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NEP Ate My Baby
Oct. 28th, 2005 01:00 amTomorrow is the twentyfifth anniversery of the National Energy Program - aka the boogie man.
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evilscientist told me about a political cartoon he read once, years ago. The scene: a prairie wheat farm that has just been flattened by a hail storm. The sort of natural disaster that can wipe out a crop and leaves the farmer utterly powerless in it's wake. In the foreground is the farmer, livid with rage, shaking his fist at the heavens and screaming. What's he screaming?
"DAMN YOU OTTAWA!"
So 25 years ago the Federal Liberals instituted the NEP and a year later Calgary's economy suffered a catastrophic collapse. "Damn you Ottawa" was heard throughout the Empty Quarter.
But here's the thing - the same thing happened in Houston and Dallas. Was a Canadian goverment policy clobbering Texas? I hear things got pretty bad in the Middle East, and Venezuela and the North Sea too. Those evil Liberals.
So what happened? The global recession happened and it meant that a lot of geologists in Calgary lost their jobs and their houses. It also meant that a lot of other people all over the world were placed in the same dire straights.
Of course, the local columnists are taking the opportunity to write about the NEP on the occasion of the 25th anniversery. You can check them out if you like, but it's really just a chorus of "Damn you Ottawa". Some even try to minimize objections in their pet theory - suggesting somehow that, even if the rest of the world suffered, Calgary suffered more. The fact that Calgary is a one-industry town, and that that industry got hammered by the global recession, seems lost on them.
The NEP has taken on the status of cherished mythology here in the West. Arguing that this mythology may be a wee bit skewed is met with the same skepticism that one would get if you said "Maybe Jesus' miracles are a little overstated" at the Billy Graham Crusade.
I've heard people try (it comes up on Wild Rose Forum occasionally). It's generally met with withering derrision. No attempt is made to actually refute any of these critics points. Instead the "Damn you Ottawa" chorus is repeated over and over again as a basic premise/gospel truth.
During the recession the ubiquitous pickup truck bumper sticker was "Please God, send us another oil boom - we promise not to piss it away this time". Ironic that Alberta is in the middle of another oil boom now and we're pissing it away. Part of the reason why is our NEP mythology.
What should we be doing? Well the first thing we should do is charge the oil companies for the oil at the same rate that Norway does. Hell, I'd settle for the same rate Alaska does. Oh, but we can't do that - interferring with business is *just like the NEP* and the *NEP crippled Alberta*. And once the NEP has been invoked as a boogie man, Alberta collectively flinches away.
Really, what the hell is going to happen if we charged rates comparible to Norway or Alaska? They'll knuckle under and pay it because they can't teleport the oil to Saskatchewan. Oh there'll be whining, and the oil companies may even try to push us around, perhaps even lay off tons of people and leave for a year or two, claiming it's forever. Put they'll be back because they need us more than we need them.
What would we do with that windfall? Well we could build more roads, or we could turn the Alberta economy into one that doesn't depend on the whims of the Energy Industry to flourish. Turn the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary into the two best centers for research in the country. Make our medical schools synonymous with the Mayo Clinic. Invest in alternative energies so that we have something for when the oil inevitably runs out.
This would require a fairly major shift in thinking from the provincial government, which I think is as likely as the lion laying down with the lamb. If Lakeside Packers has the provincial Tories in their back pocket, imagine how much deeper they are in the back pocket of a major petroleum company, which could buy Lakeside with petty cash.
Mind you, the feds could probably do it again - it's not like we give them much reason not to. Calgary (and aside from the sexy Landside Annie, Alberta) doesn't elect Liberals. I can easily see a federal government deciding that they can win election after election by sacrificing their chances in Alberta. Hell, there are people who claim this has already happened.
The solution is to grow up and quit blaming the policies of a long past government for global problems that happened over a generation ago. It won't happen though - it's too damn easy to just yell "Damn you Ottawa" then to think.
evilscientist told me about a political cartoon he read once, years ago. The scene: a prairie wheat farm that has just been flattened by a hail storm. The sort of natural disaster that can wipe out a crop and leaves the farmer utterly powerless in it's wake. In the foreground is the farmer, livid with rage, shaking his fist at the heavens and screaming. What's he screaming?So 25 years ago the Federal Liberals instituted the NEP and a year later Calgary's economy suffered a catastrophic collapse. "Damn you Ottawa" was heard throughout the Empty Quarter.
But here's the thing - the same thing happened in Houston and Dallas. Was a Canadian goverment policy clobbering Texas? I hear things got pretty bad in the Middle East, and Venezuela and the North Sea too. Those evil Liberals.
So what happened? The global recession happened and it meant that a lot of geologists in Calgary lost their jobs and their houses. It also meant that a lot of other people all over the world were placed in the same dire straights.
Of course, the local columnists are taking the opportunity to write about the NEP on the occasion of the 25th anniversery. You can check them out if you like, but it's really just a chorus of "Damn you Ottawa". Some even try to minimize objections in their pet theory - suggesting somehow that, even if the rest of the world suffered, Calgary suffered more. The fact that Calgary is a one-industry town, and that that industry got hammered by the global recession, seems lost on them.
The NEP has taken on the status of cherished mythology here in the West. Arguing that this mythology may be a wee bit skewed is met with the same skepticism that one would get if you said "Maybe Jesus' miracles are a little overstated" at the Billy Graham Crusade.
I've heard people try (it comes up on Wild Rose Forum occasionally). It's generally met with withering derrision. No attempt is made to actually refute any of these critics points. Instead the "Damn you Ottawa" chorus is repeated over and over again as a basic premise/gospel truth.
During the recession the ubiquitous pickup truck bumper sticker was "Please God, send us another oil boom - we promise not to piss it away this time". Ironic that Alberta is in the middle of another oil boom now and we're pissing it away. Part of the reason why is our NEP mythology.
What should we be doing? Well the first thing we should do is charge the oil companies for the oil at the same rate that Norway does. Hell, I'd settle for the same rate Alaska does. Oh, but we can't do that - interferring with business is *just like the NEP* and the *NEP crippled Alberta*. And once the NEP has been invoked as a boogie man, Alberta collectively flinches away.
Really, what the hell is going to happen if we charged rates comparible to Norway or Alaska? They'll knuckle under and pay it because they can't teleport the oil to Saskatchewan. Oh there'll be whining, and the oil companies may even try to push us around, perhaps even lay off tons of people and leave for a year or two, claiming it's forever. Put they'll be back because they need us more than we need them.
What would we do with that windfall? Well we could build more roads, or we could turn the Alberta economy into one that doesn't depend on the whims of the Energy Industry to flourish. Turn the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary into the two best centers for research in the country. Make our medical schools synonymous with the Mayo Clinic. Invest in alternative energies so that we have something for when the oil inevitably runs out.
This would require a fairly major shift in thinking from the provincial government, which I think is as likely as the lion laying down with the lamb. If Lakeside Packers has the provincial Tories in their back pocket, imagine how much deeper they are in the back pocket of a major petroleum company, which could buy Lakeside with petty cash.
Mind you, the feds could probably do it again - it's not like we give them much reason not to. Calgary (and aside from the sexy Landside Annie, Alberta) doesn't elect Liberals. I can easily see a federal government deciding that they can win election after election by sacrificing their chances in Alberta. Hell, there are people who claim this has already happened.
The solution is to grow up and quit blaming the policies of a long past government for global problems that happened over a generation ago. It won't happen though - it's too damn easy to just yell "Damn you Ottawa" then to think.
