TORONTO — Canadian oil and gas executives were in a celebratory mood at an investor conference Wednesday following the United Conservative Party’s election win in Alberta, though many acknowledged that premier-designate Jason Kenney’s power is limited in fixing the industry’s most entrenched problem.
“The number of foreign-funded activists that have been targeting Canada and targeting infrastructure is inappropriate and damaging, so if we could get that foreign special interest out of our policy debates, that would be very helpful,” McMillan said. Noting that Kenney spoke directly to Quebecers in French during his acceptance speech, Tahmazian said the premier-designate was committed to reaching out to Quebec “with sincerity.”
More important than overtures to Quebec, however, Tahmazian said that Kenney would help establish a powerful coalition between the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario to force more business-friendly policies from the federal government.Still, there are limits to Kenney’s power to get new pipeline projects moving.
“The tools available to the new provincial government are limited — at least at this point — though we can say that future provincial increases in the carbon tax are likely off the table,” Raymond James analysts said in a research note Wednesday.