By The Canadian Press

Alberta

Alberta’s Energy Minister opposed to so-called “windfall tax”

Jun 8, 2022 | 5:09 PM

CALGARY – As governments around the world grapple with how best to assist citizens with the rising cost of living, Alberta’s energy minister is warning that anything resembling the U.K.’s so-called “windfall tax” on the profits of oil and gas companies must not be implemented in Canada.

The British government last month announced plans for a 25 per cent windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies, with the aim of raising funds for cash payments to help millions of British citizens cope with rapidly rising energy bills.

Globally, oil and gas companies are earning record profits in 2022 as surging demand for energy and the war in Ukraine pushes commodity prices to sky-high levels. Spain and Italy have already approved similar-style taxes on energy companies to help citizens pay for their lights and fuel, while recent news reports quoted a senior White House advisor as saying the Biden administration is actively looking at what a windfall tax could look like.

But Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage said Wednesday that if Canada were to take similar steps, it would be considered an “extreme act of aggression” against provincial constitutional authority.

“If they (Ottawa) were to impose a windfall tax on the profits of the oil and gas sector in Alberta at this time, you will see an unprecedented ‘fire on the prairie’ of regional alienation,” Savage said.

The Trudeau government has not proposed a windfall tax on Canada’s oil industry, which has only very recently emerged from nearly a decade of rock-bottom prices, limited investment, consolidation and layoffs.

(The Canadian Press)