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Tucked in Budget, a $30-Million Mystery Cheque for Alberta Resource Sector

Senior public servants provided little information on the payment.

James Munson 22 Mar 2017TheTyee.ca

James Munson writes for iPolitics, where this story first appeared.

The federal Liberals are handing Alberta a one-time cheque for $30 million — apparently with few strings attached.

Tucked away in sections with a focus on energy, the 2017-18 federal budget includes two brief paragraphs on the payment, which is apparently meant to help Edmonton “stimulate economic activity and employment in Alberta’s resource sector.”

Senior public servants weren’t able to provide any additional information on the payment or say whether it is being sent with any conditions during a media lock-up for the budget Wednesday.

The oil and gas sector, while still recovering after a two-year plunge in global crude prices, is no longer in the funk it once was. Last year, the federal budget changed Employment Insurance rules to make it easier for unemployed Albertans to take advantage of the program.

Alberta’s unemployment rate fell to 8.5 per cent in January after hitting a peak of nine per cent in November.

The federal government is spending $100 million this year to help clean tech firms finance themselves, while there are few new supports for companies working in fossil fuels.

The budget includes a change to a tax credit used by oil and gas companies that will require firms to claim the discovery of previously unknown petroleum or natural gas reservoirs as a development expense, not as an exploration expense.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s support for a national carbon pricing plan has been repeatedly described as critical to the future of Canada’s energy sector by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Her government is implementing a carbon tax and a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector. At the same time, the federal Liberals have approved several crude oil pipelines out of the province.

There are 162,280 people, or around 6.9 per cent of the provincial population, working in the energy sector in Alberta, according to Natural Resources Canada.  [Tyee]

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