With its 2016 budget, the Government of Alberta laid out the basic details of the carbon tax rebate. The rebate is constructed to increase based on household size, and will decrease with income after a pre-set cutoff. The government has stated six in 10 households will be eligible for a full...

On September 6th, 2014, members of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta elected Jim Prentice as leader of their party, and Premier of Alberta.The School of Public Policy assembled its key thinkers in economic, taxation, energy and natural resource policy to provide unsolicited but...

In September 2013, The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary hosted 19 speakers and 55 delegates in Calgary for a full-day symposium entitled “The Future of Energy Regulation and Policy Development: Conflict, Compromise or Cooperation?” Participants included current and past...

In Canada, the energy and resource industry, its investments, employment and products have an effect on every citizen and every cultural group. And yet, the public debate over energy projects in Canada is increasingly divisive. Aboriginal-Canadians are an important part of the debate over land...

Alberta’s history with coal development goes back to 1874, but 21st century social, economic and environmental factors demonstrate that it’s not in the public interest to pursue coal mining on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.This paper uses a multiple account benefit-cost analysis...

We examine the positive and negative effects of coal mining in Alberta from a social perspective — that of the province of Alberta rather than the project proponent — using benefit-cost analysis. We provide estimates of the economic, social and environmental impacts (benefits and costs...

Approximately 60 per cent of Alberta's oil sands production is non-upgraded bitumen which, after being mixed with a diluting agent (diluent) to allow transport, is exported. A popular view within Alberta — and particularly among Albertan politicians — is that a much larger share of oil sands...

Agriculture is one of the least “green” — that is, the least environmentally friendly — sectors in Canada, based on its energy-use intensity and greenhouse gas emissions intensity. But agriculture is also the “greenest” sector in Canada, according to one measure that calculates the...