Any additional input from the energy industry on the Alberta Royalty Review Panel must be done in an open and transparent manner, the Pembina Institute urged today.
Premier Ed Stelmach has granted the oil and gas industry a formal opportunity to provide input on the Royalty Review Panel's "Our Fair Share" report, despite the fact that industry representatives dominated the public consultation sessions, delivering two-thirds of the presentations heard by the panel.
"The industry has had ample opportunity to share their views and data, and the panel included individuals with intimate knowledge of the oil and gas sector," says Amy Taylor, a Senior Economist with the Pembina Institute. "The oil patch doesn't like the panel's recommendations, so now they want to take this up with government behind closed doors."
The six-member expert panel, appointed by the government, included a former senior executive with an oil company, a chief economist for a Calgary-based energy research firm, two economics professors, a businessman and a forestry executive.
Taylor says, "It's absolutely critical that these discussions don't happen behind closed doors. If they do happen, the most appropriate process would be to have industry and the panel members provide testimony before the Government of Alberta's Standing Committee on Resources and Environment."
"Discussions in a public forum would be consistent with the consultation process conducted by the Royalty Review Panel and with Premier Stelmach's commitment to open, accountable and transparent government," she says.
Last week Premier Stelmach appointed Deputy Premier Ron Stevens as a special liaison with industry. Earlier this week a new website at www.alberta.ca was created to allow anyone to provide feedback anonymously on the "Our Fair Share" report and its recommendations.
"It is not clear whether these initiatives will further delay Premier Stelmach's decision regarding the report's recommendations which he initially indicated would come by mid-October," Taylor says.
"If the panel's recommendations are implemented, Albertans will benefit from an extra $2 billion of royalty revenue a year. For each day that goes by without the recommended royalty reforms in place, Albertans miss out on an additional $5 million," noted Taylor. "Premier Stelmach is entitled to take a few weeks to make a decision about reforming royalties, but any further delay to accommodate the oil patch's demands for endless input is completely unacceptable."
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For more information, contact:
Amy Taylor, Director, Ecological Fiscal Reform
Cel: 403-996-0510
Tel: 403-705-4954
amyt@pembina.org
Publications and archived media releases on the Alberta royalty system can be found at www.pembina.org/pubs
