(PHOTO: Royalty Review Panel Chair Dave Mowat speaks to the Fort McMurray business community Sept. 17, 2015. Sarah Anderson. REPORTER)
As part of a province-wide tour the chair of Alberta’s Royalty Review Panel was in Fort McMurray Thursday speaking with stakeholders and the public about plans for the review, gauging their interest and concerns and encouraging them to get involved in the online conversation.
Dave Mowat spoke to Keyano College, Mayor and Council, the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce ahead of a planned public engagement session Thursday evening.
At the Chamber of Commerce lunch he gave a presentation on how the Royalty Review has been put together.
“We want to make sure people are confident they understand what the review is doing and how we’re going to do it because sometimes these things are a bit like a black box as they go away and come up with an answer and I think people are always, if you give them the context, we don’t know what the answer will be right now but at least they’ve heard how it’s going to happen and they get the context,” said Mowat.
He said regardless of the audience with whom he spoke Thursday or throughout the tour there is one overarching message.
“Get your employees, get your relatives, get your neighbours, your students, out and join the conversation,” he said.
Mowat said this is the first time that an Alberta Royalty Review has involved extensive public consultations as opposed to just a look at the numbers or a survey of the oil and gas industry and he said he’s hopeful that will make the difference in having a result that can last for longer than a couple years.
“I think if we do it right the opportunity is to create something very lasting because technology changes and all the details and costs and expenses, they’ll always change, but I think if you have a set of principles, this is our position on how we’re going to factor the environment in, this is what we’re going to do about how we attract investment and so on and so forth, everybody gets the predictability and the stability of those principles and then you can manage, you know as technology changes and recovery rates change, you can just manage that on side without having a great big review,” said Mowat.
He was asked why a review was being done at all when it will clearly inspire “jitters” amongst oil and gas companies. Mowat responded saying that it was a campaign promise that Premier Notley made and, having been elected, will keep. He also said that it is being done more quickly than other reviews and with established timelines to alleviate those jitters.
The public engagement and consultation portion of the review will be complete at year’s end, as will the technical portion, then the NDP will develop a plan with the help of the panel that will be implemented for the start of 2017. Having those set timelines adds to the predictability of the review, Mowat said.
There is a public engagement session Thursday night from 7-9 at Keyano College in the Elements meeting room.
