Our province is a great place to live and work. We are proud of Alberta and our heritage of hard work and sensible leadership that made our province the North American leader in economic prosperity and opportunity.
Recently we have seen politicians chose a new path for our province that seems to be dissolving the advantage that we Albertans worked so hard to gain.
With the royalty review proposals that were adopted by our provincial Government, we are already seeing many Albertans lose their dreams for themselves and their families. Unemployment, once unheard of in our province, is now on the rise while jobs that were once well-paying are now retreating to minimum wage.
The Alberta Royalty Documentary Project is an effort to capture the true scope of the effects of the Royalty Review decision.
The main question being asked is whether our Premier's plan to 'secure Alberta's future' is a plan that is good for Alberta or whether it will ultimately cripple our province's prosperity and the opportunities that exist here.
Please contact us at (403) 504-4646 to get involved in this documentary project.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
The Alberta Royalty Documentary Project
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2 comments:
We are already seeing people sitting at home instead of working and a lot of people refusing to invest in our province.
From a business perspective, the optimal unemployment rate is approximately 6% (Alberta's was 3.4% at the beginning of November). At 6% unemployment, the employer has control over wages (based on basic supply and demand theory) and the employer can choose his/her employees. When unemployment is too low (most economists would argue that 3.4% is too low for Alberta), the cost of labour is disproportionately high and the employer pays the price.
Nobody wants to lose his or her job. However, in many cases, the unemployed must take responsibility for their situation. If a person is underqualified and/or improperly trained, I would not want him/her anywhere near a drilling rig or a sour gas plant. Alberta has been lucky to not have experienced catastrophic failure at one of these facilities due to improper training. One might argue that those losing their jobs are those that the employer wanted to release for some time but simply couldn't afford to be without the labour. These job cuts, although possibly quite devastating for the individual, are likely good for the economy in the long-term.
Furthermore, cuts in the oil and gas sector will likely restore the economic diversity that is crucial to quality of life in this province. The retailers who had to close shop because they couldn't compete with oil and gas wages may be able to get their feet back on the ground. It is these retailers that provide a buffer for the economy and ensure that the money earned in Alberta is spent in Alberta.
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