[Golden Jet]

Originally Posted by redforever

By 2008, the Conservatives had raised royalties in Alberta by 25% of what a panel had recommended. However, the NDP and Liberal parties within Alberta were outraged by what they perceived as “such a small increase” imposed on the oil and gas companies.

Alberta NDP platform position, 2008. They vowed if they were elected, they would raise royalties substantially more than the Conservatives had. Read this article with Brian Mason outlining NDP party position on royalties.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/albertavotes2008/story/2008/02/05/mason-royalties.html

Alberta Liberal platform position, 2008...same as with the NDP, they vowed to raise royalty rates significantly higher than what the Conservatives had. This is what Taft had to say

http://oilandgasinquirer.com/article...08_JS0001.html

Both the NDP and Liberal party had researched what Alaska was doing and thought Alberta should move in that same direction.

So all 3 political parties in Alberta were raising the royalty rate...even though Ralph Klein was against it. Alberta did not have any political party that would not raise royalties further....and most chose the path of least resistance, the Conservatives….because they were afraid of change and were not really sure what would happen with further increases in royalties.

And, I think part of the blame for the whole royalty fiasco has to be put directly at the feet of the oil and gas companies themselves. Perhaps if the oil and gas companies were better educators and better communicators, they could have got their message out to the general public but such was not the case. Educators and communicators they are not. They took out a full page ad in the major newspapers of Alberta, outlining their concerns about increased royalty rates…..but they did so using such technical language that it became mumbo jumbo for the readership. Now while the oil and gas companies may be short on communication skills, they are also not always the big boogey man that that masses make them out to be either.

And Ed Stelmach basically got in by default, by a new runoff structure, and also up the middle splitting the other two Conservative factions, the one faction wanting some change (Ralph has to go, he has been in too long) and the other faction wanting change at all costs. In fairness to Ed, it is almost impossible to govern trying to appease two opposing factions within your own party.

And as some will say, Stelmach is the best Premier Saskatchewan ever had.

Stelmach used the "Anyone But Calgary" ideology to his advantage during his leadership campaign. Therefore, I never thought of him as ever including Calgary (or me) in his vision of Alberta. To me, he was strictly an exclusionist & I have never supported him. Well PC's, you got your "Anybody but Calgary" Premier. Hope you liked it. The Tories got what they deserved with Stelmach & quite frankly, I'll never vote for them again.