Article content continued

Under Premier Rachel Notley, Alberta has increased corporate income taxes, toughened a carbon tax and other environmental policies, and initiated a review of royalties.

In last year’s survey, just five per cent of respondents said political stability was a deterrent to investment in Alberta. That number shot up to 51 per cent this year. Likewise, only 14 per cent of respondents thought Alberta’s fiscal terms (including royalties) were a deterrent to investment last year. In 2015, the total jumped to 39 per cent.

Green noted that when Alberta last reviewed its royalties in 2007, it also took a dive in the investor perception rankings. Alberta experienced reduced investment compared to British Columbia and Saskatchewan in that period, and he said there is a risk that could happen again. Saskatchewan ranked eighth in the policy survey in 2015, which was the best result of any Canadian province. British Columbia was 50th this year, an improvement of 10 spots from 2014.

Of course, the primary reason for falling energy investment in Alberta is weak prices, not government policy. But Green claimed these policy changes could cloud Alberta’s outlook over the long term.

The Netherlands and Alabama tied for the best score in the policy survey this year, followed by Oklahoma, Texas and Mississippi. The bottom five scores went to Libya, Venezuela, Syria, Ecuador and the U.S Pacific offshore sector.

Despite its weaker overall score in the survey this year, Alberta still ranked among the five most attractive jurisdictions that have large petroleum reserves. The others are Texas, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait.

“Governments pay attention to these surveys,” Green said. “They understand perception is reality and if people perceive you as a bad place to invest, they probably won’t invest.”

pkoven@nationalpost.com

Twitter.com/peterkoven