Defining moment: Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach
Crunch time for Stelmach on tax rates
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach is facing his defining moment to date as a politician as he tries to find a suitable response to a panel's recommendations that royalty rates and tax levels be significantly raised on the Canadian province's oil sands sector.
Public interest groups have long argued that Albertans are not receiving their fair share from energy development relative to citizens of Norway and Alaska.
Stelmach supported creation of the royalty review panel during last year's provincial election campaign, but industry said implementing its key conclusion that rates must be raised to bring in another C$2 billion (US$1.97 billion) annually at current prices, could derail future investment.
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