on DTNicholson's Wednesday-Night.com

Thursday 31 July 2008 TORONTO: ALBERTA'S PROSPERITY HAVING BOOMERANG EFFECT
Statistics Canada reports that Alberta's booming economy is having a perverse effect on high school graduation rates. The agency has found that only about 68 per cent of young Albertans stayed in high school long enough to graduate in 2005-2006, the lowest graduation rate in any province of the country, only the three northern territories having lower rates. A spokeswoman for Alberta Education says the figures aren't as worrisome as they seem because many dropouts later return to finish high school but acknowledged that more needs to be done to keep young people in school. StatsCan says the highest graduation rates were in Atlantic Canada, where students are more inclined to keep studying for the relative lack of attractive jobs.

Saturday 12 July 2008 EDMONTON: GOVT. TRIES TO HELP TEMPORARY WORKERS
The Alberta government has begun a pilot project to help temporary workers. The two-year, $1.4-million project will give money to nine immigration service organizations across the province to enable them to expand. Until now, the government subsidized only services for immigrants. At least 23,000 temporary workers have landed into Alberta in the past several years. The Alberta Federation of Labour has welcomed the decision, pointing out that temporary workers are vulnerable to exploitation because many of them cannot speak English and are reluctant to complain for fear of being sent home. The Edmonton Mennonite Centre is one of the nine organization involved and will receive $215,000 to hire three new staffers. Its executive director, Jim Gurnett, says the costs of the pilot project should be paid by employers not the taxpayers because it is they who benefit from the labour of the temporary workers.

Tuesday 08 July 2008 CALGARY: PREMIER MEETS U.S. ENVOY TO TALK OILSANDS
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach had a meeting on Monday with U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins to discuss the threat of a curb on the import by the U.S. of crude oil from the province's oilsands developments. After the meeting, the premier said that he and David Wilkins will work together to bring more American politicians to Alberta to allow them a first-hand look at what Alberta is doing to reduce greenhouse gases. The process of separating oil from bitumen using natural gas is enormously productive of toxic emissions. The Alberta government is concerned that the U.S. government is drawing up a law that would forbid the import of energy products that produce more pollution that conventional ones. However, some American politicians have said the law wouldn't apply to Alberta's oilsands.

Thursday 03 July 2008 TETON VILLAGE: ALBERTA PREMIER DEFENDS OILSANDS
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach defended his province's oilsands developments at the conclusion of the annual three-day Western Governors' Association held this year at Teton Village, WY. Mr. Stelmach told the governors that he expects the province's oil industry to be scrutinized because it's the top source of crude oil imported by the U.S., accounting for 13 per cent of the imports. Environmental groups took out an advertisement in Wyoming's biggest newspaper that criticized the impact of oilsands on one of North America's biggest forests as well as the carbon dioxide emissions that oilsands projects create. Mr. Stelmach responded that his province has pioneered carbon capture projects and became the first North American jurisdiction to impose a levy on carbon emissions. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer noted that although oilsands entail environmental problems, so do coal and nuclear power, and that the oil replaces oil bought "from dictators around the world."

Sunday 29 June 2008 EDMONTON: PREMIER DEFENDS OILSANDS IN APPEAL TO U.S. MEMORY
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has called on Americans to recall that Canada has "protected their backs" in several wars before considering calls to ban oil from his province's oilsands as environmentally harmful, noting that the two countries fought together in the two world wars and are presently engaged in the Middle East. Mr. Stelmach says he'll convey that message at this weekend's governors' and premiers' meeting of western states and provinces at Jackson Hole, WY. The U.S. government is drafting a law that would forbid imported alternate sources of energy that are deemed environmentally dangerous. But some American officials have said it wouldn't apply to oilsands.

REGINA: SASKATCHEWAN, ALBERTA DISLIKE OPPOSITION GREEN PLAN
Neither Mr. Stelmach nor Saskatchewan Energy Minister Bill Boyd like Liberal leader Stéphane Dion's green plan, which features the imposition of a carbon tax. Under the plan, there would be a $15.4-billion tax shift to punish polluters and to reward green businesses and consumers. Mr. Stelmach says the plan would increase every consumer cost not only in his province but across Canada. Mr. Boyd, for his part, rejects Mr. Dion's contention that although the two provinces think little of his plan now, they'll be of an opposite opinion in 10 years because it would cause their economies to become more diversified. The minister says that Saskatchewan doesn't like it now and won't in 10 years either. Mr. Dion is in Western Canada to pitch the plan.

:Friday 27 June 2008 CALGARY: RULES FOR OILSANDS PONDS TO BE TIGHTENED
The Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board says it will strengthen the rules governing the huge oilsands tailings ponds in the northeast of the province. The decision comes after the oilsands attracted international opprobrium when 500 migratory ducks died after alighting in one, the incident occurring at a time when the oilsands industry is being criticized for aggravating global warming. The ponds contain the residue of the process by which crude oil is extracted from bitumen and they cover more than 130 square kilometres. The new rules will force companies to prepare an operations plan to administer the ponds.

Thursday 26 June 2008 EDMONTON: ALBERTA WARNS OF U.S. BACKLASH IF OILSANDS EXCLUDED
Energy Minister Mel Knight predicts that American politicians will be made to suffer by consumers if they try to exclude "dirty" sources of foreign oil, including Alberta's oilsands on the grounds that production of such oil harms the environment. Consideration is being given in the U.S. to more expensive energy sources such as offshore oil or alternative fuels. Mr. Knight was reacting to reports that Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama has been weighing the possibility of curbing imports of "dirty" oil from various sources, including Alberta. Earlier in the week, U.S. mayors passed a resolution calling on cities not to use fuel produced from the oilsands for municipal vehicles.

Tuesday 17 June 2008 EDMONTON: PROVINCE WARNED AGAINST MORE OILSANDS DEVELOPMENT
The Pembina Institute has warned the provincial government of the dangers of approving more oilsands upgraders in the Edmonton area but the government appears not to be heeding. The environmental group's Oilsands Fever report says that such a feverish expansion around the city will produce the same problems experienced in and around Fort McMurray in the heart of the oilsands region of the northeast. One upgrader is already in operation near the city, two others are under construction and applications to build five others have been submitted. The facilities will require railway lines, roads, pipelines and electrical transmission lines. The Pembina Institute's report says the upgraders would consume 10 times as much water as the city itself and spew as much greenhouse gas into the air as 10 million vehicles. But the Alberta Energy department says a delay in the projects won't be considered because it would drive investment away and lead to the bitumen from the oilsands being processed outside the province.

Friday 13 June 2008 WASHINGTON: CANADA REASSURED ON OILSANDS
A member of the U.S. Senate energy committee says legislation concerning energy imports shouldn't affect those of Canadian oilsands crude. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, the committee chairman, says he supports an exemption to the legislation that would leave oilsands products from Canada unaffected. The House of Representatives has already approved such an exemption. The Canadian government has expressed concern that the legislation would severely limit exports of oilsands products to the U.S. Environmentalists in both countries have urged Canada to slow oilsands projects and make greater efforts to alleviate their environmental effects.

Saturday 07 June 2008 CALGARY: OILSANDS LICENCE RESTORED
The federal department of fisheries and oceans has reinstated a water permit to allow Imperial Oil Ltd. to start work on its controversial Kearl oilsands project. The department explained that it has received an updated report from a federal-provincial panel. The $8-billion project near Fort McMurray has been the subject of an intense legal battle in recent months. Environmentalists says Kearl will destroy huge tracts of forest and should be halted.

Thursday 05 June 2008 CALGARY: DANGER OF REFINING SHIFT LAID OUT
Canadian and U.S. environmentalists say that two-thirds of the planned increased crude oil refining in the U.S. will go to refine highly polluting crude oil from the oilsands of northern Alberta. A report by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project says the American refiners are shifting their capacity from conventional crude oil to Canadian oilsands, a highly negative development. The Environmental Defence Canada contributed to the report. Environmentalists have long deplored that oilsands development destroys water resources and contributes heavily to creation of greenhouse gases, supporters claiming however that the projects create work and can be built in a relatively clean way. One-point-six-billion barrels of oil per day are refined in the U.S., a figure which is to be increased by 1.1 billion barrels. Eric Schaeffer, the director of the Environmental Integrity Project, calls the looming reliance on Canadian oilsands a "setback of truly staggering proportions."

Saturday 17 May 2008 CALGARY: GAS PIPELINE SUFFERS NEW REGULATORY SETBACK
The Globe and Mail newspaper reports that the project to build a $16.2-billion natural gas pipeline from the Mackenzie Valley in the Northwest Territories to markets in the south has suffered yet another delay. The latest delay is due to a decision by the joint federal and provincial panel assigned to assess the environmental impacts of the project won't make public its report in October as planned by rather will deliver it sometime next year. One of the newspaper's sources say the delay is due to the enormous task of evaluating the thousands of pages of data. The independent panel named by the federal government had originally been supposed to publish its report in August 2007. The decision is the second regulatory reverse suffered this week by Imperial Oil Ltd., the leader of the consortium trying to launch the Mackenzie Valley project. On Wednesday, a court decision delayed the company's $8-billion Kearl oilsands by several months.

Friday 16 May 2008 CALGARY: IMPERIAL SUFFERS COURT SETBACK TO OILSANDS PROJECT
A federal judge has confirmed an earlier court ruling that blocks Imperial Oil Ltd. from proceeding with planned $8-billion Kearl oilsands mine in northern Alberta. Imperial was in court last week fighting the federal revocation of a permit to drain a vast stretch of muskeg in preparation for an open-pit oilsands mine. Imperial estimates that the area contains 4.6 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Friday 02 May 2008 EDMONTON: DEAD DUCKS EMBARRASS ALBERTA
The 500 ducks who died earlier in the week in a toxic wastewater pond have turned into an embarrassment for the province, as images of and stories about the birds have been seen and read around the world. The migrating birds flew into the ponds where billion of gallons of polluted water from the Syncrude oilsands development are stored. The pond lies along a bird flypath and is supposed to be ringed with noise-making devices, which however were not in place. The disaster occurred as the Alberta deputy premier was in Washington, DC, to convince opinion-makers that oilsands projects are environmentally safe. The province has launched a $25 million PR campaign to promote oilsands as eco-friendly.

Wednesday 23 April 2008 EDMONTON: ALBERTA PLANS RECORD SPENDING
The provincial government has presented a budget containing record-high spending of $37 billion, a 10-per cent increase over the previous year. The budget provides for billions for hospitals, schools and highways in a effort to reduce the lag between Alberta's booming growth and the province's infrastructure. The government also says it will phase out health-care premiums starting on Jan. 1. During the last election campaign, the Conservative Party of Premier Ed Stelmach had promise to phase out the premiums over four years. The measure will save families who pay them $1,000 a year. The budget forecasts a surplus of $1.6 billion. However, that prediction is predicated on a price of US$78 for a barrel of oil, while that price hit a record of US$118 on Tuesday.

Thursday 20 March 2008 EDMONTON: SYNCRUDE WINS CERTIFICATE FOR RECLAMATION
Syncrude has become the first oilsands producer to earn a land reclamation certificate from the Alberta government. The 104 hectares that were once a soil dump are again home to wildlife. However, what had been low wetlands has been permanently changed to a hilly area. Environmentalists have long criticized oilsands producers for failing to restore the land after its energy resources have been removed.

Tuesday 11 March 2008 OTTAWA: U.S. ENERGY LAW CAUSES CONCERN
The foreign affairs department says it's worried that an American energy law approved last December could interfere with the integration of the North American energy sector because of a provision that could affect the marketing of crude oil from Alberta's oilsands. The provision forbids the U.S. government to procure alternative fuels that create higher greenhouse house gas emissions that conventional petroleum sources. Canada's oilsands are defined as an unconventional energy source and environmentalists claim such projects create five times more toxic emissions than conventional oil production. The administration of President George W. Bush has encouraged imports of oil from Canada's oilsands as a way to reduce U.S. dependence on the Middle East. All three presidential candidates have said they want to deal with global warming, which the foreign affairs department says it fears could lead to a narrow interpretation of the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act. Alberta's oilsands are the second-biggest oil reserve after Saudi Arabia's.

Monday 10 March 2008 THE STRAIGHT GOODS:
In an effort to meet climate change targets, the Conservative government will force the oil and coal sectors to store greenhouse gas emissions. Chinese officials accuse a separatist militant group of plotting to attack the Beijing Olympic Games. Spain’s socialist government is re-elected.
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OIL SANDS PAINTED GREEN
Have the Tories suddenly turned into green crusaders? On Friday, MediaScout reported that the Conservative government failed miserably to live up to its own environmental standards, allowing lakes to be polluted and endangered species to be threatened. Today, the Star takes Environment Minster John Baird to task for blaming others and failing to take concrete environmental action, while the Globe and La Presse trumpet the government’s “tough” new standards targeting the Alberta oil sands and coal-fired power plants. The government will force all new operations in these sectors to capture and store their greenhouse gas emissions instead of spewing them into the air, and will make companies bear the cost for the new technology. Baird says the changes are necessary if Canada is to have any chance of meeting its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 2006 levels by 2020. For supporters of the Kyoto protocol, this goal is an exercise in underachieving—that agreement set the bar much higher than the government’s plan.

But the Conservative government is presenting its plan as a demand for a noble sacrifice from an industry to which they have been accused of kowtowing. There is no reaction from business leaders in today’s papers, but the government claims it has discussed the measures with the government of Alberta. Industry may whine, but critics still claim that they are getting off easy, since the government’s plan only demands reductions on “emissions per unit of production,” as opposed to absolute emissions reductions. In other words, a company will be required to cut its emissions per barrel of oil produced, but if the number of barrels it produces rises, so can its total emissions. The Globe notes that the increased cost to oil producers may cause gas prices to rise. Still, the rules have teeth to them, as any company failing to meet its targets could be prosecuted under the criminal code.

Thursday 06 March 2008 EDMONTON: COURT DELAYS HUGE OILSANDS DEVELOPMENT
Federal Court of Canada has returned Imperial Oil's proposed $7-billion Kearl oilsands project back to a federal-Alberta panel to reassess its production of greenhouse gases. Federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn approved the Kearl project last month after the three-member panel accepted Imperial's contention that the emissions produced would be "insignificant." Two environmental groups, Ecojustice and the Pembina Institute, asked the court to reverse the decision. The court agreed that it would be impossible to consider the production of gases equivalent to that of 800,000 cars as insignificant. The effect of the ruling on Mr. Hearn's decision is unclear. A lawyer who argued the case for Ecojustice says it will force harmful emissions to be much more carefully considered in future oilsands assessments.

Wednesday 05 March 2008 EDMONTON: CONSERVATIVES WIN FOR 11TH STRAIGHT TIME
The Progressive Conservative Party government has been re-elected with a majority in the western Canadian province of Alberta. Premier Ed Stelmach led his party to its 11th straight majority in Monday's election. The party has been in power since 1971. The Tories Conservatives won 72 of 83 seats in the provincial legislature. The Liberal Party captured only nine seats and the New Democrats, two. Among the main campaign issues in the oil-rich province were how to clean the environment and how to improve health care.

Editorial: Alberta wins

No one saw it coming. Nobody thought that homespun Stelmach was capable of putting on a show of electoral dominance

Wednesday Mar 5, 2008 Albertans clearly have no gripes
Nice guys finish first in Alberta, where Progressive Conservative Premier Ed Stelmach, in his first election as leader, increased his party's share of the vote and seat total in a landslide victory Monday.

Monday Mar 3, 2008 Officials were warned of oilsands fallout
Senior officials at Environment Canada were warned two years ago about potential economic and environmental...

Monday 03 March 2008 EDMONTON: ALBERTANS PREPARE TO VOTE
The Conservative Party in Alberta hopes to win its eleventh consecutive mandate on Monday when voters go to the polls. If the Conservatives win, it will be Premier Ed Stelmach's first victory as leader. Although there has been speculation that voters might consider a change after almost 37 years of Conservative government, there appeared to be little incentive for people to switch to the Liberal Party under Kevin Taft or to the New Democratic Party under Brian Mason. Among the main campaign issues were how to clean the environment and how to improve health care. Alberta is cash-rich because of its thriving oil industry.

Shifting sands: Canada, the world and the oil sands

March 1, 2008
Canadian ambassador Wilson lobbies U.S. to go easy on oilsands restrictions

Sunday Mar 2, 2008 Five facts about Canada's oil country
Alberta has a population of 3.3 million, about 10 per cent of the Canadian total.
Alberta's GDP was $183 billion in 2006 - about 14 per cent of Canadian GDP.
Oil and gas production accounts for about 25 per cent of Alberta's GDP, 70 per cent of provincial exports and more than a third of provincial government revenues. Its oil sands contain 174 billion barrels of oil, the largest reserves outside the Middle East.
Alberta has the strongest economy of the provinces and is the only jurisdiction that is debt free. It has run budget surpluses for 14 years, thanks to spending restraints and revenue from the oil and gas sector.
Alberta claims to have been free of rats since 1950. The province still employs
inspectors to patrol its borders and inspect up to 4,000 buildings a year for signs of infestation. Pet rats are banned.
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008

Friday 29 February 2008
ALBERTA’S FORGOTTEN ELECTION
The Globe (subscription required) and the Post go inside with Alberta’s election—but only barely. Since the year-old administration of Progressive Conservative Premier Ed Stelmach headed into an election on February 4, the national media have given us only a marginal glimpse of the campaign. Today’s papers continue that practice. In the Globe, Roy MacGregor offers a quick review of some interesting analyses and blue-sky policy ideas offered by Alberta luminaries invited to speculate about what the province could do with the massive wealth being generated by oil sands development. In the Post, Colby Cosh—once the national media’s favorite young right-wing Visigoth, now given much less face time—wearily grumps about both Stelmach’s lack of zing and the Alberta Liberals’ “characterization of Alberta as a giant failure zone.” Other than these two pieces, we get nothing three days ahead of the March 3 election that promises to be a watershed test of ideas and models for the province’s future. Stelmach’s government leans heavily on his rural power base in northern Alberta, aiming to maintain the province’s traditional fiscal reticence and keep control of the agenda tightly centered in the cabinet and the PC party itself. The Alberta Liberals have managed to gain attention by calling for greater public investment in the cities—particularly booming Calgary—that were nearly shut out of cabinet. Weariness with thirty-seven continuous years of PC dominance has elicited rural interest in the hard-right Wildrose Alliance, while the NDP and Greens have capitalized on concerns over the environmental impact of oil sands exploitation. There’s a real contest in Alberta, one that may topple a longstanding political dynasty. Better coverage would have been an opportunity to treat it like an event worthy of the attention of a national readership.

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Sunday 17 February 2008 OTTAWA: ENVIRONMENTALISTS DENOUNCE OILSANDS PROJECTS
U.S.-based environmentalists have denounced Alberta's oilsands projects as the "most destructive project on the planet" and accuse the federal government of being an accomplice of the their developers. Environmental Defense recalled the more than 100 government and independent reports on the toxic waste ponds that cover 50 square kilometres and are big enough to be observed from space. The lobby's report also notes that oilsands produce three times more greenhouse gases than the extraction of conventional oil and are likely responsible for acid rain in neighbouring Saskatchewan. The document also mentioned health problems at the Fort Chipewyan, an aboriginal community downstream from the oilsands, where various types of cancer and other diseases have become endemic where they had been unheard of. Environmental Defense blames these woes in part on lax enforcement of federal environmental and fisheries laws and the CO2 emissions reduction targets "set deliberately low" by Environment Minister John Baird.

Monday Feb 11, 2008 Aberta sways on undecided voters
About one in four voters were uncertain about who to vote for in the March 3 Alberta election heading...

Tuesday 05 February 2008 EDMONTON: ALBERTANS TO VOTE
Conservative Party Premier Ed Stelmach has called an election for March 3 to seek what would be his first mandate from voters since he became party leader a year ago. Mr. Stelmach won the leadership in a surprise vote to succeed former Premier Ralph Klein. The Conservatives are expected to campaign on the slogan "Change that works for Albertans." Mr. Stelmach's government has been spending billions for new schools, roads, hospitals and other infrastructure. Mr. Klein acknowledged before leaving office that his government had had no plan to provide infrastructure support for the province's staggering growth. The opposition Liberal and New Democratic parties have advised voters to pay attention to the Conservatives' record rather than their campaign promises.

Tuesday Feb 5, 2008 Alberta premier calls election
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach called a provincial election yesterday, launching a campaign that will culminate... In the Canadian media, only election news out of Alberta ranks slightly higher than Super Tuesday

Wednesday 30 January 2008 CALGARY: ALBERTA UNVEILS MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR STRATEGIC PLAN
Flush with money from its booming oil industry, the government of the province of Alberta on Tuesday announced a 20-year strategic plan to improve infrastructure as well as a wide variety of public services. Under the plan, the government will spend CDN$6 billion annually to build up highways, railways, hospitals, schools and low-income housing. The announcement comes following criticism that the government was spending too much money in helping to develop profitable oil-sands projects while failing to maintain infrastructure and to stop high inflation in the housing sector. Alberta's population of just over three million people is expected to increase to five million by 2028. Political opponents of Premier Ed Stelmach say that his 20-year strategic plan is merely a ploy in advance of an election that he's expected to call soon.

Tuesday Jan 29, 2008 Alberta's climate plan tops debate
Canadian premiers offered cautious defence of Alberta's approach to climate change yesterday as they...

Friday 25 January 2008 ALBERTA TO MOVE SLOWLY TOWARD GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTIONS
What comes down must first go up. The oil-rich province of Alberta has rolled out a plan that allows total greenhouse gas emissions to increase for another 12 years, before starting a gradual reduction. Environment Minister Rob Renner says it will result in "real reductions" of 14 per cent below 2005 levels by 2050. The plan focuses on capturing and storing CO-2 from giant oilsands plants, coal-fired generators and industry flu stacks. The carbon dioxide would then be distributed along a multibillion-dollar pipeline system and pumped into the ground to help squeeze more oil and natural gas from aging wells. Alberta's new green plan also includes unspecified consumer incentives to buy energy-efficient appliances, as well as a new emphasis on wind, thermal and geothermal power.

Tuesday 22 January 2008 OTTAWA: CANADIAN WEST TO LEAD ECONOMY
The cities in western Canada are predicted to lead the country in economic growth in 2008. The Conference Board of Canada, an independent economic think tank, says Calgary, Alberta, will be the top economic performer, based on "strong energy demands, furious construction activity and robust consumer spending growth." Next on the list is Edmonton, Alberta, followed by Winnipeg, Manitoba, and then Vancouver and Abbotsford in British Columbia. Of the expected top-ten performers, four are in eastern Canada. They are Toronto, Kitchener, Quebec City and Halifax. In a cautionary note, however, the Conference Board warns that if the United States were to enter a recession, then all bets are off. A recession, it says, "could lead to a significant retrenchment in commodity prices, cutting back the wealth and income effects that are filling Canadian government coffers and driving up business investment and household spending."

ALBERTA: TORIES REMAIN STRONG
Canada's western province of Alberta has been governed by the Progressive Conservative Party for the past 37-years. And, according to a new poll conducted for the Globe and Mail newspaper, that's not about to change. It shows that Premier Ed Stelmach and his party are poised for an election victory, if one is held, as expected, next month. The poll, done by the Strategic Counsel, finds that 58 per cent of voters would choose the Conservatives, 19 per cent would vote Liberal, while the NDP and the Greens each polled nine per cent. The Alberta Alliance has five per cent support. The poll was conducted earlier this month.

CALGARY: WHAT'S THE BUZZ?
Canadian beekeepers and industry experts are meeting in Calgary, Alberta, this week to discuss ways to keep new pests and viruses from damaging Canada's fragile honeybee population. Nearly 30 per cent of Canada's bee colonies were destroyed last winter, twice the normal rate. The Canadian Honey Council says there needs to be a national network to monitor trends and alert scientists and beekeepers if there's a serious outbreak of disease. Honeybees pollinate numerous crops in Canada, including apples, blueberries and raspberries.

Tuesday 15 January 2008 EDMONTON: OILSANDS PROJECT FACES ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CHALLENGE
A court in Edmonton, Alberta, will begin hearing arguments on Tuesday that hope to overturn the approval of a major oilsands project in the province's north. Two environmentalist groups, Ecojustice and the Pembina Institute, argue that approval for Imperial Oil's project should have been withheld because the company chosen to maintain the environment has a poor record. The groups also argue that Imperial Oil's plans to soften the environmental impact are untested. Alberta has wide tracts of oilsands that are attracting strong international interest. But many environmentalists worry that oilsand projects are devastating huge areas.

Tuesday 01 January 2008 CALGARY: TRANS-FAT FREE IN 2008
The city at the centre of Canada's cattle industry is the first in the country to impose a ban on trans fats. Restaurants in Calgary, Alberta, are no longer allowed to cook with fats and oils that have more than 2-per-cent trans fats. Those fats are typically found in cooking oils that are solid at room temperature, such as some margarines and shortenings. Trans fats have been linked to clogged arteries and heart disease. Eventually, other Canadian cities are expected to follow Calgary's lead.

2007

Thursday 27 December 2007 FORT McMURRAY: PIPELINE OPERATOR UNDAUNTED
A pipeline operator remains undaunted by labour and other political groups opposed to its project to ship unprocessed bitumen from Alberta's oilsands to the United States. TransCanada (TSX:TRP) spokesperson Shela Shapiro said the company is committed to the Keystone pipeline project, noting it wouldn't build the pipeline if there wasn't any demand for it. In October the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union filed an application asking the federal cabinet to reject the National Energy Board's approval of the Keystone application. The union wants the issue brought before the Standing Committee on Natural Resources for hearings on the impact of exporting Canada's unprocessed energy resources. The Alberta Ned Democratic Party has also proposed a private members bill seeking to restrict bitumen exports to the US. Ms. Shapiro said TransCanada is anticipating the Final Environmental Impact Assessment from the US to come in either by the end of this year or early next year.

Thursday 08 November 2007 EDMONTON: DISPUTE RAGES OVER ROYALTIES
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach says he was unaware during his years in cabinet that energy department reports urged that oil and natural gas royalties be increased by at least $1 billion a year. The province's auditor general recently reported that the reports were hidden from the public for years. The premier said on Wednesday that regardless of the contents of the department reports, changes to royalties were at "the discretion of the government." Two weeks ago, the government raised the royalties by $1.3 billion a year, ignoring a recommendation by a review panel that the figure be $2 billion. Opposition Liberal leader Kevin Taft has been pressing the Conservative government to make the reports public, and said on Wednesday that there's no question but that Albertans were cheated out of billions of dollars. Mr. Taft calls "total nonsense" the premier's contention that there are "no missing billions" because the energy industry stimulated the provincial economy. According to Auditor General Fred Dunn, the energy department's own documents show that the government was falling well below its energy revenue targets.

Wednesday 07 November 2007 EDMONTON: PREMIER CRITICIZES ROYALTY PANEL
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has for the first time criticized the review panel on oil and natural gas royalties which his own government appointed. The panel recommended that the royalties be increased by 20 per cent or almost $2 billion a year starting this summer. In the end, the government opted for an increase of $1.4 billion starting in 2009. Speaking in the legislature, the premier compared the panel's main recommendation to the hated federal national energy program in the 1970s. Mr. Stelmach says the program drove Albertans out of the province, caused bankruptcies and left some homeowners unable to pay their mortgages. The premier faced questions from lawmakers about why the Conservative government had for years ignored advice of its civil servants that the royalties should be raised.

Friday 02 November 2007 CALGARY: ENERGY FIRM REACTS TO ROYALTY CHANGE
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. says it will lessen its drilling because of the higher royalty fees announced last week by the Alberta government. The firm says it will drill 30 to 50 per cent fewer natural gas wells because it anticipates negative effects on its development plans in 2008. The company also says its drilling for light oil will drop by 50 per cent. Premier Ed Stelmach announced last week that the government will collect $1.4 billion more a year in oil and gas royalties. Major and junior energy firms had said beforehand that a major increase in royalties would impel them to a massive scaledown of their investments in the province.

Wednesday 31 October 2007 CALGARY: PLANNED PIPELINE DOUBLES IN SIZE
Canadian pipeline firm TransCanada Corp. says it has more than doubled the estimated cost of its planned Keystone pipeline to US$5.2 billion to build in more capacity for the crude oil which it will convey. CEO Hal Kvisle says both producers and refiners continue to contract for additional long-term use of the facility. Keystone will convey Canadian crude from Hardisty, AB, to two terminals in the mid-western state of Illinois. Keystone was planned to carry 435,000 barrels of oil a day starting in late 2009. The company will ask the Canadian National Energy Board's approval to increase that amount to 590,000 barrels daily. TransCanada's initial estimate in 2005 of the cost of building the pipeline was US$2.1 billion.

CALGARY: MONTANA BECKONS TO DISGRUNTLED IN ALBERTA
The governor of the U.S. state of Montana has suggested that energy companies in Alberta that are unhappy with the new and higher system of royalties in that province think about investing in their southern neighbour. Brian Schweitzer told the Calgary Chamber of Commerce that his state already offered a better tax structure even before Premier Ed Stelmach last week announced that the province would start collecting an additional $1.4 billion a year in oil and natural gas royalties. Gov. Schweitzer says Alberta and Colorado already have an excellent energy partnership and that there's no reason it can't continue. The governor also suggested that Canada cannot increase its energy production without new refineries and that Colorado would be a good place to locate them.

Monday 29 October 2007 EDMONTON: PREMIER STILL PROMOTING HIGHER OIL ROYALTIES
The premier of the western Canadian province of Alberta, Ed Stelmach, is continuing to defend his government's decision to raise government royalties for the oil and gas industries. In a speech to the Progressive Conservatives' annual policy conference in Calgary on Saturday, Mr. Stelmach said that the increase will help the province build for the future. And he said that all of Canada will benefit. On Thursday, Mr. Stelmach said that royalities on oil and gas production would increase $1.4 billion by 2010. Canada's largest energy company, Petro Canada, has said it will carry on with its engineering work on $15 billion worth of new oil sands projects in Alberta.

U.S.-led coalition forces killed about 80 Taliban fighters during a six-hour battle outside a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan. The battle was in Helmand province, the world's largest poppy growing region. It was at least the fifth major fight in the area since early September. Meanwhile, Australia's prime minister, John Howard, called for more NATO powers to directly engage the Taliban. The governments of the Netherlands and Canada, in particular, are coming under domestic pressure to pull out troops because of heavy casualties.

Saturday 27 October 2007 CALGARY:ROYALTY MELTDOWN DOESN'T MATERIALIZE
The selloff of oil and natural gas stocks that some analysts had predicted because of the Alberta government's royalties increase announced on Thursday didn't pan out. The TSX energy sector actually gained .17 per cent in trading on Friday, as the global price of crude oil hit new heights. The barrel of crude closed at US$91.86 on the Nymex. Shares of companies like EnCana Corp., Suncor Energy and Canadian Oil Sands Trust declined slightly, but shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Imperial Oil, the country's largest integrated oil and gas producer, actually rose. PetroCanada, meanwhile, announced that it will carry on with early engineering work on two energy projects worth $15 billion. On Thursday evening, Premier Ed Stelmach said the government will raise royalties by $1.4 billion a year staring in 2009. An independent panel had recommended they rise by $2 billion yearly starting next summer.

Friday 26 October 2007 THE STRAIGHT GOODS:
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach announces his controversial new scheme to increase the province’s oil royalties. An escaped murderer and one of America’s Most Wanted is caught by a Mountie in New Brunswick. The Vatican releases long-concealed court transcripts of the Knights Templar heresy hearings.
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ALBERTA RUDE TO CRUDE COMPANIES
The Globe leads, while The National, CTV News and the Post front, and the Star goes inside with the unveiling of Alberta premier Ed Stelmach’s new oil royalty scheme. Stelmach announced yesterday that the Alberta government will increase the royalty charges for oil companies drilling in the province by 20 percent, garnering Albertans a projected $1.4 billion dollars more in annual oil revenue by 2010. The establishment of the new regime is a response to the findings of a government-appointed panel created to investigate the previous royalty policy, which had been in place since 1992. In fact, Stelmach rejected half of the panel’s recommendations: the proposed royalty increase is only 75 percent of that suggested by the panel and, also contrary to the report’s advice, the royalty rate will vary depending on the price of oil. In this way, the premier suggested yesterday, the government has struck a golden mean: “As future generations look back at today, I believe they will see we were fair and reasonable, not greedy or short-sighted.”

Perhaps future generations will, but according to today’s Big Seven, current generations are widely displeased. The Globe reports that yesterday’s announcement “infuriated” the oil industry and put the province at risk of losing thousands of jobs, if, as expected, some oil companies pull out of Alberta due to what they see as overpricing. The Post, which bleakly unpacks the likely economic fallout of the policy, is as displeased with the new regime as the oil industry is, likening yesterday’s announcement to “a slap in the face for Alberta.” Meanwhile, the other side of the issue, which goes largely ignored in today’s coverage, and is therein represented exclusively by the “left-leaning” Pembina research group, criticizes Stelmach for not adopting the panel’s recommendations more fully. For Stelmach’s sake, MediaScout hopes the premier reads the Globe: Those pages hold the only editorial (subscription required) in today’s Big Seven that supports Stelmach’s assessment of his own policy as “fair and reasonable,” positing the new scheme as an artful compromise.

Friday 26 October 2007 Alberta royalty rise: $1.4 billion CALGARY–Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has decided to at least partially protect the goose that lays the golden egg and increase energy royalties by about 25 per cent less than a review panel recommended.

Stelmach tiptoes on royalty path
Confronted with popular demand from Albertans for a greater share of the income generated by their resource birthright, and an oil-patch implacably opposed to a significant hike in the royalties it pays, Premier Ed Stelmach has decided to split the difference.

Thursday 25 October 2007 Alberta Royalty Review
Wasn’t last night just a great evening of TV? You had the Detroit Red Wings play the Vancouver Canucks; Red Sox host the Colorado Rockies in game one of the World Series; the Bionic Woman; Charlie Rose (believe it or not, one Morning Coffee scribe plans his evenings around Charlie Rose), and; last but not least, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach’s television address. Stelmach’s pre-recorded message (complete with scenic shots of the province and background music) gave no specific details about his plans to change the province's royalty regime and left viewers with a “to be continued” cliffhanger. The Alberta premier made “motherhood” statements like: "I promised you a royalty system that works for Albertans - who own the resources - and also for the companies who invest billions of dollars in our economy.”, "The new framework will enable Alberta to plan for a secure future. It will provide the stability and predictability business needs and time to adjust to the changes." and “Decades from now, when our conventional energy resources are gone, our children must be left with an economic foundation for their prosperity.” Stelmach plans to provide full details of changes to the fiscal regime from Calgary today at 3:00 PM (Mountain Standard Time).

Tuesday 23 October 2007 TORONTO: ALBERTA AGAIN WARNED AGAINST ENERGY TAX INCREASE
The Alberta government has again been advised of the inadvisability of raising oil and natural gas royalties. TRC Capital Markets, the Royal Bank's investment division, says that acceptance of the advice of an independent panel that the royalties should be raised by an average of 20 per cent would bring short-term gain but also radically alter the government's relationship with energy firms. The bank says the government of Premier Ed Stelmach should focus instead on promoting long-term capital investment. Several major energy firms, including EnCana Corp. and Talisman Energy, have said they'll cut investment by between $500 million and $1 billion if the suggested increase is implemented. Petro-Canada and ConocoPhillips have threatened to quit the province altogether. The premier will announce his decision on Oct. 22.

CALGARY: BIG LABOUR IN ALBERTA ISSUES WARNING ON ROYALTIES
Alberta's largest labour organization is threatening to launch an election-style campaign aimed at punishing the governing provincial Conservatives if Premier Ed Stelmach scraps a government-commissioned panel's proposal to raise oil and gas royalties. Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan says he believes the premier will institute a "watered-down" version of the Alberta Royalty Review Panel's proposal of a 20-per-cent increase in total royalties worth roughly $2 billion per year, if he doesn't outright reject it. Last week Mr. Stelmach said Alberta's current royalty regime has created "one of the most successful economies on earth." He has also said he will not allow oil and gas companies to bully him into making a decision on royalties. The issue has ignited a political firestorm in a province that opinion polls show largely favours the review panel's recommendations. It reached a head recently when hundreds of energy workers nearly came to blows with industry representatives following a rally at the provincial legislature. The industry has made almost-daily threats to trim billions worth of investments and eliminate thousands of jobs if the royalty panel's recommendations are followed.

Tuesday 23 October 2007 RED DEER: PREMIER DEFENDS ROYALTY RÉGIMEThursday 18 October 2007 EDMONTON: ROYALTY PROPOSAL CONTINUES TO ROIL WAVES
More than 700 workers in Alberta's energy sector staged a rally outside the provincial legislature on Wednesday to protest against a proposal to increase oil and natural gas royalties by an average of 20 per cent. The proposal came several weeks ago from an independent panel which said in a report that the energy sector has been cheating the government for years and has been hiding internal financial data to that effect. Major and junior energy firms have denounced the panel's report, claiming that it the royalties are increased by 20 per cent they will make reductions that will cost thousands of jobs. Some of the demonstrators in Edmonton on Wednesday echoed that prediction. However on the same day there has been a claim that the 20-per cent figure is itself a vast underestimation of what the oil and gas companies could and should pay. The Parkland Institute, a research group at the University of Alberta, has issued a report that energy taxes and royalties in fact should be boosted by 90 per cent and contradicts claims by companies and investment houses that increased royalties would kill jobs and investments in Alberta. The researchers also recommend public ownership of the province's energy resources.

Wednesday 17 October 2007 CALGARY: ASIAN BILLIONAIRE EXPANDS HOLDINGS IN OILPATCH
A Hong Kong-based firm controlled by Asia's richest man, Li Kashing, has bought TransAlta LP, one of Canada's biggest power trusts, for $629 million. His CKI firm says it will pay unit holders $8.39 per unit. TransAlta LP had been controlled by TransAlta Corp. CKI says the transaction is part of an effort to establish itself in North America's energy sector. Li Kashing already controls Calgary-based Husky Energy Inc. TransAlta Power put itself up for sale in May, saying that the federal government's decision to tax trusts at the same rates as corporations meant that its business model was no longer in the best interest of the unitholders.

Tuesday 16 October 2007 EDMONTON: PREMIER ACCUSED OVER ROYALTY ISSUE
Alberta's opposition New Democratic Party has accused Conservative Premier Ed Stelmach of meeting secretly with representatives of the energy industry to discuss the controversy over proposed increases in royalties. NDP leader Brian Mason accuses Mr. Stelmach of breaking a promise to Albertans to decide the question in an open and transparent manner. But a spokesman for the premier denies he has met with anyone from the energy industry. Two weeks ago, an independent panel issued a report which claimed that the government has been shortchanged on royalties for years and they they should be raised an average of 20 per cent to bring in $2 billion into the provincial treasury. Last week, Mr. Stelmach was quoted as saying he didn't intend to trash the existing royalty system. In another development, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has issued a report which calls the panel's findings to be founded upon "severely understated industry costs." The report accuses the panel of evaluating the cost of an oilsands project at $4 to $6 billion, whereas the actual cost is $10 to $11 billion

Monday 15 October 2007 EDMONTON: CANOLA DIESEL PLANT PLANNED IN ALBERTA
Canada's first large-scale plant to convert canola oil into organic diesel will be built in Alberta. The Canadian Bioenergy Corporation of Vancouver plans to spend $90 million on the plant. The facility will be constructed northeast of Edmonton in an oil refinery centre near an oilseed crushing plant. Canola is Canada's dominant vegetable oil. Canada's government is encouraging the development of renewable fuels. Earlier this year, the governing Conservative Party committed $1.5 billion over the next seven years to develop the country's renewable fuel production.

Tuesday 09 October 2007 Wed1336 To add fuel to the flames of discussion you may want to pick up William Marsden’s recently published book, STUPID TO THE LAST DROP: HOW ALBERTA IS BRINGING ENVIRONMENTAL ARMAGEDDON TO CANADA (AND DOESN’T SEEM TO CARE). Failing that, read the Globe & Mail Review . The reviewer pounced on Mr. Marsden’s account of a ‘nutty’ plan hatched in the 1950s to release the oil mixed within Alberta’s gritty sand using an underground nuclear blast.

Tuesday 02 October 2007 EDMONTON: GOVT. ACCUSED OF FAILING TO COLLECT ROYALTIES
The auditor general of Canada's main energy-producing province, Alberta, has said in his annual report that its government is failing to collect royalties from oil and natural gas firms. Fred Dunn's report says that $1 billion is owed, a sum about which he had previously warned. Mr. Dunn's report also says that Albertans have not for years been told the truth about whether the royalties are being collected or whether the rates are fair and competitive. The auditor general says that Albertans have had to file freedom of information requests to find out information on the subject. An independent panel of experts recently advised the government of Premier Ed Stelmach that the rates were far too low and should be raised by an average of 20 per cent.

Wednesday 19 September 2007 EDMONTON: ENERGY ROYALTY INCREASES SUGGESTED FOR ALBERTA
A review of the royalties which the Alberta government charges the energy sector has suggested they be increased significantly. The six-member review panel has turned its report on the subject over to the government and its recommends that the industry as a whole be taxed 20 per cent more. The document says the royalties on the oilsands projects should be increased by 36 per cent. However, the panel says the royalties should be lower on low-production oil and natural gas wells. The result of the changes would be a nine-per cent increase in revenue for the government from natural gas royalties and and 11-per cent boost from conventional oil production. The panel based its recommendation on the consideration that the royalty system hasn't kept pace with world energy markets. The government isn't committed to implementing the recommendations. Energy executives have warned that higher royalties could put a crimp in investment.

Monday 20 August 2007 EDMONTON: PROTEST FOCUSES ON ALBERTA HOMELESS
About 200 people took part in a march on Alberta's legislature in Edmonton on Sunday to draw attention to the plight of homeless people in a province with a booming economy. They said that some senior citizens on fixed incomes cannot afford rapidly rising rents. One protester called on Premier Ed Stelmach to stop development and to look more closely at the social and environmental damage caused by the province's valuable oilsands industry. Another protester demanded more new affordable housing and rent controls. Alberta is Canada's wealthiest province as a result of the oil industry.

Wednesday 08 August 2007 EDMONTON: ALBERTA AGAINST EMISSIONS CAP
The premier of Alberta, Ed Stelmach, has asked his provincial and territorial counterparts not to attack Alberta's energy policies at the Council of the Federation meeting that starts on Wednesday at Moncton, NB. Mr. Stelmach says he'll reject any suggestion that a cap be placed on greenhouse gas emissions, an idea which he says would be harmful to the entire Canadian economy and not only Alberta's. The premier says that Alberta has done more than some other provinces to alleviate the effects of climate change. Alberta is the source of 39 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the country, much of it produced by oilsands developments. . The Council of the Federation exists to provide the provinces and territories a forum to reach common positions on questions involving the federal government.

Thursday 26 July 2007 EDMONTON: EXPERTS DISAGREE ON OILSANDS DEVELOPMENT
A committee tasked with delineating the future of the oilsands industry in Canada's main energy-producing province, Alberta, has disagreed on major points, particularly whether there should be a moratorium on their development. The committee members were environmentalists, business people and government officials, who clashed over whether development should be halted until labour and housing shortages have been resolved. The energy industry rejected the idea that a cap for air emissions from new upgraders should be imposed. The industry and government officials also rejected environmentalists' suggestion that the use of water from the Athabasco River be limited. One environmentalist committee member predicted that Albertans will be disappointed that the industry and the government were inflexible on key issues. The committee's chairman said there was in fact agreement on 96 points, saying he regrets that there wasn't on the issue of development.

Wed1317 30 May 2007 The visit of Governor Schwarzenegger to Canada has generated considerable interest, is regarded as having been productive and has also elicited a number of comparisons to the leadership in Canada, with a definite tinge of envy on the part of Canadians for his enthusiastic leadership on environmental issues and his attitude that "it’s possible to take care of our economy at the same time we take care of our planet". This attitude was greeted with some scepticism by some Wednesday Nighters, but ardently championed by others.

The Governor's visit to BC also generated discussion of the Hydrogen Highway planned for the 2010 Olympics

With more evasion than leadership from our federal government, it is virtually certain that our commitments to the Kyoto Protocol will not be met because there are not the carbon-reducing technologies with which to do so. Canada has fallen behind the world, in part perhaps, because we speak of cost rather than investment in becoming more energy efficient. Certainly motor vehicles and farm equipment are more costly than horses, and mechanized equipment more efficient than hand labour, but had the Luddites prevailed, it is doubtful that society could have reached its current level of sophistication. It has been reported that Alberta oil and gas companies are currently supporting Kyoto as the world reacts to Canada’s apparent indifference. We could go back to consuming only local production of food and produce in order to reduce fuel consumption but that would result in inbreeding and protectionism, a retrograde step.

Monday 14 May 2007 Alberta rethinks royalties
Federal initiatives have changed oil business outlook, Finance Minister says

Wednesday 09 May 2007
Tory green plan favours oilpatch, critics charge
The Conservative government fended off opposition accusations Tuesday of favouritism for the Alberta oilpatch as various industry groups started raising questions about new federal environmental regulations that make the oilsands the only Canadian sector allowed to increase pollution linked to smog over the next decade.

Thursday 15 February 2007 Carbon trading would hit 40% of TSX: report
Companies representing 40 per cent of the Toronto Stock Exchange's total market capitalization would be directly affected by a legislated system of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caps and trading, and that impact will be negative for most of them, a new report from CIBC World Markets says.
....They said the oil and gas and utility sectors, together with industrial-processing operations such as metal smelting and refining, account for almost half the GHG emissions in Canada. “Those emissions would be the prime targets of any Canadian cap-and-trade system,” they said.
... Oil sands ranked second, even though they accounted for only 3.5 per cent of Canada's total GHG emissions in 2004. Mr. Rubin and Mr. Tal said the planned massive expansion of oil sands production will sharply increase the sector's emissions, even though the industry has been significantly improving its emission intensity and has scope to continue to do so.