Calgary Chamber says solving climate change must be top priority
Posted February 28, 2020 12:47 pm.
Last Updated February 28, 2020 12:53 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (CityNews) – It’s a sign of the times – once full office spaces in downtown Calgary sit empty – and as the provincial budget came down so did reports showing the economic climate is still struggling.
On Thursday, Statistics Canada released some telling numbers showing payroll jobs in the province down for the fourth straight month.
The report showed the year-over-year change in average weekly earnings with Alberta coming in third last in growth.
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According to Stats Canada, finance and insurance contributed most to the incremental rise.
Those industries aren’t usually what comes to mind when people think of Alberta’s economic engine as the province has become synonymous with the oil and gas industry.
In recent years the energy sector has seen its fair share of volatility from policy changes to global uncertainty. Earlier this week, Teck Resources pulled out of the Frontier oil sands project and supporters of the mine say it was a devastating loss of potential jobs and money.
Calgary’s Chamber of Commerce is now sending a strong message – if things don’t change, investors won’t change their minds on putting their money into Calgary.
In a statement the Chamber said, “to quote Teck directly, Frontier could not move forward because we, as a province and as a country, have been unable to have a framework in place that reconciles resource development and climate change.”
By making climate change a top priority the Chamber believes it will show investors that Alberta is proactively working to serve global interests and not just their own – signalling a change that could lead to prosperity instead of extinction.
