Oil and Gas Awareness Day

WHEREAS the people of Alberta receive approximately $9.5 billion (four-year average) in annual royalties, land bonuses and crown land sales from the oil and gas industry which contributes to hiring nurses and teachers and to building schools and hospitals (Source: Alberta Energy);

WHEREAS in 2014, approximately 133,053 people were employed in Alberta’s upstream energy sector, which includes oil sands, conventional oil, gas and mining (Source: Alberta Energy);

WHEREAS Alberta’s oil and gas industry is an environmental leader compared to any of its international competitors with the introduction of a price on carbon in 2007. (Source: Alberta Environment);

WHEREAS over the next 10 years the oil and gas industry will contribute $5.9 trillion dollars to Alberta’s GDP (Source: Canadian Energy Research Institute);

WHEREAS the oil sands utilize over 20,300 Alberta suppliers and business partners including 300 aboriginal companies representing 54 communities across Alberta (Source: Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers);

WHEREAS over the past 14 years’ aboriginal companies have earned about $10 billion through working relationships with the oil sand industry (Source: Oil Sands Community Alliance);

WHEREAS municipalities as a whole receive significant property tax dollars because of the existence of the oil and gas industry and the tertiary enterprises that are created to support it enabling municipalities to provide the essential services required by their citizens;

WHEREAS the oil and gas industry creates local employment allowing communities to remain vibrant and prosperous;

WHEREAS the oil and gas industry support community-building by generously donating to non-profit organizations and municipal capital projects, especially recreational facilities, allowing non-profit organizations to carry out the valuable services they provide and municipalities to carry out the expensive projects that would not otherwise be able to proceed without the generosity of the oil and gas industry;

WHEREAS the importance of the oil and gas industry to both the provincial and local economy is clearly demonstrated by the devastating impacts realized during the current downturn.