Alberta
Graven Images: The Greening Of Calgary
The city of Calgary this week elected the first woman mayor in its history. This is a source of great satisfaction to those citizens who cringe at Calgary’s image as part buckaroo/ part bitumen cowboy. The fact that Jyoti Gondek is of Pashtun origin only deepens the sense of accomplishment for the urban elite of Calgary.
How giddy are the wokesters? A CBC reporter illustrated the story with a tweet showing a long series of emoji men followed by a single emoji of a woman. Because journalistic objectivity at the national broadcaster demands a clever tweet. “Look what we’ve done, world! Woman! Punjabi! Now we can hold our heads up in the polite society of the urban hives.”
The new mayor has a PhD in urban sociology which “furnishes understanding of the complex as well as profound meaning of every urban reality, notably the territorial stabilization of social life, the rise of a space symbol system and culture, and the origin and evolution of human settlements.”
Which sounds like the sort of convoluted stuff that Wokesters toss around when they’re trying to distance themselves from the Stampede crowd. What it means in reality is that Gondek will commit $250 K to declare a climate emergency in Calgary as her first priority as mayor. As this photo below shows, it’s not a moment too soon.
Can she tame the city’s transit snarls and stare down a council bent on destroying the budget? Who knows? Who cares? The natural gas/ petroleum bastards will now have to take a knee to the symbolism of her outreach to Big Climate. And that’s enough.
Okay, it’s just a mayor in a mid-sized Canadian city, but you have to start with small dreams if you’re going to make the world a progressive paradise. Especially when, like Gondek, you spend every working day cloying with guilt over how Calgary’s energy industry is ravaging Mother Earth.
The big Green virtue dreams are the ones about to be dreamt in Glasgow in the next weeks as the world’s guiltiest liberals— aka the IPCC— convene to reconstitute the world economy by killing fossil fuels. If this all sounds familiar it’s because the Al Gores and Neil Youngs have been hard at this project for decades, sending thunderbolts of doom via a captive media. (Sample: 1987: NASA’s James Hansen predicts world 3C warmer by 2020. Reality: average temp only 0.44C higher.) And lots more faceplants.
No matter. The evolution of Green is a litany of half-baked predictions and salacious slanders. Even as European governments scramble to replace their sacred renewable dreams with the realities of nuclear power or, gasp, Russian natural gas, the pious will still party like it’s 1999— when all things seemed possible. There’s a revolution of purity happening here, folks, and a few inconvenient facts isn’t going to harsh the vibe.
The vibe, of course, is not climate change or even first women mayors. The vibe is victim culture, re-fitting Marxism so the uncouth and intemperate opposition can be permanently rendered inert. If Marx’s wealth re-distribution is to happen equity— not just equality— must be achieved. Any weapon at hand— climate, gender, victimization— will serve to get there.
The old Commie’s theories just need a new coat of victim’s paint to make them current. Author Chris Rufo explains how the Left is making the quick flip after their Cold War dreams died in the ‘70s at the altar of capitalist riches. : “… rather than abandon their political project, Marxist scholars in the West simply adapted their revolutionary theory to the social and racial unrest of the 1960s. Abandoning Marx’s economic dialectic of capitalists and workers, they substituted race for class and sought to create a revolutionary coalition of the dispossessed based on racial and ethnic categories.”
Suddenly, it’s all victims, all the time.
Thus the new liturgy, funded by Big Tech oligarchs such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. Capitalist roaders are failed humans. Writes Christopher Chantrill: “Today’s elites are totally down as Allies of the Oppressed Peoples. Their political power is justified by their untiring support of and advocacy for The Victims.”
Andrea Widburg describes the role reversal in The American Thinker: “In its new iteration, Whites are irredeemably racist and evil. Equality is a trap because White societal dominance means that the other races (and sexualities) will never be able to catch up. Forced equity is the only answer, and one way to pave the way for that to happen is to force Whites to remove themselves from society, from the economy, from politics, and from any other area in which they can be seen to have an advantage.”
Celebrating the ascent of symbolism, not the skill-set of politicians such as Barack Obama (and the removal of statues) is how whites willingly remove themselves from the economy and society. As Rufo tweets, “@LockheedMartin, the nation’s largest defense contractor, sent key executives to a three-day white male reeducation camp in order to deconstruct their “white male culture” and atone for their “white male privilege.”
To the surprise of the Marxists, their old enemies on Wall Street are enthusiastically taking the bait. Now they have only the rump opposition of libertarians and stubborn conservatives left to hammer into shape and the Bernie Sanders revolution, begun in the ‘60s, will be complete.
Calgary will be so proud.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com). The best-selling author of Cap In Hand is also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book with his son Evan is called InExact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History is now available on http://brucedowbigginbooks.ca/book-personalaccount.aspx
By Gage Haubrich
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is applauding Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s decision to freeze the province’s industrial carbon tax.
“Smith is right to freeze the cost of Alberta’s hidden industrial carbon tax that increases the cost of everything,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “This move is a no-brainer to make Alberta more competitive, save taxpayers money and protect jobs.”
Smith announced the Alberta government will be freezing the rate of its industrial carbon tax at $95 per tonne.
The federal government set the rate of the consumer carbon tax to zero on April 1. However, it still imposes a requirement for an industrial carbon tax.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would “improve and tighten” the industrial carbon tax.
The industrial carbon tax currently costs businesses $95 per tonne of emissions. It is set to increase to $170 per tonne by 2030. Carney has said he would extend the current industrial carbon tax framework until 2035, meaning the costs could reach $245 a tonne. That’s more than double the current tax.
The Saskatchewan government recently scrapped its industrial carbon tax completely.
Seventy per cent of Canadians said businesses pass most or some industrial carbon tax costs on to consumers, according to a recent Leger poll.
“Smith needs to stand up for Albertans and cancel the industrial carbon tax altogether,” Haubrich said. “Smith deserves credit for freezing Alberta’s industrial carbon tax and she needs to finish the job by scrapping the industrial carbon tax completely.”
This article supplied by Troy Media.
By Rashid Husain Syed
Low-cost oilsands give Canada a crucial edge as U.S. shale oil struggles with rising costs
While global oil markets have rebounded slightly on news of a U.S.-China trade truce, not all producers are equally positioned to benefit. In North America, the contrast is clear: Canada’s oil sector is built for stability, while the U.S. industry is showing signs of strain.
Canada’s oil production is dominated by the oilsands —capital intensive to build, but efficient and low-cost to maintain. Oil sands projects involve mining or steaming oil from sand-rich deposits and can produce for decades, unlike U.S. shale wells that decline rapidly and require constant reinvestment. This gives Canadian producers a structural edge during market downturns.
“The largest companies here in Canada … they have cost structures that are among the best in the world,” said Randy Ollenberger of BMO Capital Markets. “They can withstand WTI (West Texas Intermediate) prices in the range of US$40 and still have enough cash ow to maintain production.”
Mid-sized conventional producers in Canada often break even at US$50 to US$55 per barrel. Major players like Canadian Natural Resources can operate sustainably in the low-to-mid-US$40 range. A break-even price is the minimum oil price needed to cover production costs and avoid operating at a loss.
“We’re not planning on shutting any rigs down or changing our plans, yet,” said Brian Schmidt, CEO of Tamarack Valley Energy. “And it largely is
because our company can tolerate, and is quite profitable, at low prices.” He added: “I think we had already, even before the downturn, put ourselves into a defensive position.”
The data supports that confidence. According to Statistics Canada, 2024 was a record year: crude oil and equivalent output rose 4.3 per cent to 298.8 million cubic metres (about 1.88 billion barrels); exports increased five per cent to 240.4 million cubic metres; and shipments to non-U.S. markets jumped nearly 60 per cent, aided by the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Nearly 89 per cent of Canada’s oil exports still flow to the United States, but structurally, the two industries are diverging fast.
In the U.S., the shale-driven oil boom is losing steam. Production dropped from a record 13.465 million barrels per day in December 2024 to 13.367 million, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Industry leaders are warning of a turning point.
“It is likely that U.S. onshore oil production has peaked and will begin to decline this quarter,” said Travis Stice, CEO of Diamondback Energy, the largest independent producer in the Permian Basin. The company is “dropping three rigs and one crew this quarter.”
ConocoPhillips, another major player, is also pulling back. It reduced its capital budget to between US$12.3 billion and US$12.6 billion—down from US$12.9 billion—citing “economic volatility.” Rig counts are falling as well, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes.
The core challenge is cost. A Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas survey found that Texas producers’ average break-even price is around US$65, the cost to drill replacement wells ranges from US$50 to US$65, and growth drilling requires prices between US$78 and US$85.
Even after the recent rebound—sparked by the May 12 U.S.-China trade truce—West Texas Intermediate sits at around US$63.07, below what many U.S. firms need to expand operations.
Shale’s short life cycles, higher reinvestment demands and rising capital discipline are colliding with lower prices. The U.S. sector is being forced to slow down.
Canada’s oil sector isn’t just surviving—it’s adapting and growing in a volatile market. With lower ongoing costs, long-life assets and increased export flexibility, Canadian producers are proving more resilient than their American peers.
With tens of thousands of jobs across Canada tied to the oilpatch, the sector’s ability to remain profitable through downturns is critical to Canada’s economy, government revenues and energy security.
In a world of unpredictable oil prices, Canada is playing the long game—and winning.
Toronto-based Rashid Husain Syed is a highly regarded analyst specializing in energy and politics, particularly in the Middle East. In addition to his contributions to local and international newspapers, Rashid frequently lends his expertise as a speaker at global conferences. Organizations such as the Department of Energy in Washington and the International Energy Agency in Paris have sought his insights on global energy matters.
Troy Media empowers Canadian community news outlets by providing independent, insightful analysis and commentary. Our mission is to support local media in helping Canadians stay informed and engaged by delivering reliable content that strengthens community connections and deepens understanding across the country.
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