At one point in her first speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce since her historic election victory in May, the New Democrat premier referred to the 1,600 local business people at the BMO Centre on Friday as “my new best friends,” but the tepid applause for her economic message was evident in the packed ballroom.

Some in the audience called it a “chilly” response.

Afterward, Notley dismissed the quiet reaction as simply a case of her jokes falling flat and people being keenly interested in what she had to say about the government’s task forces on oil and gas royalties and climate change policies, and how the province intends to deal with widespread job losses from the fall in oil prices.

“I didn’t actually perceive that the crowd was cold in any way,” she told the media before a private meeting with business leaders. “I took it as an indication that people were listening intently.”

Notley, whose victory ended a 44-year Conservative political dynasty in Alberta 150 days ago, has already raised the levy on greenhouse gas emissions, hiked the minimum wage and increased corporate taxes, but it is the concern over the potential changes to royalties and climate policies that has unsettled the already shaky confidence in the business community.

If Notley needed a reminder of that mindset, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers released a poll a few hours before her lunch speech to say only about one in five Albertans supports doubling the price of carbon emissions and added it’s a sign of the “growing public concern about the competitiveness of the Alberta economy.”

Notley was nonetheless adamant Alberta needs to do more on climate change.

“Albertans know well that environmental issues and, specifically, the issue of climate change is a key global problem every community and every jurisdiction must help address — especially energy-producing jurisdictions like ours,” Notley said. “If we don’t get it right on this issue, a solution is going to be imposed on us — sooner or later — by others.”

She said an exemplary record on environmental stewardship in the oilsands is “increasingly going to be the price of admission” for Alberta to get its oil to global markets in the face of sustained opposition.

“It’s my hope that by acting decisively on the issue of climate change, we will reframe the current national debate over pipelines and energy infrastructure,” Notley said, adding the province isn’t going to fix its tarnished image overnight.

The most enthusiastic applause came when she promised to keep Alberta’s taxes the lowest in Canada.

While ATCO Group chairwoman Nancy Southern lauded Notley as a what-you-see-is-what-you-get leader and her “openness is a welcome change” for the business community, chamber president Adam Legge said in his remarks that companies have made the point that “people are feeling engaged but not necessarily heard” in the royalty and climate consultations.

“We all know it isn’t easy,” Legge said, noting Notley could provide few specifics to allay concerns of the audience with her government’s first budget due Oct. 27.

Notley pledged to be “consultative and prudent in how we take the province in a new and better direction.”

The comments about the poor state of the economy echo a similar address to a chamber audience last November when then-premier Jim Prentice warned of “tough times” ahead as oil had fallen to below US$66 a barrel and cautioned: “It will not be easy on the government of Alberta and it will not be easy on Albertans.”

Prentice would subsequently be among the 35,000 Albertans who have lost their jobs amid the economic downturn this year. The price of oil is now below $50 a barrel and fears of a lower-for-longer price scenario has gripped the oil and gas industry as spending cuts and layoff notices are daily occurrences.

CAPP, whose members have laid off thousands of workers in response to declining revenues, urged the NDP government to take a balanced approach to policy reform in order “to create and protect jobs.”

Notley told the audience job creation will be “at the heart” of any NDP economic plans.

Earlier in the week Calgary investment firm FirstEnergy Capital suggested oil prices may have finally found their floor but cautioned it will be “a bumpy bottom” to the market, but Notley reminded the audience that neither the industry nor the province control oil prices and both need to “manage the hand we’ve been dealt.”



The same sentiment could apply to the relationship between the business community and provincial government.