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We can expect to see billions in stimulus and recovery efforts in response to this moment. We can pour this money into the declining oil and gas industry as the Alberta government has started to do or we can invest in new sectors, strong health care and education, and a resilient society instead.

The answer has to be door No. 2. The world is starting to move on from oil whether Alberta is ready or not. There is no sales pitch good enough to convince people to invest in the most expensive source of a dying commodity. What we are seeing now is the beginning of an unmanaged decline that would put investors first and workers last. The collapse of Appalachian coal, where workers have had to blockade trains for unpaid wages because of overnight bankruptcies, provides a foreboding example.

Canada’s $13-billion auto bailouts in 2009 provide another cautionary tale. Chrysler and GM have since laid off most of their workforce in Canada and much of that public money was never recovered.

Since the crash of oil prices in 2014, Parkland Institute research shows 50,000 oil and gas jobs have never come back, despite the sector receiving billions a year in government subsidies. Meanwhile, the five biggest Canadian oil companies have put their investors first by paying out dividends and share buybacks to the tune of $10 billion a year.

In contrast, a Green New Deal for Alberta would mean directing remaining industry profits, COVID-19 stimulus money, and taxes on the super-rich to protect workers and communities through a just transition. This means, yes, investing in well-known “green” sectors like building retrofits, local and long-distance public transit, and solar and wind energy.