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The State of Oil and Gas Conference in Lethbridge

Apr 28, 2016 | 6:04 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Today’s healthcare and education…brought to you by Alberta gas and oil.

Although that phrase would never be used on any social service campaign, Jeff Gaulin,Vice President of Communications with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (C.A.P.P.), argued that Canada’s oil and gas sector enhances the quality of life for Canadians… and enhances the quality of life to the tune of $17 billion dollars in tax revenue in 2015 to be exact.

Members of the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce met for The State & Future of Canada’s Oil and Gas, a presentation delivered at the Lethbridge Lodge Hotel and Conference Centre.

Jeff Gaulin, Vice President of Communications with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (C.A.P.P.), travels the country advocating for infrastructure and innovation while delivering the foreseeable future and sobering reality that Alberta’s current economic turmoil will bleed into the eastern provinces sooner rather than later.

Chamber members argued that provinces outside of Alberta, view the energy sector with misinformation about upcoming supply and demand for fossil fuels.

Melody Garner, Chamber President, said that even though southern Alberta appears to have weathered the economic storm, there are still seventy small Lethbridge businesses who work directly with oil sands.

“Chambers across Canada, being the voice of business, [know that] every municipality is affected by the downturn in oil and gas, so we [Chamber of Commerce] all need to band together to look at solutions nationally,” she said.

Garner stated that she will reach out to local chambers and beyond to discuss the issue further.

Despite having the ability to produce, Gaulin told members that non-oil producing provinces who might not empathize with Alberta’s concerns are the largest consumers of oil and gas shipped up from the U.S.

“Canadians need to understand that oil and gas enhance [their] lives in ways [they] don’t even realize. Our number one customer [the U.S.] is our number one competitor and we continue to sell our product at a discount because we lack infrastructure,” he said.

How does an oil and gas organization like C.A.P.P. stress the urgency of focusing Canadian resources on the transportation of oil and convince the on-the-fencers and anti-pipeliners that investment in infrastructure and innovation is needed? Maybe this can only be accomplished when more Canadians outside of Alberta feel the effects of reduced social services, but maybe not.

There will be several debates over pipelines in the coming months, close to home the National Energy Board will provide their recommendations for the Federal Cabinet on May 20, 2016.