Mismanagement of Alberta's Oil

Much has been said about the need to support the Oil industry but few have held the industry and Alberta government to account for the the current situation. The current economic plight of Alberta is in part a function of Alberta's own shortsighted conservative mindset.

Let me elaborate.  This is not Alberta's first bear market, and it will not be the last.  So why was there no preparation for another bust given the history of boom and bust? What made Alberta believe they could build a pipeline on someone else's land when they would have fought with equal vigor had their land been earmarked for conservation vs drilling? What made Alberta believe it did not have to save for a rainy day?  What rational resulted in betting the house on being an exporter of a commodity versus investing to make Alberta a value-added player?  It is time Albertans and the media ask these questions of the conservative government that has ruled the province.

During the boom times, there are multiple things Alberta could have done, but did not.  They could have...

1. Behaved like the socialist Norwegians and establish an Oil Fund to invest royalties of the petroleum sector
2. Implement a Provincial Sales Tax and store the money for a rainy day
3. Invest in value added products
4. Invested in clean energy, the knowledge economy
5. Invested in the indigenous communities of Canada before they needed them

Instead, the government chose lower taxes, leaving the money in the hands of trickle down economics that left future investment in the hands of those who were a defacto better steward and investor of capital for Albertans.  Clearly this strategy has not worked.

Oil is not going away, nor is Canada's support for the West, but the West needs to act responsibly and cannot creditably ask for government help like a socialist would while decrying government interference as a conservative capitalist would.