Alberta NDP screws up yet again

[The Green Barbarian]

Alberta got the message and Christy Clark is next.

Alberta didn't get any message. The NDP won on a protest vote. Their popularity is already plummeting because of course, they suck too.

I realize that you have this fabulous dream that one day everyone will wake up and embrace the disgusting and horrible NDP, but it's just not going to happen. The only one sleep-walking is you. The NDP is a joke.

[The Green Barbarian]

GUNTER: Notley increasing spending as Albertans lose jobs

First posted: Thursday, October 29, 2015 08:55 PM MDT

Shell Canada 300, Suncor 1,000, Weatherford International 1,000, Schlumberger 1,000, Cenovus 1,200 of 4,000 Canadian employees. Finning 500, Husky 1,100, Nexen 400; Talisman and ConocoPhillips 200 or more each. Trican 800, PennWest 400.

So far this year, Alberta is estimated to have lost at least 35,000 production, finance and executive positions in the energy sector - good, solid, high-paying jobs.

And those totals don't include layoffs from smaller oilfield services companies. Drive through any light industrial area in the province and you immediately notice the closed businesses. The estimated vacancy rate in service company buildings is 15 per cent. Two years ago it was under two per cent.

Enform, an oil industry safety and market analysis firm, calculates that since the current world oil-price slump began about 16 months ago, over 150,000 Albertans in the private sector have lost their jobs or been forced to work fewer hours.

The consensus among analysts seems to be that about one quarter of energy-sector workers, from tool pushers to finance experts to vice-presidents have lost some or all of their employment income in the last year-and-a-half.

That in turn has had a profound impact on retailers, restaurants, car dealers, homebuilders and realtors, hotels, travel agencies and anyone else in the business of providing luxury goods.

In simple terms, nearly everyone in the private sector has been adversely impacted by the downturn in the provincial economy. It's harder to afford not just a new suit, a new car, a night out or a week in Mexico, but mortgage payments, kids' activities and utilities.

So what has been the reaction of the Notley government to the increasing economic burden on Albertans? Why, of course, they've decided to grow the size of government, raise taxes and increase the cost of doing business!

Every one of the provincial government's departments got a spending increase in Tuesday's budget.

Most departments didn't get as much as the health, education and welfare departments. But because of that, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees has already put the NDP on notice: When oil and gas revenues recover, you had better make up the difference with truly huge spending increases then.

While hundreds of thousands of Alberta families are exercising restraint in their family budgets, the New Dems are bulling ahead with an additional $1.5 billion in spending this year, despite running a deficit of $6.1 billion, despite already having the highest per-capita spending of any province and despite having to borrow money ($4 billion) for day-to-day operations for the first time in 23 years.

Albertans are trimming expenses wherever they can. The NDP can't even find a single employee to lay off out of the 117,000 - many of thousands of them middle-level managers - at Alberta Health Services (AHS).

This coming year, the provincial government's public service will grow beyond 200,000 employees for the first time. The NDP are rewarding their buddies in the public sector while Alberta burns.

Damn the economy, full spending (and debt) ahead.

Could Tuesday's budget have been worse. For sure. It could have raised taxes even higher and, if you can believe it, spent even more.

I guess we should be grateful the Notley crowd didn't pull a full socialist.

But there was no climb down from its job-killing promise of a $15-an-hour minimum wage and no pledge not to raise taxes again in next spring's budget less than six months from now.

If the Notley government is prepared to double down on spending and government hiring in the middle of a recession, what do you think the chances are they will refrain from raising royalties or imposing new climate change regulations when their panels on those issues bring down their reports later this year?

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/10/29/g ... -lose-jobs

[flamingfingers]

Over the past decade, Alberta’s debt servicing costs have nearly tripled. In 2005-06, the year after Klein claimed the province was debt free, Alberta was still paying $248 million to service its debt.

The province has always borrowed — using its triple-A credit rating — to provide loans through government agencies to municipalities and farmers. When that borrowing is included in the borrowing for infrastructure, Alberta’s debt last year tops out at nearly $36.6 billion.

http://business.financialpost.com/news/ ... 14m-report

My, my.... with oil prices so high, HOW did the PCs manage to accrue such significant debt - a mere decade after Ralph Klein announced the province was Debt Free???

[The Green Barbarian]

My, my.... with oil prices so high, HOW did the PCs manage to accrue such significant debt - a mere decade after Ralph Klein announced the province was Debt Free???

Exactly. Which is why it was time for a change, and that change SHOULD have been to the Wild Rose, and it would have been, had Danielle Smith had the brains to stay with the party, and not cross the floor to Prentice. That opened the door for the crumb-bum NDP, and now Alberta is paying the price.

[flamingfingers]

now Alberta is paying the price.

The corrupt Prentice PCs made sure of that this past decade. Righties are such slow, slow learners!!

[maple leaf]

Because Alberta has all it's eggs in the oil basket,and oil prices around the world are plummeting,it is going to effect jobs in Alberta and they will loose them as industry cuts back as a result.

The Economist explains
Why the oil price is falling
Dec 8th 2014, 23:50 BY E.L.
Timekeeper

THE oil price has fallen by more than 40% since June, when it was $115 a barrel. It is now below $70. This comes after nearly five years of stability. At a meeting in Vienna on November 27th the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which controls nearly 40% of the world market, failed to reach agreement on production curbs, sending the price tumbling. Also hard hit are oil-exporting countries such as Russia (where the rouble has hit record lows), Nigeria, Iran and Venezuela. Why is the price of oil falling?

The oil price is partly determined by actual supply and demand, and partly by expectation. Demand for energy is closely related to economic activity. It also spikes in the winter in the northern hemisphere, and during summers in countries which use air conditioning. Supply can be affected by weather (which prevents tankers loading) and by geopolitical upsets. If producers think the price is staying high, they invest, which after a lag boosts supply. Similarly, low prices lead to an investment drought. OPEC’s decisions shape expectations: if it curbs supply sharply, it can send prices spiking. Saudi Arabia produces nearly 10m barrels a day—a third of the OPEC total.

Four things are now affecting the picture. Demand is low because of weak economic activity, increased efficiency, and a growing switch away from oil to other fuels. Second, turmoil in Iraq and Libya—two big oil producers with nearly 4m barrels a day combined—has not affected their output. The market is more sanguine about geopolitical risk. Thirdly, America has become the world’s largest oil producer. Though it does not export crude oil, it now imports much less, creating a lot of spare supply. Finally, the Saudis and their Gulf allies have decided not to sacrifice their own market share to restore the price. They could curb production sharply, but the main benefits would go to countries they detest such as Iran and Russia. Saudi Arabia can tolerate lower oil prices quite easily. It has $900 billion in reserves. Its own oil costs very little (around $5-6 per barrel) to get out of the ground.

The main effect of this is on the riskiest and most vulnerable bits of the oil industry. These include American frackers who have borrowed heavily on the expectation of continuing high prices. They also include Western oil companies with high-cost projects involving drilling in deep water or in the Arctic, or dealing with maturing and increasingly expensive fields such as the North Sea. But the greatest pain is in countries where the regimes are dependent on a high oil price to pay for costly foreign adventures and expensive social programmes. These include Russia (which is already hit by Western sanctions following its meddling in Ukraine) and Iran (which is paying to keep the Assad regime afloat in Syria). Optimists think economic pain may make these countries more amenable to international pressure. Pessimists fear that when cornered, they may lash out in desperation.

Dig deeper:
The economics of oil have changed (Dec 2014)
Will falling oil prices curb America's shale boom? (Dec 2014)
What is the oil cartel up to? (Dec 2014)
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economis ... explains-4

[maryjane48]

lol at wildrose , biggest crooks to start up party in canada , lol good god why would anyone endorse them morons?

[The Green Barbarian]

The corrupt Prentice PCs made sure of that this past decade.

Prentice was only premier for 8 months so this comment is just brain-dead. The Conservative party was in power for over 40 years. Any government would be corrupt after that long in power. Look how corrupt the BC NDP became in only 9 years of sheer hell when they were the disgusting government here in BC in the 1990's. They got their butts whooped 77-2 after their second term, when things really went off the rails, and the corruption reached nauseating levels. The BC Liberals are also nauseating, but what's the point of dumping one nauseating government if the other option (the NDP) smells like three-day old vomit that's been sitting in the sun? That's the conundrum.

Righties are such slow, slow learners!!

Once again with the rightie/leftie garbage. There's only one truth in BC - both our options are terrible. You don't have to be a righty or a lefty to get that, but it does appear that the brain-washed NDP zealots just don't get it. Even after getting their *bleep* kicked in four elections in a row.

[maryjane48]

the choice is easy , boot the crusty ibs into outer space with the messsage why exactly they were turfed ,then if next govt is messed boot them out and in the process i would bet that it would not take politicians ib bc very long to see what the people deserve from leaders .to go on like a spoiled brat about the past does zero to promote change . only folks with limited intelligence would say they are willing to put up with arrogance based on a party name .

[Veovis]

the choice is easy , boot the crusty ibs into outer space with the messsage why exactly they were turfed ,then if next govt is messed boot them out and in the process i would bet that it would not take politicians ib bc very long to see what the people deserve from leaders .to go on like a spoiled brat about the past does zero to promote change . only folks with limited intelligence would say they are willing to put up with arrogance based on a party name .

That is a fun sound bite to state, but that is exactly what the last election in BC was for and what happened.....now the most, and you need to read this over and over and over till you get it, WHY did the Liberals win when they shouldn't have?

Being worse than the crappy BC Liberals is hard to achieve, yet achieved it was. Simply booting one pile of crap for someone who promises to be just as crappy or worse for the sake of change is the campaign that showed BC the Liberals power again, and then the Federal NDP back to obscurity, why oh why do you think this is a good strategy to maintain for the next election in BC?

It's not been positive for Alberta so far, why will it be great here?

No one has stated the past gov in Alberta was doing great, but nor is the new one, why one crap should excuse worse crap is beyond me for support yet the NDP party gets a free pass full of excuses why it is always someone else fault.

[maryjane48]

your post reflects siĺlyness , we have to start send8ng a message of we wont put up with bs from govt. we should start with crusty

[The Green Barbarian]

your post reflects siĺlyness , we have to start send8ng a message of we wont put up with bs from govt. we should start with crusty

No, we should start with Christy, and her counterpart in stupidity and sloth, Horgan. Both the NDP and the Liberals have lost the right to represent the people of BC, and both parties should be dissolved, as both engage in and are rife with corruption and controlled by special interests.

[Veovis]

your post reflects siĺlyness , we have to start send8ng a message of we wont put up with bs from govt. we should start with crusty

What message? That you can be as corrupt as you want just don't be "the other guy", that is the real silliness.

What we need is a viable option, not just "someone else"

[alfred2]

as long as ndp is in alberta our welfare should go down, reverse of what it was like during ndp power in bc and alberts welfare went down big time.

[maryjane48]

Alison Redford chose last-ranked legal consortium for Alberta's $10B tobacco litigation
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ ... -1.3331001
Shared via the CBC News Android App


i do recall someone saying the wildrose is who should have won bahahaha