A note from George:
I’ve covered a lot of governments over 40 years. Different parties, different premiers, same pattern in Alberta: whoever’s in power ends up putting the interests of foreign oil investors ahead of the Albertans who actually live here. Smith’s government is just the latest to do it. Won’t be the last, unless something changes.
I dug into the numbers on this one for weeks. What I found made me angry. I think it should make you angry too.
Let’s get into it.
Between 2021 and 2023, Alberta’s oil sands companies made $135.2 billion in profit. That’s not a typo, and it’s not a one-year spike, it’s three years running. This is one of the most profitable industries on the planet, operating in your backyard.
Meanwhile, Albertans are drowning. The province has one of the worst unemployment rates in the country. Most families say half their paycheque is already committed to bills before it even lands. People are cutting back on travel, on eating out, on the basics, just to get by. The government itself is running a massive deficit.
So here’s the question that should bother you: with that much money flowing through the province, why does it feel like there’s none left for the people who live here? The answer isn’t bad luck, and it isn’t complicated. The government could change how this money gets shared. It has the power to do it right now, today. It hasn’t, and it’s not an accident that it hasn’t.
Here’s what’s behind it:
The 1995 industry deal that locked this in, and why five governments in a row, left and right, chose not to touch it
The one number that shows exactly how much of that $135 billion left the province, and where it actually went
Who’s funding the party in charge right now, and how many of them are also lobbying it at the same time
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