reports

The Athabasca tar sands of northern Alberta contain an estimated 175 to 200 billion barrels of recoverable oil — the largest known hydrocarbon deposit ever discovered. This estimate is based on using existing technologies. Using newer technologies, as much as 2.5 trillion barrels of oil might be recovered — but the costs would be enormous.

This paper is aimed at promoting discussion on the development of an energy security strategy. It is a made-in-Alberta initiative, in partnership with Canadians from energy producing and energy consuming regions.

EPCOR is a unique organization, one with many contradictions. These contradictions raise the issue of EPCOR’s accountability. And at a time when the City of Edmonton is considering handing over its drainage system to EPCOR, consideration of accountability is urgent.

Canadians are questioning the logic of having traded away our energy sovereignty with NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to instances in which employees may be in a position to report on wrongdoing within their workplace. Employees who report on wrongdoing in the workplace have come to be known as whistleblowers.

The April 2005 Alberta budget will be the first since the province declared the debt eliminated. It’s time for a bold vision, and this budget should lay the fiscal foundations for realizing that vision. The 2005 Throne Speech promises that All Albertans will share in the Alberta Advantage. To ensure this, we must collectively commit to building a socially sustainable and equitable economy

Why does the government keep telling us our health care system is unsustainable and more private health care will save it from collapse? In this report we identify the underlying reasons to be ideological, not fiscal.

The Alberta government often appears stuck in yesterday’s rhetoric of a debt crisis, too willing to engage in pitched battles with its civil servants, teachers, and nurses; disregarding of the needs of municipalities; and unresponsive to the plight of the poor and homelessness. 

This report examines Albertans’ attitudes regarding the state of democracy in the province. The findings suggest Albertans are very concerned about the health of democracy in the province, but disagree in fundamental ways with political leaders and much of the mainstream media regarding the causes for concern and means of improving democracy.

In 1995/96, the Government of Alberta decided to outsource all the maintenance on its 15,000 km of primary highways to private contractors. In 1997, KPMG Consultants produced a study for the Government of Alberta with the intention of comparing the two systems. However, given that the system had been privatized for only one year they found that it was too early to compare the financial results of outsourcing highway maintenance to previous in-house methods.