Conservative Party. Kenney served in numerous federal departments such as Defense and Mul- ticulturalism and Citizenship. Kenney was once close with leader Stockwell Day but later become a trusted solider in the Harper inner circle. Kenney’s next move? Reduce the corporate business taxes to stimulate development in the province. Many have blamed Notley for the demise of the energy sector in Alberta but that is a debatable point. Her government did not know how to protect Alberta from global issues that were just beginning to surface as they took office. The declines in oil revenue were used to blame the NDP for having a pro-labor and anti-business agenda. The inexperience of the Notley regime compounded those intonations and fueled a raging fire calling for her to step down. The party never recovered from the amateurishness of their early days in office.
edging any land agreements and will not spent time on such issues. Notley was viewed as willing to listen and make fair compromises on those files. It does not seem as though Premier Kenney is prepared to do anything. Most of Canada needs a strong Alberta. The growing tension in the west is with Quebec where a major pipeline was blocked that would have seen Alberta oil flow east. At the same time, Alberta is one of the biggest contributors to Canada’s equalization system and Quebec is by far the biggest drain on it. British Columbia has also tried to block Alberta pipelines on envi- ronmental grounds. Kenney has created ‘turn off the tap’ legislation. In the event Alberta wishes to punish the BC government for their two-faced environmental stance, Kenney is now prepared to tell them to get with his program or ‘go buy your oil somewhere else.’ Stay tuned. This battle is just beginning.
As expected by indigenous people in Alberta Kenney has made it clear he will not be acknowl-
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JUNE 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2019
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