Jason Fekete, Calgary Herald, March 14, 2010
As Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach's government proceeds to slash oil and gas rates, a new poll finds more Albertans disapprove of its handling of provincial royalties than approve -- but are split on whether to increase, decrease or maintain royalty levels.
The government promised Thursday in releasing its competitiveness review to sharply reduce royalties paid on conventional oil and natural gas plays, effective January 2011.
It's part of an effort the province said is necessary to keep Alberta competitive relative to other petroleum-producing jurisdictions, including Saskatchewan, B.C. and U.S. states.
The province expects the initiatives will help create 8,000 jobs in
2011-12 and 13,000 more jobs annually across the economy. However, it will cost the treasury $785 million in forecast royalty revenues in the 2012-13 budget year, with the government hoping it can recoup more than half the lost royalties via increased activity, land sales and tax revenue.
But a new Environics telephone poll of 1,008 Albertans, conducted March 1-9, finds 46 per cent of Albertans disapprove of the government's handling of royalties (18 per cent strongly disapprove, 28 per cent disapprove), while 36 per cent of respondents are happy with the government's performance on the issue (four per cent strongly approve, 32 per cent approve).
An additional 19 per cent of those surveyed don't know or aren't sure, according to the Environics Research Group poll, which is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
When it comes to what government should do with oil and gas royalties, a plurality of Albertans (36 per cent) believe royalty rates should remain at the current levels, while 27 per cent think government should lower the rates and 22 per cent want an increase.
Another four per cent said it depends, while 10 per cent don't know.
