Liberals Fail to Act as Unemployment Levels Rise

High River, AB – The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) reported that 2016 will be the worst year on record for drilling activity. This is devastating news not only for my riding of Foothills, but for Alberta, and the rest of Canada.

“The oil and gas services industry is facing the most difficult economic time in a generation,” CAODC president Mark Scholz said in a separate press release. “In fact, 2016 will be the worst year in our recorded drilling activity history. If the federal government is serious about strengthening the middle class and creating long-term employment opportunities for Canadians, it needs to approve these projects,” Scholz added.

According to the CAODC, since 2014 over 5,000 people who are directly employed in the drilling industry have lost their jobs. Indirect jobs are also affected with almost another 30,000 people now unemployed due to the downturn. The CAODC lays blame with the Liberal Government dragging their feet on pipeline and liquefied natural gas project reviews, on top of Alberta’s NDP Government’s new carbon pricing policy and its hike on corporate taxes.

“It’s a shame the NDP government is putting policies in place that make it incredibly difficult for oil drillers and oil producers to operate in our province,” Member of Parliament John Barlow said. “The Liberals are exacerbating the situation by delaying new pipeline and liquefied natural gas projects. Their dangerous plan to introduce a federal carbon tax on top of existing provincial carbon tax systems is going to kill jobs and economic growth.”

Background:
• July Employment numbers show Alberta has lost 104,000 full time jobs in the last year and the unemployment rate rose to 8.6%. Unemployment in Alberta is at a 20 year high and now sits above the national average.
• Canadian families are being hurt by Liberal economic policies that are making it tougher for them to keep working or replace jobs they’ve lost.