Can I suggest we stop being afraid of what we cannot control? I would like to get off the media driven fear bus. I don’t actually think it is good for business to express personal beliefs on political issues in this format. Business people need to look at the facts, analyze, and use our hard earned judgement to read between the lines. Trying to use ideology as a predictor in business is not productive. Politicians are movable objects regardless of what their media represented persona will have you believe.

This article is incredibly challenging to write, because everything sounds like a politician’s speech, a pundit preaching, or a personal opinion given a stage. Uncertainty was a major issue when the NDP came to power in Alberta. There is no question change on that scale is a lot to take in. I was very concerned they would swoop in and make massive changes based on my preconceived idea of the NDP ideology. In my opinion, they have refrained and shown restraint. I have concerns, but I would have more concerns if they had charted an aggressive path in their first month. The NDP have taken control slowly and methodically. I can’t see anything that tells me they are making wild course corrections, and they have engaged non-partisan expertise from outside the government to help them make decisions.

When it comes to the royalty review, I would have recommended three more members on the panel. I am not a fan of the mandate letter given to the royalty review panel. The words on the page are over assumptive, and the word “diversification” is over used and vague.

The royalty review process needs to be open and transparent, but more importantly, I believe investors want it to go slowly. The Premier has already stated the end result of the review will not affect the industry’s ability to recover. I would recommend we take her at her word and focus on the real problems at hand. I strongly believe investors (and Albertans) would be/should be opposed to a rush towards a decision. It is not in anyone’s best interest to make a decision without a full review and every detail taken into account.

In case you were wondering, I did not support the current government, but I refuse to be afraid of it. It is my personal opinion this government is willing to work with our industry in a real way. I have seen more evidence of the government listening and responding to concerns in the past few months than I have seen in the last few years. The former government had grown complacent in many ways. We all need to see this as an opportunity, and we need to step up and find ways to be engaged, be proactive, and help the government find new ways to solve old problems.