This is a news compilation setting the record straight on the day’s top stories about the oil and gas industry.
News Headline:
Trans Mountain received $320 million in government subsidies this year and more than half of that was not clearly disclosed to taxpayers, report says
The Facts:
Yesterday, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) released a report calling into question the accounting procedures of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. The IEEFA is a group funded by foreign foundations such as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and William & Flora Hewlett Foundation(notable for their participation in the ‘anti-tar sands’ campaign)
Here are some facts to subsidize your knowledge:
- Millions from the IEEFA’s funders have also been used to attack the Canadian oil and gas industry.
https://fairquestions.typepad.com/rethink_campaigns/activism-or-sabotage.html - Multiple Canadian experts have called the think tanks analysis into question regarding their loose usage of the term subsidy, calling it problematic.
https://biv.com/article/2019/11/trans-mountain-when-subsidy-not-subsidy - Despite these operational costs, the Government of Canada is still collecting taxes off of the project.
https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/trans-mountain/the-decision/backgrounder9.html - These taxes will be used by different levels of government to provide for their citizens and improve their communities.
https://www.transmountain.com/benefits
This report is clearly a biased financial analysis of a government crown corporation rather than a fiduciary examination of the risks to Canadian taxpayers. This is just another attempt from foreign influencers to sway a debate that the majority of Canadians have already made up their minds on.
News Headline:
Alberta documentary sheds light on men in the oilpatch and suicides
The Facts:
The impacts of job loss in the oil patch are much more than economical.
- Suicide rates in Alberta and Saskatchewan spiked 30% and 19% respectively between January and June 2015.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/suicide-rate-alberta-increase-layoffs-1.3353662 - Jobs in Canada’s oil and gas sector declined 23% since 2014.
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/canada-oil-gas-jobs-forecast_ca_5cd59360e4b07bc729795d85
