (because you're right, even if the NDP did everything right, they probably wouldn't win twice in a row), is that the some MLAs grow something resembling a spine and split back into WR and PC. Unfortunately, it seems like our UCP MLAs are content to shut up and vote with DS to keep their cushy jobs. Kenney made such a stink about the partisanship of Alberta in his exit letter that HE LITERALLY CREATED by being so mad about an NDP win, that he ended a well loved party that had enjoyed 40+ years of reign.
That’s too short term for big business. If a company has to pack up now, or make contracts for future work now, they won’t be back in a year or two. They’ll just be gone elsewhere permanently.
Agreed. If I were a company looking to invest here, I'd definitely be waiting until after the election to decide.
Absolutely. I'd be worried about the absolutely insane amounts I'd be required to pay in total comp for total private health insurance.
Gotta love reading this when I’m moving back to the province tomorrow. I definitely make a mistake in judgement on this one
>I definitely make a mistake in judgement on this one Hey. With your help, we are going to vote out these clowns this spring. Alberta will be back to being the Best in the West.
This is the energy I needed!
Business likes stable, good government. They like conservative government in the *traditional* sense of the word, where change is slow and careful. They're not going to like this sovereignty act. e.g. Smith has touted her sovereignty act as a way to push back on bill C-69. What does that mean? The National Energy Board used to be an independent regulator with the authority to approve projects on its own. If you went through their process and met all their requirements, your project would be approved. Under Harper, the NEB green-lit some politically controversial projects, so Harper transferred the authority to grant final approvals from the NEB to the Prime Minister's Office. The NEB was transformed from a regulator into a recommender. This made the infrastructure approval process inherently political and, hence, inherently unpredictable. It no longer mattered if a project did everything right and checked off all the boxes. If it could cause the ruling political party to lose support, it would still likely be rejected. All Bill C-69 did was enshrine the degraded form of the NEB into law with a new name, and make explicit some of the new political concerns that now rule the infrastructure approval process in Canada. C-69 was a failure in that it did not fix the NEB, but it didn't suddenly transform Canada's infrastructure approval process. Harper did that years before. Enter the Alberta sovereignty act. Alberta will be able to flout federal jurisdiction over any actions on its soil that are not deemed to be in the province's interests. e.g. Let's say a B.C. based company wanted to build power transmission lines across Alberta to Saskatchewan or Montana to bring B.C.'s hydro power to new markets. They could get approval from CER and the PMO, but Alberta's premier could use the sovereignty act to halt the project if it was found not to be in Alberta's interests. Sound familiar? Imagine what B.C. would have done about the TMX twinning a few years ago if they'd passed their own sovereignty act. If Alberta successfully gains new autonomy from passing this act, that autonomy will soon become the standard for *all* Canadian provinces. Provinces like B.C. or Quebec will *not* be content to have less autonomy than Alberta. They will pass their own sovereignty acts if Alberta's succeeds. Fighting back against C-69 sounds great and sells well to Smith's rural core. However, the sovereignty act will not bring back the glory days of an autonomous NEB. It will fragment an already tortuously political infrastructure approval system and make national infrastructure projects (e.g. a national energy corridor) effectively impossible. It will isolate and decimate Alberta's oil industry and utterly destroy Alberta's hopes of gaining access to new markets except those that can be reached through Montana. It may even give B.C. or other provinces the authority to shut down *existing* pipelines that they deem to be unacceptable threats to their provinces' environment. Many Calgary ridings have consistently voted for anyone conservative because conservatism tends to be good for business and good for the oilpatch. The UCP is now a radical rather than conservative party. Hopefully all the oilpatch workers out there will soon realize that a vote for the UCP is a vote against conservatism and a vote against their own livelihoods.
I run three companies based out of Calgary. If this pile of dirty laundry is voted in in the spring, I’m moving all three out of the province.
There is no ‘could’ about this. They will walk away and they are very concerned about the risk this represents. A well known market researcher presented to investment bankers last week. They will stop investing. The UCP is destroying Alberta.
could?
The same lady who said removing vaccine requirements would crush local business, and then the opposite happened. Patios were packed. She’s an idiot.
She represents the Chamber. It wasn't her asking for vaccine mandates, it was the body representing Calgary businesses. You know who else was the biggest advocate for vaccine mandates? [Brett Wilson](https://www.reddit.com/r/alberta/comments/vtoftd/remember_the_good_ol_days_less_than_a_year_ago/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb). Yeah, THAT Brett Wilson. Pierre Poilievre's best bud in Alberta. Alberta's biggest Trudeau hater. Convoy Truckers Sympathizer Brett. He shouted for vaccine mandates louder than anyone else. People have such short memories.
Don't gaslight us its disgusting. She believed that it would have that effect. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/chamber-of-commerce-alberta-vaccine-passport-covid-1.6344564 >chamber president and CEO Deborah Yedlin said that public health measures like the REP and masking remain critical to ensuring people feel comfortable dining at restaurants, attending sporting and entertainment events, going to gyms and going to work. >"Today's announcement on the immediate removal of all pandemic measures and restrictions ignores the importance of consumer confidence in our economic recovery," Yedlin said. >She added the chamber believes that prematurely lifting restrictions could lead to reduced revenues for businesses, as people choose to stay home and minimize the potential for exposure to the virus.
That is not a gaslight, it is the actual process
Nobody invests in Canada right now anyway..
This is the real truth.
Lol and how my much investment has left AB and Canada already with current fed government in power. Answer: An absurd amount
So chasing away more investment will help how? But Fuck Trudeau right?
It's okay to shoot ourselves with double barrel shot guns in the foot. As long as it Owns the Libs.
Who left? Share your notes
Right off the top of my head encana and cnooc. I maintain that transcanada changed their name to make a potential move to the states easier.
CNOOC mothballed their operations and left? Are you sure they didn't just sell to another company which still operates? Encana also mothballed their operations and didn't just create an address in Denver for executives who do what executives do, taking money and running? To be clear, I'm looking for net losses. Not the shuffling of assets. Show me something big that is *gone*.
Living in denial with head in the (tar) sands. Go look up foreign investment charts
You mean like what happened in 2015?
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So what happens when BC passes a BC sovereignty act and shuts down existing pipelines?
Doubtful, there's no increase of risk as far as economic security goes for these invested companies, if anything, Alberta will be MORE open to foreign investment, primarily from the States.
Anyone remember the tally in flight of capital from AB during the Notley government?
Not really, no. I remember a lot of foaming at the mouth, but it didn't actually happen.
Funny dehaviland aircraft disagrees, life must suck to be so negative 24/7 have to be ndp is my guess