Alberta Politics Thread

[Robbob]

Part of the this that I don't understand is they are blaming the utility regulator for doing their job. You would think those involved in the process back then would be the subject matter experts to be able to make the decision. It is just like the royalty review where the NDP talked about not getting our fair share when in the end they didn't really change a whole bunch. They just decided to make things hazy for investors.

Is there a industry they haven't meddled with yet?

[LanceUppercut]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Is there a industry they haven't meddled with yet?

The industry of big government.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Part of the this that I don't understand is they are blaming the utility regulator for doing their job. You would think those involved in the process back then would be the subject matter experts to be able to make the decision. It is just like the royalty review where the NDP talked about not getting our fair share when in the end they didn't really change a whole bunch. They just decided to make things hazy for investors.

Is there a industry they haven't meddled with yet?

The NDP are unique because they have a strong belief that the Private sector should be completely subservient to the government, and that the government should have the right to pick winners and losers.

Its most closely reflected in the BS statement by Hoffman, that the utilities have made 10 billion in profit, so they should be willing to take a 2 billion dollar soaking for the people of Alberta and more importantly to help smooth over their stupidity,

that even though the less profitable clause was there that these utilities shouldn't be pulling the trigger on them.

Its similar to the carbon tax situation where the government is going to collect this tax and then decide or pick winners and losers in terms of where that money goes. Which is incredibly dumbski.

The NDP wants to be able to snap their fingers and have the private sector jump to their whims without question, and its not how it works, and we're seeing that now with a reduced level of trust in terms of investing in a province run by the NDP.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Part of the this that I don't understand is they are blaming the utility regulator for doing their job. You would think those involved in the process back then would be the subject matter experts to be able to make the decision. It is just like the royalty review where the NDP talked about not getting our fair share when in the end they didn't really change a whole bunch. They just decided to make things hazy for investors.

Is there a industry they haven't meddled with yet?

Any industry with a union.

[V]

Haha, utilities are very union heavy.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Not only the lowest rates. But we have no debt for our power. That is outstanding. And we have companies in place willing to borrow to fund our future power needs. Or more accurately, we had companies willing to do so...

No debt?? This is an NDP Province!! This will not be tolerated!!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Handsome B. Wonderful

Any industry with a union.

Originally Posted by V

Haha, utilities are very union heavy.

I guess they're going after them too now.

- Oil & Gas in Ruins? Check!
- Agriculture a hamstrung wasteland? Check.
- Power and Heat torn asunder? Check indeed!
- Costs of living increased astronomically? Check and Check!
- Capital Investment completely out of the question? Oh you better believe thats a CHECK!

Now...only 3 years left to go, what else is there?

Forget anyone else, we're going to freeze and starve in the dark ourselves.

[CaptainCrunch]

I posted an article a couple of days ago where the AEUP warned the government not to go to war with them.

In otherwords, here come the soft negotiations and big raise and expanded civil service.

Since the Unions are going to be negotiating with themselves considering the appointment of a Union boss as a member of the governments negotiating team


NDP Government - You guys look like your hard done by here, have a 5 no 10 no 15% raise

AEUPE - You guys sure negotiate hard, we'll regretfully take this deal.

NDP - Don't forget to vote NDP

[White Out 403]

The circle jerk in this thread over NDP hate, union hate, and liberal values hate is mind numbing. I've read more constructive tripe from Sean Hannity. This thread should be renamed "fox news and calgary friends"

[LanceUppercut]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

The circle jerk in this thread over NDP hate, union hate, and liberal values hate is mind numbing. I've read more constructive tripe from Sean Hannity. This thread should be renamed "fox news and calgary friends"

Or we can, you know, point out the NDP are incompetent boobs.

[puffnstuff]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

The circle jerk in this thread over NDP hate, union hate, and liberal values hate is mind numbing. I've read more constructive tripe from Sean Hannity. This thread should be renamed "fox news and calgary friends"

Well feel free to make a post about how good the NDP has been. I'll wait.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

The circle jerk in this thread over NDP hate, union hate, and liberal values hate is mind numbing. I've read more constructive tripe from Sean Hannity. This thread should be renamed "fox news and calgary friends"

I'd love to hear an opposite pov. I'd love to have my mind un-numbed. But we've just sued the businesses that would build our new green power infrastructure at no cost to us (in fact they would likely pay us for the deal) while also agreeing to sell us the power at a reasonable rate. Do you understand what just happened here?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

I'd love to hear an opposite pov. I'd love to have my mind un-numbed. But we've just sued the businesses that would build our new green power infrastructure at no cost to us (in fact they would likely pay us for the deal) while also agreeing to sell us the power at a reasonable rate. Do you understand what just happened here?

Consider the source man. Anyone who disagrees with NDP thinking is, by definition, wrong according to that zealot.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

I'd love to hear an opposite pov. I'd love to have my mind un-numbed. But we've just sued the businesses that would build our new green power infrastructure at no cost to us (in fact they would likely pay us for the deal) while also agreeing to sell us the power at a reasonable rate. Do you understand what just happened here?

I really don't think that it is as simple as that.

[monkeyman]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

The circle jerk in this thread over NDP hate, union hate, and liberal values hate is mind numbing. I've read more constructive tripe from Sean Hannity. This thread should be renamed "fox news and calgary friends"

You just couldn't resist crawling into the middle of a circle jerk eh?

[para transit fellow]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Good read, thank you. It's interesting to note that the dire predictions quoted in that article never became a reality. Alberta has enjoyed highly competitive pricing in the last decade in comparison to provinces with regulated markets.

I am confused by whatbyou mean by this.

We had cheapest rates for electricity and then we deregulated.

For about 15 years we had very high electricity rates

Now we have cheap electricity rates... with ridiculus transmission costs to cover infrastructure built to ship electricity south to the usa.

How has this "competitive" rate been beneficial?

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by para transit fellow

I am confused by whatbyou mean by this.

We had cheapest rates for electricity and then we deregulated.

For about 15 years we had very high electricity rates

Now we have cheap electricity rates... with ridiculus transmission costs to cover infrastructure built to ship electricity south to the usa.

How has this "competitive" rate been beneficial?

You know there is essentially zero transmission from Alberta to the US right? You also know that the line between Alberta and Montana is a merchant line and not one single Albertan paid a single cent towards it right?

[para transit fellow]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

You know there is essentially zero transmission from Alberta to the US right? You also know that the line between Alberta and Montana is a merchant line and not one single Albertan paid a single cent towards it right?

Well there is the final connecting link that was self financed.... And there are the high capacity west and east lines recently built at a cost of 3 billion dollars thathhas to be paid for.

But it is strange that deregulation has finally returned us to cheap generation prices coupled with very high transmission prices.

http://business.financialpost.com/ne...pped-like-rats

[CaptainCrunch]

From the Financial Post yesterday

http://business.financialpost.com/fp...ded-investment

Premier Rachel Notley has said repeatedly she wants to “encourage” and “attract investment” to Alberta, which sure could use it. But her government just unleashed an advertising campaign not to promote the province’s relatively low taxes and skilled labour but to announce that the NDP is fighting against alleged “backroom” corporate skulduggery to “protect Albertans” from greedy businesses.
Actually, what Albertans need protecting from is capricious climate policy changes rolled out with great enthusiasm last year by an NDP government. Especially since it didn’t think to check the legal consequences of dramatically raising carbon levies on power companies whose contracts protect them against changes in law affecting their profitability.

The extent of those losses is of some dispute, but the NDP seems intent on maximizing the damage. It has deployed expensive lawyers to fight what many experts consider a weak case — after all, the Alberta government wrote the PPA contracts itself; it can hardly claim not to have known what was in them. The parties who signed the contracts were aware of the clause, even if, as the NDP complains, the average Albertan wasn’t (would average Albertans be familiar with any of the clauses?). Just because the government has a different leader and a different majority party doesn’t mean that, as a legal entity, it’s suddenly not bound by previous commitments. Otherwise, the Ontario PCs could legitimately promise to instantly slash Ontarians’ power bills if elected by instantly voiding so many feed-in-tariff contracts.

The deputy premier, Sarah Hoffman, insists no one in the public service warned her government this would happen, yet refuses to blame anyone but power companies exercising their contractual rights to get out of a money-losing deal.

No matter who dropped this particular ball, the reality is that in barely a year of governing the NDP has rattled any investors considering putting money into Alberta by announcing new carbon taxes, caps on emissions, a ban on certain fuels, and threatening (but ultimately passing on) royalty changes. Last month it changed regulations to make it harder for distressed oil companies to sell off oil licences. Now, it wants to wiggle out of 16-year-old contracts by painting business leaders as scoundrels. Add it up and the message the NDP is sending is loud and clear: Alberta is no longer open for business.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Makarov

I really don't think that it is as simple as that.

Actually, as complex as you believe it is, once the wheat is separated from the chaff it appears to boil down to more or less exactly that simple.

When everyone in the room is pointing and laughing at you, you become left with only two options:

1. You are the smartest person in the room who knows something everyone, literally everyone, does not.

2. You screwed up.

The NDP are not the smartest people in the room.