Subscribe to our Newsletter

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Minister Knight misleading the House

Alberta Hansard – November 6, 2007

The Speaker: Hon. members, yesterday I indicated that at the conclusion of the Routine today I would invite either or both the hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre and the Minister of Energy to add additional comments to the subject that was being debated yesterday before we take all of this together and decide to deal with it by tomorrow.

Did the hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre have anything further to add?

Ms Blakeman: Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the remarks the Minister of Energy made yesterday. I have reviewed carefully his remarks, and I maintain that the minister deliberately misled the House, and in doing so, he did impede the work of the Member for Edmonton- Gold Bar and the Leader of the Official Opposition.

Mr. Speaker, I maintain that as at the 30th of April 2007 the Minister of Energy knew that the government was not collecting a fair share of royalty revenues. Now, he knew this because it is contained in the documents that were tabled as a package on April 16 as Sessional Paper 250/ 2007, tabled by the Clerk and listed as a document entitled Royalty Review 2006: List of Consultant Studies and Software. It included a censored report from Wood Mackenzie, charts, e-mails, and a variety of other documents contained in that binder.

Now, Mr. Speaker, on page 213 of what was contained in this sessional paper, it does state that since 2000 the gap between prices and effective royalty rates has grown, suggesting that our royalty system should be examined.

On page 426 of the documents that were contained in that sessional paper, it says: economic rent, a demonstration of our rent share by pool size, price commodity, PSAC; this shows that we are not capturing our fair share at high prices.

On page 748 it notes that the Member for Grande Prairie-Smoky participates in some of the oil and gas compact commission meetings. In the 2005-06 Ministry of Energy annual reports the then minister makes a special point of thanking the Member for Grande Prairie-Smoky for his efforts with the U. S. energy council and PNWER, indicating to me that the Member for Grande Prairie-Smoky was very much in the loop on the government’s energy policy even prior to his appointment in December 2006 as Minister of Energy.

I also maintain he knew this because the department officials have been briefing ministers since 2000 that royalty revenues were not as high as they should be, that the system should be examined, and that we were not capturing a fair share. This is supported by the Auditor General in his annual report, in which he notes that in general staff have produced quality analysis, that staff support the minister by analyzing royalty issues and presenting that information to the minister, that at least three years ago Alberta’s share had fallen below its target range, that the department could collect an addi-tional $ 1 billion more per year. That appears on page 91 of the Auditor General’s report.

Also available to the minister was a 2000 royalty review; one dated May of 2003; a 2004 royalty review with suggestions to give consideration to increased royalty rates; a 2005 royalty review which also included that, and I quote: Alberta could increase its share; and another dated January 5, 2006, which was presented to the standing policy committee in August 2006 by the then minister. As far as I’m able to determine, both past and present ministers of Energy were on hand for that presentation. The Member for Grande Prairie-Smoky was a member of that committee at that time.

In the exchange on the 30th of April 2007, page 694, the minister says, “There is nothing in any of those documents that would indicate to anybody that we have not collected a fair share of royalties for Albertans.”

As I have shown, there was something in these documents that did indicate that a fair share had not been collected. The Wood Mackenzie document was not singled out by the minister during this exchange. An entire binder of documents was tabled together. We have shown that two speak directly to the minister’s knowledge that we were getting a lesser share.

In the material that was available to the minister there were ample references to royalty rates and collecting a higher or fair share. It is a reasonable presumption that the Minister of Energy would avail himself of this information. The royalty structure is a core business of the Department of Energy, and the Minister of Energy is steward of these resources and responsible for the policies. Not only is it reasonable for him to avail himself of this information; it’s necessary for him to do so in order to exercise due diligence. I have to believe as a member of this government that he was aware of this information.

The Minister of Energy knew when he said, “There is nothing in any of those documents that would indicate to anybody that we have not collected a fair share of royalties for Albertans” that the government of Alberta was not collecting a fair share. He misled the House with that statement and impeded the work of all members but particularly the Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar and the Leader of the Official Opposition.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.