From the editor.

Has anyone else noticed how the identities of Canada's sisters of Confederation, Alberta and Saskatchewan, are becoming more blurred of late? Home of the Wild West, oil aplenty, free enterprise and a pro-business government (as well as thousands of Saskatchewan ex-pats), Alberta had established itself as the go-to province for anyone and everyone who opted to pursue a better job and a better life. Saskatchewan meanwhile, was seemingly content to watch while the whims of the weather, public policy makers, or whatever other outside variables caused us to feel helpless or victimized, meandering without direction and leaving us with unfulfilled potential.

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Alberta was led by Premier Ralph Klein--King Ralph--a take-no-prisoners, bull-in-a-china-shop type of diplomat who, despite his misgivings and political incorrectness, could command a room and dictate his will upon others. Saskatchewan was led by Premier Lorne Calvert, a kind-hearted, generous and noble man whose qualities of meekness and compassion always seemed to be at the forefront, even when circumstances warranted otherwise and he was trying to be anything but.

Then something happened to kickstart the sister provinces' second century. In 2006, King Ralph was succeeded by Ed Stelmach, while in 2007, the Calvert government was defeated by a fresh-faced Brad Wall. Stelmach responded by undergoing a major change to Alberta's royalty and taxation regime, upping royalties for oil extraction in the neighbourhood of 20 per cent. Premier Brad Wall responded by saying things would remain status quo in Saskatchewan.

This marked a fundamental shift in the way the two provinces viewed the energy sector. The pro-business Alberta government looked more like Saskatchewan's former self with an unpopular taxation increase. The Alberta oil and gas industry's response was immediate and impactful, as Saskatchewan enjoyed an off-the-charts smashing of oil and gas exploration, manifested largely by Alberta-based companies. Saskatchewan meanwhile, dropped corporate and personal taxes across the board, in the process, marking the largest tax cuts in provincial history.

More recently, in an even more puzzling move, the Stelmach administration made a $380-million investment in Precision Drilling Trust. Although the premise behind this injection was as a loan, and the purpose was to allow the company, one of the province's largest oilfield drilling companies, the opportunity to restructure its debt, many in the Alberta energy sector saw it differently. Rather, they saw the infusion as the government's way of picking winners and losers in the private sector.

Some are even going so far as saying that this is the first step in Precision becoming a Crown corporation. Others are arguing that by virtue of the government money in the company, this is already so--albeit unofficially. Regardless of the semantics and discourse of opinions, generally speaking the industry is upset as they now see them-selves in competition with the Alberta government. We've already seen what one unpopular public policy decision made by our neighbours to the west has meant for Saskatchewan--about $1 billion straight into our coffers for exploration rights in 2008.

This next step could be even more, provided Saskatchewan allows the private sector to remain private in Saskatchewan's oil and gas industry. Interestingly, NDP leadership candidate Dwain Lingenfelter has said he'd consider establishing a Crown corporation in this field, should he be chosen leader. Regardless of whether Lingenfelter succeeds in his bid, or the NDP forms the next government, this is a step that must be avoided at all costs, or we'll be going backwards faster than you can say Stelmach.

Keith Moen, Editor

editor@sunrisepublish.com

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