Referendums have been the source of high anxiety and popular uprisings in recent years. Whether they’re a truly democratic way to make vital decisions that best serve the public interest is a matter of great debate. However, there really should be no debate – nine times out of 10, they’re a bad idea. Alberta Premier…
The long-term view is frightening. With long gestation periods, new oil and gas projects may not get online when needed
International oil and gas exploration and production are in the doldrums and won’t likely rebound any time soon. Canada has curtailed its crude output by one million barrels per day (bpd). The country’s active oil and gas rig count had fallen to an all-time low of 17 in early June, Baker Hughes reported. That was…
Provincial governments need to be sober, disciplined, realistic and do whatever they can to not lose money for their citizens
While crude oil’s startling and unprecedented recent price plunge into negative territory was notable, it didn’t mean that producers were actually paying others to take oil off their hands. It did point to major problems the industry faces, however. In the short term, the foremost issue is weak demand. And it raised a significant problem…
Current oil production cuts can’t continue for long or the Saudis, and others, won’t balance their budgets
The U.S. is putting extreme pressure on the major oil producers, Saudi Arabia in particular, to cut output, firm up crude markets and ensure the continuity of the U.S. shale revolution. But on the other hand, the administration of United States President Donald Trump doesn’t want oil prices to go much higher. In an election…
It’s time to reduce funding to police and reallocate those dollars to more proactive ways to reduce crime
Here’s a couple of questions that might have seemed crazy to many people just a few short years ago but are gaining purchase today. Do we really need as much policing as we have? Or are the ever-growing police budgets actually inadvertently leading to greater violence? A lot of us have believed that police exist…
The Fair Deal Panel’s report had two key takeaways: Albertans are tired of being treated as the cash cow for politicians in other provinces, and there is no fair deal for Albertans until we tackle equalization. About two thirds of Albertans think we aren’t getting our fair share from Confederation, according to an Ipsos poll…
Businesses need help, but it’s important to provide the right help the right way. Premier Jason Kenney’s economic strategy has so far revolved around three core principles: lowering taxes, cutting red tape and pushing back against Ottawa. Kenney should double down on these principles to help Alberta recover and stay away from corporate welfare. “The…
Welfare reform in the 1990s provides a starting point for reforming health care today
By Jake Fuss and Bacchus Barua The Fraser Institute On Wednesday, Alberta’s Fair Deal Panel issued its report detailing 25 policy recommendations to expand the province’s influence within the Canadian federation and enhance provincial autonomy. However, one crucial policy option was not discussed at length – the potential shift of health-care decision-making powers to the…
Alberta Precision Laboratories, universities, health foundations and AHS team up to support search for better diagnostics, treatments
Alberta COVID-19 researchers are getting a boost thanks to a unique system to save and store blood and other samples from COVID-19 patients. The Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) COVID-19 Biorepository has just been officially announced to ensure researchers have the material they need to create improved diagnostic tools, treatments and even potentially a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2,…
The oil price crash of recent weeks has triggered a wave of huge exploration and production capital expenditure cuts
Lack of appetite to invest in the energy sector is leading the world into a supply crunch, says the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its recently unveiled World Energy Investment (WEI) 2020 report. The COVID-19 pandemic is having widespread and often dramatic effects on investments in the energy sector. At the start of the year,…
The opposition to fossil fuels such as natural gas is driven by magical thinking and is against all empirical evidence
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre As the lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic ends, provincial and federal governments will still face the reality that arrived in its wake: a recession, and one made worse by a domestic energy sector that never really recovered from multiple injuries already in play. Those injuries included:…
Business professors see long-term growth possibilities in post-pandemic landscape
Joseph Doucet sees no economic upside to the global pandemic, at least in the short term. “There’s no sector, really, that’s immune,” said Doucet, dean of the Alberta School of Business. “We don’t know how long this will last, we don’t know how deep the damage will be.” Yet as COVID-19 continues to pummel the world…
Will producers be tempted by a rise in crude oil prices to disregard quotas and voluntary production cuts?
Oil markets have taken some respite. But is this rally sustainable? Prices were surging until reports that Russia might back off on oil production cuts spooked the market. But even with that uncertainty, we’ve seen a complete turnaround in the markets. Just a month ago, crude oil markets faced a bloodbath. Since then, demand has…
At a time when the U.S. and Canada need it most, Keystone XL will generate more than 50,000 jobs
In the midst of the COVID-19-caused economic decline and huge job losses, it’s unfortunate that some, including Joe Biden, continue to smear Canada’s oil and gas industry. Biden, the presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, says if elected, he’ll shut down the Keystone XL pipeline project. The project is under construction, providing jobs to thousands of…
Yellow diamonds with colourless cores provide insight into the origin of their pure-yellow counterparts
A new study by University of Alberta scientists could help guide the search for rare, high-value yellow diamonds in the Canadian North. The researchers, led by PhD student Mei Yan Lai, examined the chemical makeup of stones recovered from the Chidliak and Ekati mines in Northern Canada to get a better understanding of how they formed.…