Kenney threatens to “turn off the tap” if BC continues to block pipeline

From the United Conservative party

Kenney visits Medicine Hat, renews call for BC to end opposition to Alberta pipelines

Rachel Notley “has said she does not want to proceed with the legislation.”
– anti-pipeline BC NDP Premier John Horgan (BC Hansard, Apr. 17, 2018)

MEDICINE HAT, AB: British Columbians can expect to continue to pay soaring prices for gasoline if Premier John Horgan’s NDP government continues to obstruct pipeline construction according to United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney.

While visiting candidates Drew Barnes (Cypress-Medicine Hat) and Michaela Glasgo (Brooks-Medicine Hat), Kenney renewed his vow to use legislation to scale back exports of Alberta crude to BC-based refineries if that province’s NDP government continues to obstruct the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion.

BC Premier John Horgan was assured by his fellow New Democrat Rachel Notley that she would not turn off the taps (see Backgrounder).

“In recent days, lower mainland BC has been paying through the nose for gasoline,” Kenney said. “Unless John Horgan ends his unconstitutional fight against Alberta energy exports, the people of BC will need to get used to paying well over $1.70/L for gas as the result of NDP anti-pipeline obstructionism.”

BC’s NDP government is still working to stop the Trans Mountain expansion, fighting in the BC Court of Appeal just last month. Alberta’s NDP government finally caved to United Conservative pressure to pass ‘Turn of the Taps’ legislation, but failed to proclaim it, let alone ever use it.

Next Tuesday will mark one year since the NDP took UCP advice and introduced Bill 12. Since then, precisely 0 kilometres of the Trans Mountain expansion has been built and the private sector abandoned the project entirely.

Kenney announced today that a United Conservative government would proclaim Bill 12, the ‘Turn off the Taps’ law, on its first day in office.

“Albertans see through the NDP’s phony fight for pipelines,” Kenney said. “Voters remember the NDP’s historic opposition to our energy industry, including their campaign against the Northern Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines, the appointment of anti-pipeline radicals like Tzeoporah Berman, Ed Whittingham, their Cabinet Ministers protesting pipelines, and so much more. Albertans want real action to defend our jobs and way of life, not more bad political theatre from the NDP that has done so much damage to our energy industry.”

“That is why on day one of a UCP government, we will proclaim into law the Turn off the Taps legislation, and let Premier Horgan know that we will not roll over in the face of his governments unconstitutional efforts to block our energy,” Kenney announced.

Rachel Notley’s NDP government repeatedly dismissed the threat posed to the Trans Mountain expansion by the Horgan NDP in British Columbia. Despite the BC NDP openly campaigning against Trans Mountain, Rachel Notley dismissed their threat after they came to office, saying, “The BC government has stopped talking about stopping the pipeline and instead, they’re talking about ensuring that it meets high standards.”

Since 2017, Jason Kenney had been calling for the Government of Alberta to turn off the taps to BC if their anti-pipeline activism didn’t halt. Rachel Notley mocked and dismissed the suggestion repeatedly (see Backgrounder).

Alberta’s NDP government, all talk and no action on pipelines, never actually used Bill 12.

In recent days, gasoline prices have skyrocketed in Vancouver, reaching an all-time high of $1.67L on Thursday.

Duane Rolheiser

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Alberta

Low oil prices could have big consequences for Alberta’s finances

Published on April 26, 2025

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill

Amid the tariff war, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil—a common benchmark—recently dropped below US$60 per barrel. Given every $1 drop in oil prices is an estimated $750 million hit to provincial revenues, if oil prices remain low for long, there could be big implications for Alberta’s budget.

The Smith government already projects a $5.2 billion budget deficit in 2025/26 with continued deficits over the following two years. This year’s deficit is based on oil prices averaging US$68.00 per barrel. While the budget does include a $4 billion “contingency” for unforeseen events, given the economic and fiscal impact of Trump’s tariffs, it could quickly be eaten up.

Budget deficits come with costs for Albertans, who will already pay a projected $600 each in provincial government debt interest in 2025/26. That’s money that could have gone towards health care and education, or even tax relief.

Unfortunately, this is all part of the resource revenue rollercoaster that’s are all too familiar to Albertans.

Resource revenue (including oil and gas royalties) is inherently volatile. In the last 10 years alone, it has been as high as $25.2 billion in 2022/23 and as low as $2.8 billion in 2015/16. The provincial government typically enjoys budget surpluses—and increases government spending—when oil prices and resource revenue is relatively high, but is thrown into deficits when resource revenues inevitably fall.

Fortunately, the Smith government can mitigate this volatility.

The key is limiting the level of resource revenue included in the budget to a set stable amount. Any resource revenue above that stable amount is automatically saved in a rainy-day fund to be withdrawn to maintain that stable amount in the budget during years of relatively low resource revenue. The logic is simple: save during the good times so you can weather the storm during bad times.

Indeed, if the Smith government had created a rainy-day account in 2023, for example, it could have already built up a sizeable fund to help stabilize the budget when resource revenue declines. While the Smith government has deposited some money in the Heritage Fund in recent years, it has not created a dedicated rainy-day account or introduced a similar mechanism to help stabilize provincial finances.

Limiting the amount of resource revenue in the budget, particularly during times of relatively high resource revenue, also tempers demand for higher spending, which is only fiscally sustainable with permanently high resource revenues. In other words, if the government creates a rainy-day account, spending would become more closely align with stable ongoing levels of revenue.

And it’s not too late. To end the boom-bust cycle and finally help stabilize provincial finances, the Smith government should create a rainy-day account.

Alberta

Governments in Alberta should spur homebuilding amid population explosion

Published on April 26, 2025

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill and Austin Thompson

In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.

Alberta has long been viewed as an oasis in Canada’s overheated housing market—a refuge for Canadians priced out of high-cost centres such as Vancouver and Toronto. But the oasis is starting to dry up. House prices and rents in the province have spiked by about one-third since the start of the pandemic. According to a recent Maru poll, more than 70 per cent of Calgarians and Edmontonians doubt they will ever be able to afford a home in their city. Which raises the question: how much longer can this go on?

Alberta’s housing affordability problem reflects a simple reality—not enough homes have been built to accommodate the province’s growing population. The result? More Albertans competing for the same homes and rental units, pushing prices higher.

Population growth has always been volatile in Alberta, but the recent surge, fuelled by record levels of immigration, is unprecedented. Alberta has set new population growth records every year since 2022, culminating in the largest-ever increase of 186,704 new residents in 2024—nearly 70 per cent more than the largest pre-pandemic increase in 2013.

Homebuilding has increased, but not enough to keep pace with the rise in population. In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.

Moreover, from 1972 to 2019, Alberta added 2.1 new residents (on average) for every housing unit started compared to 3.9 new residents for every housing unit started in 2024. Put differently, today nearly twice as many new residents are potentially competing for each new home compared to historical norms.

While Alberta attracts more Canadians from other provinces than any other province, federal immigration and residency policies drive Alberta’s population growth. So while the provincial government has little control over its population growth, provincial and municipal governments can affect the pace of homebuilding.

For example, recent provincial amendments to the city charters in Calgary and Edmonton have helped standardize building codes, which should minimize cost and complexity for builders who operate across different jurisdictions. Municipal zoning reforms in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer have made it easier to build higher-density housing, and Lethbridge and Medicine Hat may soon follow suit. These changes should make it easier and faster to build homes, helping Alberta maintain some of the least restrictive building rules and quickest approval timelines in Canada.

There is, however, room for improvement. Policymakers at both the provincial and municipal level should streamline rules for building, reduce regulatory uncertainty and development costs, and shorten timelines for permit approvals. Calgary, for instance, imposes fees on developers to fund a wide array of public infrastructure—including roads, sewers, libraries, even buses—while Edmonton currently only imposes fees to fund the construction of new firehalls.

It’s difficult to say how long Alberta’s housing affordability woes will endure, but the situation is unlikely to improve unless homebuilding increases, spurred by government policies that facilitate more development.