Time to shutter the PCs’ bitumen bargain store

July 20, 2011

Alberta’s NDP Opposition leader Brian Mason says the PCs are giving away tens of thousands of jobs belonging to Albertans by actively supporting massive export pipelines.

“The PCs treat Alberta like a bargain store for energy companies. They sell as much of our resources as possible for the cheapest price. Fact is that our oil is a very valuable but finite resource. The jobs we ship out with every barrel of unrefined bitumen are jobs we’re never getting back,” says Mason. “The price of oil, over the long term, is only going to rise. Despite PC delusions, oil companies invest here because our resource is valuable, not because the Tories give in to industry demands. By insisting on keeping oil jobs in the province, Alberta’s NDP makes sure Albertans get the most from our oil resources.”

Energy Resources Conservation Board numbers show the province will upgrade only about half of the bitumen it produces by 2016 – far short of the 72% the Tories promised before the last election.

TransCanada Corp. touted last February that the Keystone XL pipeline will create 20,000 “high paying” jobs for Americans. Those jobs belong to Albertans, Mason says – jobs the Tories are sacrificing to keep royalties and political donations from oil companies flowing in the short term.

Energy Minister Ron Liepert should use this week’s energy minister conference to build support for a strategy that keeps jobs in Alberta and Canada, Mason says.