17th Alberta Legislature

Fourth session

Energy policy came to the forefront near the end of the fourth session of the Legislature when on January 16 a joint press conference was held by the owners of Syncrude Canada Ltd., a joint venture company created to extract oil from the Athabasca oil sands seeking $1-billion in investment following the withdrawal of Atlantic Richfield or risk the failure of the venture. Debate over the proposed investment Alberta's news with proponents noting the high costs of development, necessity for domestic oil supplies during the recent 1973 oil crisis, and the risk of stalling future development in the oil sands, while opponents felt the ultimatum was tantamount to blackmail. All provincial governments were provided the opportunity to invest in the agreement, and on February 3 the Governments of Ontario, Canada and Alberta met with Shell Oil and the original partners in the consortium. The Winnipeg Agreement was announced the next day, where the Government of Canada would invest $300-million for 15 per cent of Syncrude Canada Ltd., and the Government of Ontario would invest $100-million for 5 per cent equity, and Alberta would invest $200-million for convertible debenture and finance a $200-million power plant for the site. Representatives from Shell Oil stormed out of the meeting after an hour after the concession for a government-guaranteed base price for oil sands production was not provided. Liberal leader Nick Taylor and NDP leader Grant Notley were very critical of the agreement.

Party standings after the 17th General Election

• A party requires four seats to have official party status in the legislature. Parties with fewer than four seats are not entitled to party funding although their members will usually be permitted to sit together in the chamber.

Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts.

; Notes

References

References

1. (2006). "A Higher Duty: Speakers of the Legislative Assemblies". Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
2. (1976). "Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs. 1975". University of Toronto Press.
3. "The Winnipeg Agreement". Alberta Culture and Tourism.