Opinion: Alberta could score big in global investment, if it doesn't self-sabatoge

Canada — and Alberta — were on the global financial stage earlier this week as investors representing $120 trillion in capital gathered in Toronto for a close-up view of the opportunities represented by the 167 projects outlined in the federal deal book.

If there was any doubt about the role energy would play in the inaugural Investment Summit, the first sector Prime Minister Mark Carney highlighted in his opening remarks Tuesday morning to the world’s A-list investors was Canada’s energy resources, and therefore Alberta.

What it signalled — in addition to the fact that Alberta had more projects in the deal book than any other province — is Ottawa’s recognition that energy, both conventional and clean, is foundational to Canada’s economic success. To wit, the number of energy-related projects put forward — conventional, clean and power — added up to $300 billion.

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At the same time, during the daylong summit and at myriad dinners and receptions that took place alongside the main event, the message delivered by investors was the need for stability and certainty to unlock the $500 billion Canada is seeking to attract. This was framed in the context of an environment that offers political, regulatory and fiscal stability.

With Alberta’s 27 investment opportunities outlined in the deal book — totalling nearly $100 billion in value — and in addition to the $80 billion currently being deployed and the $238 billion about to be put to work, the importance of political stability cannot be understated. We need to continue to attract capital, as we have for decades, to support what will be a quantum leap in terms of the dollars needed to increase both production and associated infrastructure.

Those investment dollars translate into jobs — good, well-paying jobs — in energy, critical minerals, transportation and logistics, AI, defence and advanced manufacturing throughout the province and the country, which collectively support a quality of life that is the envy of the world.

Why would anyone think this is worth compromising, for grievances that have been — and continue to be — addressed?

The memorandum of understanding signed last November between Ottawa and Alberta paved the way for Carney to refer to the proposed one-million-barrel-a-day pipeline to the West Coast and the ambition to increase liquefied natural gas exports to 50 million tonnes per annum by 2030 — conveying the importance of energy to the broader economy — in his opening remarks Tuesday morning.

That was followed by an announcement further reducing the tax treatment for capital investment — broadening the types of projects and sectors covered by what will now be a 6.4-per-cent marginal tax rate on investment, the lowest in the G7 and more than half of the U.S. rate. This, on top of the “one project, one review, one year” framework meant to address the previous regulatory quagmire, significantly changes the investment landscape.