Oilpatch support for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith‘s agenda ballooned after she won her party’s leadership and put the so-called RStar program — a plan to give tax breaks to energy companies for fulfilling cleanup work they are already obliged to do — high on the government agenda.
Elections Alberta records and an analysis by The Canadian Press suggest donations to the Alberta First Initiative, a pro-Smith advocacy group, increased eightfold from companies associated with the energy industry after Smith became premier. While the Initiative says it does not support RStar, its founder previously worked with a group that promoted it.
The Initiative also appears to have participated in Smith’s successful campaign to win the United Conservative Party leadership, which she sought after leaving Alberta Enterprise Group, a business group that lobbied in favour of RStar. The Initiative is now funding attack ads against the New Democrat Opposition and supporting Smith as the province gears up for a spring election.
“Alberta, we can’t afford the NDP,” says one of the ads on the Initiative’s website.
“Danielle Smith will make Alberta better for me and my family,” says another.
It’s an index of how close the governing party is to the province’s dominant industry — a relationship that also carries risks, said University of Alberta political science professor Jared Wesley.
“Entitlement is kind of the Conservatives’ kryptonite in Alberta,” he said.
“To the extent that oil and gas gets seen as putting their finger on the scale in this election, the UCP runs the risk of losing votes.”
The founder of Alberta First said the group is exercising its rights.
“(Alberta First) has a mission to promote policies, educate activists and engage Albertans to participate in democracy,” Mackenzie Lee said in an emailed response to a series of questions from The Canadian Press.
The RStar proposal, developed by an industry group, has been criticized by legal experts, energy economists and some of the province’s own internal analysts. It’s been called a violation of the polluter pay principle, an incentive for companies to not fulfil their obligations and a reward for those who haven’t.
For more than a year, Smith and her cabinet have been outspoken advocates of the plan, which would enable companies to use reclamation spending to gain credits against future royalty payments, despite that reclamation being a condition of their original drilling licence.
“I love it,” Smith said on a 2021 YouTube broadcast, when she was a lobbyist for the Alberta Enterprise Group. She also wrote a supportive letter that July as group president to then-energy minister Sonya Savage.
On May 19, 2022, Smith announced she would leave her job as president of the Alberta Enterprise Group and run for the UCP leadership. The Alberta First Initiative was incorporated six days later, timing Lee called “coincidental.”
Lee is also the co-founder with Kris Kinnear of Sustaining Alberta’s Energy Network, which has long pushed RStar.
Lee said he left the Network in late 2021 and hasn’t spoken regularly with Kinnear since last spring. The Initiative does not promote RStar, he said.
“RStar is not a policy that Alberta First has ever or will ever advocate,” he said.
However, the Initiative supports Smith and Smith supports RStar.
Elections Alberta public reports show the Initiative received donations of $37,500 in the third quarter of 2022, which would have arrived during Smith’s UCP leadership campaign. An analysis by The Canadian Press using public websites as well as corporate records searched by the NDP suggest about two-thirds of that came from energy sector firms or firms providing services to them.
Text messages sent by someone saying they represent the Initiative, captured by the NDP, suggest the group was active in Smith’s campaign.
“Hi! This is Ann from Alberta First Initiative,” reads one Aug. 12 text. “Alberta has a rare opportunity to select a premier who will put Alberta First. Only Danielle Smith has shown a willingness to stand up to Ottawa.”
“Alberta First!” was one of Smith’s campaign slogans. Kinnear’s LinkedIn profile also lists him as Smith’s campaign co-ordinator.
Lee said the Initiative’s work during that campaign was limited to general policy surveys “that had nothing to do with any candidate running at the time.”
Smith became premier on Oct. 11 and soon after wrote RStar into the job description of her first energy minister.
Oilpatch donations subsequently poured in to the Initiative.
Compared to the $37,500 the Initiative received in July through September of last year, Elections Alberta records show the group picked up $330,000 in the last three months of 2022. Of that, $200,000 was from energy companies or those providing services to them.
Maximum allowable donations to third-party groups such as the Initiative are almost seven times higher than limits for political parties or leadership contests. As well, corporations are allowed to donate.
Nearly one-third of the Initiative’s donations were for the $30,000 maximum. No donation was smaller than $5,000.
Smith’s office did not answer a request for comment.
Lee said no UCP officials are involved with the Initiative, nor does he meet with government staff.
The Initiative may now be the wealthiest of registered third-party groups opposing the NDP.
Elections Alberta says the next wealthiest groups at the end of 2022 were Shaping Alberta’s Future, which collected just over $224,000, Alberta Proud with almost $29,000 and Take Back Alberta with $22,300.
Meanwhile, Kinnear works in Smith’s office with unspecified duties. And Energy Minister Peter Guthrie has announced a pilot program based on RStar called the Liability Management Incentive Program that would distribute $100 million in royalty credits.
Smith has said the program is needed to clean up wells left by companies that no longer exist.
Scotiabank recently concluded the four companies best placed to take advantage of the program were Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus, Paramount Resources and Whitecap Resources. Those companies reported about $5 billion in net income in the last quarter.
“We also believe the program goes against the core capitalist principle that private companies should take full responsibility for the liabilities they willingly accept,” Scotiabank said.
Wesley said it’s unprecedented to have a former lobbyist such as Smith running the provincial government and installing programs she used to advocate after a campaign assisted by those who would benefit from them. He said Smith and her industry supporters may find that’s used against them in the coming election.
“These (political action committees) have to be careful of not crossing that line into being part of a narrative that there are these corporate forces at work and they’re not in it for you.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2023.
Moe is set to speak in the city of Yorkton about affordability measures this morning before travelling to the nearby village of Theodore for an event with the local Saskatchewan Party candidate.
NDP Leader Carla Beck doesn’t have any events scheduled, though several party candidates are to hold press conferences.
On Thursday, Moe promised a directive banning “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls” if re-elected.
The NDP said the Saskatchewan Party was punching down on vulnerable children.
Election day is Oct. 28.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe is promising a directive banning “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls” if re-elected, a move the NDP’s Carla Beck says weaponizes vulnerable kids.
Moe made the pledge Thursday at a campaign stop in Regina. He said it was in response to a complaint that two biological males had changed for gym class with girls at a school in southeast Saskatchewan.
He said the ban would be his first order of business if he’s voted again as premier on Oct. 28.
It was not previously included in his party’s campaign platform document.
“I’ll be very clear, there will be a directive that would come from the minister of education that would say that biological boys will not be in the change room with biological girls,” Moe said.
He added school divisions should already have change room policies, but a provincial directive would ensure all have the rule in place.
Asked about the rights of gender-diverse youth, Moe said other children also have rights.
“What about the rights of all the other girls that are changing in that very change room? They have rights as well,” he said, followed by cheers and claps.
The complaint was made at a school with the Prairie Valley School Division. The division said in a statement it doesn’t comment on specific situations that could jeopardize student privacy and safety.
“We believe all students should have the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe and welcoming learning environment,” it said.
“Our policies and procedures align with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.”
Asked about Moe’s proposal, Beck said it would make vulnerable kids more vulnerable.
Moe is desperate to stoke fear and division after having a bad night during Wednesday’s televised leaders’ debate, she said.
“Saskatchewan people, when we’re at our best, are people that come together and deliver results, not divisive, ugly politics like we’ve seen time and again from Scott Moe and the Sask. Party,” Beck said.
“If you see leaders holding so much power choosing to punch down on vulnerable kids, that tells you everything you need to know about them.”
Beck said voters have more pressing education issues on their minds, including the need for smaller classrooms, more teaching staff and increased supports for students.
People also want better health care and to be able to afford gas and groceries, she added.
“We don’t have to agree to understand Saskatchewan people deserve better,” Beck said.
The Saskatchewan Party government passed legislation last year that requires parents consent to children under 16 using different names or pronouns at school.
The law has faced backlash from some LGBTQ+ advocates, who argue it violates Charter rights and could cause teachers to out or misgender children.
Beck has said if elected her party would repeal that legislation.
Heather Kuttai, a former commissioner with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission who resigned last year in protest of the law, said Moe is trying to sway right-wing voters.
She said a change room directive would put more pressure on teachers who already don’t have enough educational support.
“It sounds like desperation to me,” she said.
“It sounds like Scott Moe is nervous about the election and is turning to homophobic and transphobic rhetoric to appeal to far-right voters.
“It’s divisive politics, which is a shame.”
She said she worries about the future of gender-affirming care in a province that once led in human rights.
“We’re the kind of people who dig each other out of snowbanks and not spew hatred about each other,” she said. “At least that’s what I want to still believe.”
Also Thursday, two former Saskatchewan Party government members announced they’re endorsing Beck — Mark Docherty, who retired last year and was a Speaker, and Glen Hart, who retired in 2020.
Ian Hanna, a speech writer and senior political adviser to former Saskatchewan Party premier Brad Wall, also endorsed Beck.
Earlier in the campaign, Beck received support from former Speaker Randy Weekes, who quit the Saskatchewan Party earlier this year after accusing caucus members of bullying.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan‘s provincial election is on Oct. 28. Here’s a look at some of the campaign promises made by the two major parties:
Saskatchewan Party
— Continue withholding federal carbon levy payments to Ottawa on natural gas until the end of 2025.
— Reduce personal income tax rates over four years; a family of four would save $3,400.
— Double the Active Families Benefit to $300 per child per year and the benefit for children with disabilities to $400 a year.
— Direct all school divisions to ban “biological boys” from girls’ change rooms in schools.
— Increase the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit to $15,000 from $10,000.
— Reintroduce the Home Renovation Tax Credit, allowing homeowners to claim up to $4,000 in renovation costs on their income taxes; seniors could claim up to $5,000.
— Extend coverage for insulin pumps and diabetes supplies to seniors and young adults
— Provide a 50 per cent refundable tax credit — up to $10,000 — to help cover the cost of a first fertility treatment.
— Hire 100 new municipal officers and 70 more officers with the Saskatchewan Marshals Service.
— Amend legislation to provide police with more authority to address intoxication, vandalism and disturbances on public property.
— Platform cost of $1.2 billion, with deficits in the first three years and a small surplus in 2027.
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NDP
— Pause the 15-cent-a-litre gas tax for six months, saving an average family about $350.
— Remove the provincial sales tax from children’s clothes and ready-to-eat grocery items like rotisserie chickens and granola bars.
— Pass legislation to limit how often and how much landlords can raise rent.
— Repeal the law that requires parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names or pronouns at school.
— Launch a provincewide school nutrition program.
— Build more schools and reduce classroom sizes.
— Hire 800 front-line health-care workers in areas most in need.
— Launch an accountability commission to investigate cost overruns for government projects.
— Scrap the marshals service.
— Hire 100 Mounties and expand detox services.
— Platform cost of $3.5 billion, with small deficits in the first three years and a small surplus in the fourth year.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct .17, 2024.
