Not much meat to politicians’ economic plans

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on August 31, 2017.

Albertans who are concerned about the economy are increasingly being exposed to politicized spitballing and a veritable hurricane of brainstorming to cure what ails the provincial economy.

And it’s not just the New Democrats, who, budget updates show, seem to be relying on a general improvement in the economy to reverse deficits.

Conservatives, united and otherwise, are also tossing around quick fixes and easy promises. Perhaps you’ve heard that things will be just fine when investor confidence returns after the 2019 election.

Citizens should expect some framing when economic platforms are rolled out.

The government has taken the posture of maintaining the public sector with ground level support programs for families and supporting a renewable energy industry. They’ve taken lots of heat for having an overly rosy picture of a proposed sea change in the Alberta economy playing out.

Meanwhile the currently fractious right side of the spectrum stands by its traditional planks of limiting the public sector, supporting families via tax cuts, and trumpeting the oil and gas sector.

In practice, though, we’ve heard little beyond a sort of “total opposite” strategy to the New Democrats — a tact that is a total abdication from a party that bills itself as the government in waiting.

Granted, there is a United Conservative Party leadership contest ongoing, and with a new leader comes set policy.

The two frontrunners, Jason Kenney and Brian Jean, are taking different tacts on releasing specifics. Both keep blasting the NDP on various fronts.

Albertans who are looking for answers now, not later, haven’t heard much more than a retread of press releases from two comprising parties over the last two years.

Anything original seems to be spaghetti thrown against the wall to see either what will stick or how much it will stain the government.

This week another UCP leadership candidate, Jeff Callaway, unveiled a developed policy statement that Alberta should buy the Port of Churchill. As a deep port oil terminal, it bypasses environmental interests in B.C. and Eastern Canada, but the obvious positives end there.

The Northern Manitoba port would need a major rail upgrade (costing many millions) and a new pipeline (costing billions). Producers would need to fill it and shippers need to load it.

The suggestion that the Government of Alberta could pull it off is odd coming from a political corner that urges government to get out of the way of business.

Wildrosers (Callaway is a party founder) howl over the Northwest Refinery and still bring up NovaTel from time to time.

It’s not an idea worth much more discussion, other than to note it has appeared in a vacuum of good ideas created by the real fear that oil prices may never recover.

Its desperation is mirrored throughout in Alberta’s political and economic circles.

Every political actor of any significance in Alberta and Ottawa agrees that pipeline capacity to global shipping routes is key, yet no one seems to know how to get it done.

That’s a failing of current and recent governments, which cover all political parties involved.

Why else, despite an obviously improving economy, are Albertans still feeling so vulnerable?

New Democrats are walking a disciplined but long path toward what they say is a big payoff, including pipeline access and huge renewal energy investments.

Conservatives are dead set on restoring principal planks of lower taxes and less regulation, but are offering little in the way of a lucid big picture game plan.

Mind you, saying less is more if you think that your opponent is beating him- or herself.

Perhaps that’s why neither left nor right in this province is actively putting much thought behind what their opponents are proposing.