tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20566110.post7730065254292269723..comments2023-03-22T18:24:51.237-06:00Comments on atypicalalbertan: Kicking them while they're down.Atypical Albertanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09562989471609367494noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20566110.post-66433246636603513442010-09-20T20:55:14.275-06:002010-09-20T20:55:14.275-06:00I accidently deleted the following comment posted ...I accidently deleted the following comment posted by Matt:<br /><br /><br />Rob, it's not the 1980's anymore. Where are the oil companies going to go? The oil sands are the second largest oil reserves in the world, Syncrude, Suncore and the others are heavily invested. Do you think they're really going to pack up and move just because they're going to have to pay a little more royalties? It's all rhetoric to keep the money in their pockets and in the pockets of their political allies. This type of policy doesn't serve the average Albertan or Canadian.Atypical Albertanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09562989471609367494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20566110.post-68485751978187214782009-11-25T04:55:26.485-07:002009-11-25T04:55:26.485-07:00The history of the development of Alberta's pe...The history of the development of Alberta's petroleum industry is something we should keep in consideration. Alberta's governments have been relatively averse to subsidizing economic development. It was the idea that low royalties and tax breaks that reward companies' economic success. Those low royalties and tax breaks did attract capital investment and advanced the province's economy. <br /><br />In 1980, royalties increased and multinational oil and gas companies began taking their business elsewhere which exacerbated the economic downturn in Alberta.<br /><br />Here we are again in an economic downturn, lowering royalties and giving tax cuts, for the time being, isn't nonsense. Proportionally we stand to make less money per barrel, but we're trying to increase the number of barrels and get our roughnecks back to work.<br /><br />I agree, most certainly, that our provincial government has made plenty of odd choices this year but my question is, . . . where is our money? Our government has been bragging about its balanced budgets year after year and then . . . $4.7 billion deficit that they say will take a zillion years to pay off.<br /><br />And we call ourselves Keynesians. We were supposed to be saving money so we could stimulate the economy during the downturn so we didn't have to spend ourselves into some hideous debt. Apparently we were spending what we should have been saving and now we're spending capital we don't have. Here come the cuts to social programs, education and health care.<br /><br />I think the uncomfortable truth is that in economic hardship - we're going to have to suffer, we aren't going to be immune to it. Those of us who had good paying jobs but still lived paycheck to paycheck - well we're sleeping in the beds we've made. The majority of Albertans' lives aren't much different this year than in 2007 - but people in the lowest income bracket suffer during economic downturn . . . go figure.<br /><br />Sorry for the long post, I'm (not) writing a term paper.<br /><br />I don't think too many roughnecks got the idea that life was easy; maybe that finding work was easy - and that life was a lot 14hr+ days and 25 day months of hard work. The money isn't easy come - it can be utterly miserable work (those of us who haven't worked on an invert drilling rig at night in terrible weather with millions of moths flying around, can't fully appreciate how hard earned that money comes). I would say the money comes in quick and leaves quicker as many roughnecks desperately try to enjoy the few hours and days they have for themselves by spending hard and partying harder.<br /><br />I do think, though, that we do our hard working roughnecks a disservice. It's not that they are uneducated or untrained, it's that they're education and training was obtained on the job - not in a formal educational institution. Roughnecks possess very specific and required skills that can, practically, only be learned on site - they're trained for their vocation. <br /><br />But yeah, they payed 26% income tax year after year, then they're told to go back to school. But when they need the schools, largely funded by these guy's tax dollars, the schools' funding has been cut. Talk about the short end of the stick.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09180122081162527779noreply@blogger.com