Wildrose Party
News release
EDMONTON, AB (July 5, 2017): The NDP government should embrace a new report from CAPP recommending it work with industry to boost Alberta’s struggling energy sector, the Wildrose Official Opposition said today.
The report outlines numerous production barriers faced by industry under the NDP and the federal government such as the Climate Leadership Plan, the Caribou Recovery Strategy and the National Energy Board review. The report says that if the NDP continues down the road it’s on, the province could leave up to $5 billion in economic growth on the table over the next three years. The report also says that by implementing changes to improve Alberta’s competitiveness, unemployment could be reduced by 25 per cent.
“By supporting and working with our province’s number one job sector to create policies based on common sense instead of ideology, the NDP could immediately boost our economy and create jobs,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “We’ve been imploring the government to stop imposing risky policies on our energy sector – which has been dealing with low commodity prices for years – but they just don’t seem to get it. Hopefully this report can offer the people running this government some guidance.”
Since 2015, the NDP has imposed a carbon tax it never campaigned on in the middle of a recession, hiked business and personal taxes and placed stringent caps on Alberta’s energy producers.
Wildrose Shadow Energy Minister Drew Barnes said that, as per the report, Alberta should bring its policies in-line with the United States and other close competitors.
“The NDP needs to decide who they are,” Barnes said. “Are they the party that chants ‘no new approvals’ on the Legislature steps and co-authors books called An Action a Day Keeps Global Capitalism Away? Or are they a fair government who understands the value of our world-class industry? The choice is theirs.”
In 2016, Wildrose proposed a five-step plan to reduce the damage risky NDP policies were causing in the energy sector.