Alberta throne speech offers more ‘shock absorber’ incentives, intervention for energy industry

CALGARY C Vowing to not sit back and “do nothing” because the province struggles via a prolonged recession, the Alberta government is preparing to intervene more directly in the downstream end of the energy industry and the petrochemical industry.

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“We have a very, very hard economy here in Alberta because of a do-nothing approach in the past,” Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told reporters Tuesday prior to the reading from the Throne Speech.

“We are here to act as a shock absorber,” she said from the government’s role in the present downturn.

Notley announced that her government would form a power Diversification Advisory Committee to “look at a wide range of initiatives that could enhance value-added efforts in Alberta.”

The new committee is separate from the Premier’s Advisory Committee around the Economy, that was announced in October.

With the Energy Diversification committee, the NDP government needs advice on making more incentives for oilsands upgrading, for additional petrochemical processing and for other “value added” industries in Alberta, whilst signalling it is open to various methods to “enhance the economics” of these projects.

Notley cited the province’s recent announcement of a $500 million subsidy for businesses building petrochemical projects in Alberta, as one example of the way the province could create incentives.

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At the same time frame, she did not eliminate the kind of incentives the prior Progressive Conservative government offered a refinery project the NDP criticized while in Opposition.

The previous Progressive Conservative government committed money and its barrels of royalty bitumen towards the North West Redwater Partnership’s Sturgeon Refinery. The very first 50,000-barrel-per-day phase of that refinery happens to be being built north of Edmonton at an estimated cost of $8.5 billion.

“There is no questions that (the committee) will in part analyze the effectiveness and also the value-for-dollar that Albertans received for the Redwater project and we may take a look at tweaking it to generate better, or perhaps the same,” Notley said.

Encouraging the development of more “value added” processing in the energy sector would be a key part of the NDP’s election platform this past year.

In addition to developing more incentives for the oilsands upgrading and gas petrochemical processing, the province requires more money from the authorities for unemployed Albertans.

“Alberta can also be vigorously urging Canada’s new authorities to reconsider federal Employment Insurance rules that exclude too many Albertans from benefits,” Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell said throughout the government’s throne speech Tuesday afternoon.

During it, Mitchell said the provincial government would also pass into law its global warming policies announced late last year and can include a $30-per-tonne carbon tax beginning in 2017, but did not provide additional details on what that legislation would include.

The premier confirmed throughout a press conference the Climate Leadership Implementation Act would not be passed until after the NDP introduces its budget, that is likely to incorporate a $10.5 billion deficit.

Mitchell also said the government will also introduce legislation to limit the eye rates payday loan information mill allowed to charge borrowers in the province as well as laws that would let the “national harmonization” of securities regulations in Canada.

gmorgan@nationalpost.com

Twitter.com/geoffreymorgan