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No al-Qaida money in Alberta: Morton
News Articles | Fort McMurray Today | Carol Christian | August 27, 2010
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Confronting U.S.-based opposition to oilsands production, Finance Minister Ted Morton pointed out Thursday that money from the oilsands doesn’t end up up in the hands of Al-Qaida.
Morton made the comment while addressing the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce where he was discussing a number of topics including the importance of Fort McMurray and the importance of the oilsands not just to the economic future of Alberta but to the entire country; Canadian oil exports to the U.S.; and the current anti-oilsands campaigns.
“At least none of the money that comes to Alberta ends up in the hands of Al-Qaida,” said Morton.
He pointed out that currently, one out of 10 barrels produced in the oilsands goes to the U.S. By 2030, that ratio will increase to almost one in three barrels. Morton maintained that Americans — including California Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the committee on energy and commerce — who oppose Alberta oil need to realize the benefit of importing their oil from a friendly supplier trying to balance energy demand with environmental stewardship.
“Do you really think Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran care about the environment?” he asked before listing off Alberta’s efforts to mitigate environmental impacts from energy development.
He later told media most Americans intuitively understand that Canada is their friend and that a reliable source of energy from a friendly neighbour — their oldest and most reliable ally — “beats the heck out of buying oil from the Middle East with all the costs and human suffering.”
Telling his audience there is no point in talking energy without talking environmental stewardship, he noted the province’s introduction of the Alberta Land Stewardship Act and resulting land-use frameworks. The act, introduced in April 2009, is to help sustain economic growth, while meeting Albertans’ social and environmental objectives. Also known as Bill 36, the act creates the authority for regional plans for each of the seven regions based on watersheds identified in the Land-use Framework.
The first region was the Lower Athabasca which includes Fort McMurray and the oilsands.
The Lower Athabasca Regional Advisory Council presented a draft regional plan this week which the province has now released for public comment to be submitted over the next six weeks.
Morton encouraged Albertans to comment or criticize and make suggestions in regards to the draft, which will then go back to the province for review. A final plan is then anticipated for early to mid 2011.
In anticipation of environmental groups accusing the government that the frameworks are just another greenwash campaign, Morton said “I don’t think the facts support that.
“We’re the only jurisdiction in Canada, frankly the only jurisdiction in the world, that has undertaken to take our entire land base, divide it into land-use regions based on watersheds that allows the integration of air, land and water policy on a regional basis.
“Show me one jurisdiction in the United States that even does one-tenth of that. It doesn’t exist. ... At the end of the day facts will speak louder than misrepresentation and the facts are Alberta on land use, on reclamation, on water quality, on air quality, is doing as good or better than any other jurisdiction in North America.”
Referring to the province’s initiative to create a more efficient job of co-ordinating environmental regulation, Morton clarified that a more efficient regulatory system on environmental concerns doesn’t mean poorer or weaker standards. He added the province has to be rigorous on the environmental issues because the oilsands are under an international microscope.
When it comes to the current political and environmental interest group “misleading and inaccurate” attacks on the Alberta and the oilsands, Morton pointed out “we are on track to rebut those. ... You can’t just rebut with words. You have to rebut with facts.”
The stewardship act and Lower Athabasca plan will form part of that rebuttal.
“Reality is going to trump fiction in more ways than one,” he stated.
Another part of that rebuttal is a campaign not only to educate Alberta’s neighbours to the south but also central Canada about the growing importance of Alberta and of the oilsands to the economy.
This ministerial committee — including Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations Iris Evans, Energy Minister Ron Liepert and Environment Minister Rob Renner — will head to what what Morton called the “heartland of Ontario” in September to visit communities that house industries actively involved in selling their products and services into Alberta, principally for oilsands development.
While the oilsands is increasingly important to the economies of central Canadian provinces and the national coffers, Morton was quick to paint a picture of that increase.
Revenue from oilsands surpassed royalties from natural gas and conventional oil and in fact, for this year, it’s expected oilsands royalties will actually be greater than royalties from conventional natural gas and conventional oil combined. The province has royalties estimated at $1.9 billion each for natural gas and conventional oil. The royalties for synthetic crude and bitumen — oilsands — is $3.5 billion. That estimate jumps to $5.1 billion for fiscal 2012-13.
“That’s how important oilsands have become,” he stated.
With media reports eluding to the possibility of a provincial sales tax being introduced, Morton told the chamber “There is going to be no new sales tax in Alberta any time soon.” A quick round of applause was the immediate response from chamber members.
Before any sales tax would be introduced here, there would be a long conversation leading to a referendum on the issue, he added.
“The taxpayers of Alberta will have the final word.”
When it comes to the budget, the bottom line has stayed about the same with a slightly higher projected deficit of an estimated $4.8 billion.
“We believe that we have the capacity to operate in the red for another year or two,” said Morton predicting the province will get back to black in 2012.
He did acknowledge the unique challenges faced by Fort McMurray including having the shadow population living on the outskirts of town yet using the services.
Since working with Mayor Melissa Blake, he added the province has been able to do a better job dealing with this area, though not as good as it would like. He did highlight the province’s contribution of recent millions for road projects and growth related funding for Parsons Creek and Saline Creek.
“Given the fiscal restraints we’re under, we are (committed) to do right by Fort McMurray.”
With dwindling conventional resources already restricted from exports because of state ownership, Morton noted that two alternate sources often mentioned are the Gulf of Mexico and Western Canada, but given the recent oil spill, the gulf is not such an attractive option at this time.
“There is lots of activity headed in this direction.”
To meet that activity, the finance minister acknowledged the province realizes that to get the job done right for Northern Alberta, Fort McMurray’s oilsands need not just the physical infrastructure but the social infrastructure to attract the families to the community.
And based on the importance of this community to the provincial and national economies, he added the province is working to help ensure “you have the community and the support for that type of development.”
Canada is better positioned than any G-8 country to come out of the recession, and Alberta is better positioned than any other province, said Morton, adding the important news here is what’s good for Alberta is good for Canada.
“... Thank you from the Government of Alberta for all you guys do to make that happen and we’re going to do our best to give what you need to do it.”
Tagged with: oilsands, finance minister ted morton, al-qaida
