Alberta
Hope is Edmonton Prospects & WCBL biggest ally these days

Until about a month ago, the Edmonton Prospects appeared on the way towards a home-run and their most successful season in the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL). The league itself looked a lot healthier than it has ever been.
“We were really looking forward – our 2020 roster was in good shape; we had a secure (one-year) lease on RE/MAX Field; our relationship and negotiations with the city had moved forward from what there was before.” owner-general manager Pat Cassidy
With the pending arrival of a 2021 franchise in Sylvan Lake, added to the growing optimism. Then, of course, came the coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19, halted to everything. Now, among every other endeavour in this nation, it’s like a rain delay; a really long rain delay.

Edmonton Prospects run onto the RE/MAX Field in 1019. Will it happen in 2020? Photo Courtesy/Prospects
For how long? That has yet to be determined. A partial answer may take shape next Tuesday after a scheduled meeting to update all league principals on any potential opening dates.
Pre-coronavirus plans called for the Prospects to open at home with two tilts during the May 24 weekend, with firework after the first game. Now? Cassidy pitched, “the most likely expectation is a delay until June 16 or later.” Another batting lineup could look like a calendar to include openers on or about Canada Day, July 1. Cassidy explained, “We won’t know until some serious ideas are raised at our meeting, a lot of things remain for us to go through.”
“Sure, we have rosters ready – at least, most of us have – but we can’t possibly know if the signed players will be able to come in. Who knows whether they will have to be isolated for a period of time after they do come in?”

Will Edmonton Prospects “PLAY BALL” at RE-MAX Field in 2020? TBA Photo Courtesy/Prospect
All-star outfielder Travis Hunt and infielder Brendan Luther both had committed to return from last year’s roster, which survived an incredible run of bad weather before being eliminated in playoffs by the champion Okotoks Dawgs. “We have Hunt signed but we also have an agreement that he would be free to leave if the pros took him in the draft or signed him.” spit Cassidy.
Pencilled in on the pitching staff are (or were) Trever Berg and Jesse Poniewozik, who spent much of the 2019 season in the bullpen before both became essential as starters or relievers by playoff time.
Poniewozik, the young, promising Spruce Grove right-hander whose season ended when a wicked line drive hit him on the head and forced him out, for the brief remainder of the season.
Cassidy raised another very important question, surely to be considered by not just the WCBL, but all other leagues anxious to start; if you play, will they come? Will it be a full count or, “What size of crowds can we expect?
“I’m sure we all want to get going but I don’t believe we’ll find large groups of fans want to go into a ballpark and sit next to people without the six-foot separation (self-distancing).
“Questions, that’s all we’ve got so far.” Cassidy conceded.
The owner and GM competitive instincts surfaced after president Gary Hoover of the Northwoods League, which includes the Thunder Bay Border Cats and teams from North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, confirmed that plans to open on May 26 had been scrubbed. “We don’t have (the same page),” the Prospects operator said, partly in jest, after Hoover claimed “flexibility” could be a big help in designing the Northwoods League future.
To this point, the WCBL has not been forced to adjust to the loss of the Melville Millionaires and Yorkton Cardinals, who received one-year leaves of absence to consider whether to remain in a league that has grown stronger and more competitive. “It was difficult for them,” Cassidy is not yet calling them out, “Whatever the operators decide, I wish them luck.”
As for the positive outlook from a month ago when it looked like it was going to be a homer, with the runner circling the bases? Or will it be caught for the final out at the fence? A final out, before the first pitch of the season is even thrown? Time will tell, right now we are still in the middle of a rain delay.
Read more stories on Todayville Edmonton
Alberta
Energy sector will fuel Alberta economy and Canada’s exports for many years to come

From the Fraser Institute
By any measure, Alberta is an energy powerhouse—within Canada, but also on a global scale. In 2023, it produced 85 per cent of Canada’s oil and three-fifths of the country’s natural gas. Most of Canada’s oil reserves are in Alberta, along with a majority of natural gas reserves. Alberta is the beating heart of the Canadian energy economy. And energy, in turn, accounts for one-quarter of Canada’s international exports.
Consider some key facts about the province’s energy landscape, as noted in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) 2023 annual report. Oil and natural gas production continued to rise (on a volume basis) in 2023, on the heels of steady increases over the preceding half decade. However, the dollar value of Alberta’s oil and gas production fell in 2023, as the surging prices recorded in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine retreated. Capital spending in the province’s energy sector reached $30 billion in 2023, making it the leading driver of private-sector investment. And completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has opened new offshore export avenues for Canada’s oil industry and should boost Alberta’s energy production and exports going forward.
In a world striving to address climate change, Alberta’s hydrocarbon-heavy energy sector faces challenges. At some point, the world may start to consume less oil and, later, less natural gas (in absolute terms). But such “peak” consumption hasn’t arrived yet, nor does it appear imminent. While the demand for certain refined petroleum products is trending down in some advanced economies, particularly in Europe, we should take a broader global perspective when assessing energy demand and supply trends.
Looking at the worldwide picture, Goldman Sachs’ 2024 global energy forecast predicts that “oil usage will increase through 2034” thanks to strong demand in emerging markets and growing production of petrochemicals that depend on oil as the principal feedstock. Global demand for natural gas (including LNG) will also continue to increase, particularly since natural gas is the least carbon-intensive fossil fuel and more of it is being traded in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Against this backdrop, there are reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for Alberta’s energy sector, particularly if the federal government dials back some of the economically destructive energy and climate policies adopted by the last government. According to the AER’s “base case” forecast, overall energy output will expand over the next 10 years. Oilsands output is projected to grow modestly; natural gas production will also rise, in part due to greater demand for Alberta’s upstream gas from LNG operators in British Columbia.
The AER’s forecast also points to a positive trajectory for capital spending across the province’s energy sector. The agency sees annual investment rising from almost $30 billion to $40 billion by 2033. Most of this takes place in the oil and gas industry, but “emerging” energy resources and projects aimed at climate mitigation are expected to represent a bigger slice of energy-related capital spending going forward.
Like many other oil and gas producing jurisdictions, Alberta must navigate the bumpy journey to a lower-carbon future. But the world is set to remain dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come. This suggests the energy sector will continue to underpin not only the Alberta economy but also Canada’s export portfolio for the foreseeable future.
Alberta
The beauty of economic corridors: Inside Alberta’s work to link products with new markets

From the Canadian Energy Centre
Q&A with Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Transport and Economic Corridors
CEC: How have recent developments impacted Alberta’s ability to expand trade routes and access new markets for energy and natural resources?
Dreeshen: With the U.S. trade dispute going on right now, it’s great to see that other provinces and the federal government are taking an interest in our east, west and northern trade routes, something that we in Alberta have been advocating for a long time.
We signed agreements with Saskatchewan and Manitoba to have an economic corridor to stretch across the prairies, as well as a recent agreement with the Northwest Territories to go north. With the leadership of Premier Danielle Smith, she’s been working on a BC, prairie and three northern territories economic corridor agreement with pretty much the entire western and northern block of Canada.
There has been a tremendous amount of work trying to get Alberta products to market and to make sure we can build big projects in Canada again.
CEC: Which infrastructure projects, whether pipeline, rail or port expansions, do you see as the most viable for improving Alberta’s global market access?
Dreeshen: We look at everything. Obviously, pipelines are the safest way to transport oil and gas, but also rail is part of the mix of getting over four million barrels per day to markets around the world.
The beauty of economic corridors is that it’s a swath of land that can have any type of utility in it, whether it be a roadway, railway, pipeline or a utility line. When you have all the environmental permits that are approved in a timely manner, and you have that designated swath of land, it politically de-risks any type of project.
CEC: A key focus of your ministry has been expanding trade corridors, including an agreement with Saskatchewan and Manitoba to explore access to Hudson’s Bay. Is there any interest from industry in developing this corridor further?
Dreeshen: There’s been lots of talk [about] Hudson Bay, a trade corridor with rail and port access. We’ve seen some improvements to go to Churchill, but also an interest in the Nelson River.
We’re starting to see more confidence in the private sector and industry wanting to build these projects. It’s great that governments can get together and work on a common goal to build things here in Canada.
CEC: What is your vision for Alberta’s future as a leader in global trade, and how do economic corridors fit into that strategy?
Dreeshen: Premier Smith has talked about C-69 being repealed by the federal government [and] the reversal of the West Coast tanker ban, which targets Alberta energy going west out of the Pacific.
There’s a lot of work that needs to be done on the federal side. Alberta has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to economic corridors.
We’ve asked the federal government if they could develop an economic corridor agency. We want to make sure that the federal government can come to the table, work with provinces [and] work with First Nations across this country to make sure that we can see these projects being built again here in Canada.
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