CAODC says employment way down in energy business
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GRANDE PRAIRIE – The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) says compared to 2014 levels, the industry has seen a drop in employment of 69%.
“We’ve seen foreclosures in homes, we’ve seen suicide rates here in the province at an alarming rate. People are struggling and I think what they’re looking for is their government at all levels to start standing up and championing this industry and getting them back to work.” says CAODC President Mark Scholz.
The forecast says 2016 is on pace to be the worst year for drilling activity since 1977.
Scholz says that is causing problems for the future as well. “One of the challenges I think this industry is going to have going forward is, when we do start seeing higher activity levels it’s going to be difficult to recruit some of these folks back into the industry. Some of them have gone out and explored other occupations and gone into other industries.”
“Having said that, I think what we’re seeing on top of that is the introduction of a number of public policy decisions that are creating a worse environment and creating uncertainty in the investment side here in Canada – we’ve seen the introduction of new corporate taxes, higher corporate taxes, new carbon taxes in he province of Alberta”
Scholz adds government needs to do more to get commodities to market through things like pipelines.
