[the_only_turek_fan]

http://business.financialpost.com/ne..._lsa=9a5d-4ad2

Layoffs in their previously high-demand professions started when oil prices collapsed nearly two years ago as a result of Saudi Arabia’s war for market share. Headcounts continued to shrink as the downturn dragged on longer than anyone imagined. Now the job killers are homegrown: uncertainty from environmental policies by governments in Edmonton and Ottawa, a continuing lack of pipeline capacity, the failure of even a single liquefied natural gas project to get the go-ahead, higher taxes and new costly regulations.

“There is a real human tragedy here,” said Dan Allan, president of the Canadian Society for Unconventional Resources, who estimated there are 40,000 to 60,000 energy professionals out of work in Alberta based on feedback from his membership, which straddles all disciplines — geoscientists, engineers, finance and business specialists.