EDMONTON, AB: While drilling activity has picked up in neighbouring Saskatchewan, Alberta continues to be hampered by a lack of investor confidence due to the NDP government, the Wildrose Official Opposition said.
A comparison of 2015 to 2016 data shows that Alberta continues to be down year over year. This matters because an active rig means 124 indirect jobs being created, which are desperately needed when Alberta has lost over 100,000 jobs.
“It is incredibly frustrating to see the NDP government argue again and again that the economic downturn is solely responsible for our current investment climate,” Wildrose Shadow Energy Minister Leela Aheer said. “That couldn’t be further from the truth – the NDP’s policies are scaring away investment and having a serious impact on our ability to recover from the low price of oil.”
While Saskatchewan has a smaller rig count than Alberta, the growth that they have seen indicates that with an attractive investment climate and sound fiscal conservative policies, growth is possible.
“Wildrose will continue to urge the NDP to cancel some of their damaging policies which are having a serious impact on investment, including the $3 billion carbon tax, emissions cap, and more,” Aheer said. “Everyday Albertans are counting on us to be the voice of common sense, as opposed to the NDP’s ideological bent.”