The Alberta government is shutting down the Canadian Energy Centre — the controversial energy "war room" — and shuffling its duties into another department.Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, centre, addresses attendees at a press conference to announce the launch of the Canadian Energy Centre at SAIT in Calgary on Dec. 11, 2019, flanked by former energy minister Sonya Savage, left, and Tom Olsen, managing director of the Canadian Energy Centre.
The statement to CBC says that the centre "is an important advocate for Canada and Alberta's long-term position as a safe, clean and responsible energy supplier and will continue to increase the public's understanding of the role oil and gas plays globally in a secure energy future." The centre has published a series of articles on its website. Sources contacted for those stories have told media organizations, including The Canadian Press, that staff identified themselves on the phone as reporters.
While the centre was taxpayer-funded, it was designated as a private corporation and exempt from freedom of information legislation, including information regarding expenditures and awards contracts.The centre operated on an initial $30-million-per-year budget, which was slashed by 90 per cent in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrew Leach, a professor of economics and law at the University of Alberta, said the money spent on the centre could've been used elsewhere. "This decision right now just proves that this has been a colossal waste of taxpayer money. So we haven't seen how this agency or this war room, how did it really help the Alberta energy sector in any measurable way?"
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Источник: CTVCalgary - 🏆 26. / 68 Прочитайте больше »
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