Susannah PierceB次元官网网址檚 children arenB次元官网网址檛 interested in following in her footsteps.
The president of Shell Canada Ltd., one of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 largest integrated oil companies, heads up a workforce of 3,500 Canadian employees, earned public recognition as the face of the $40 billion LNG Canada project, and has lived and worked around the world.
But PierceB次元官网网址檚 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter donB次元官网网址檛 see a future for themselves in the industry where their mother has thrived.
The oil and gas sector is simply B次元官网网址渘ot as attractive as it once wasB次元官网网址� to todayB次元官网网址檚 young people, Pierce says bluntly, an uncomfortable fact she and other energy executives are being forced to face up to B次元官网网址� even within their own households.
B次元官网网址淚f the conversation isnB次元官网网址檛, B次元官网网址業 want to work in the same business as you, Mom and Dad,B次元官网网址� then we have to ask ourselves why,B次元官网网址� Pierce said in an interview.
The dinnertime conversations between Pierce and her children are a scaled-down version of a wider discussion taking place in Alberta right now as an entire province tries to decide on its path forward.
While AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 historic oil and gas sector still makes an outsized contribution to the Canadian economy, it has been battered and bruised by seven years of low prices, pipeline protests and cancellations, layoffs, and consolidation. The provinceB次元官网网址檚 unemployment rate is 8.5 per cent, and close to 30 per cent of downtown CalgaryB次元官网网址檚 office market sits vacant.
AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 long-term unemployment rate B次元官网网址� the portion of the population that has been without work for more than a year B次元官网网址� is 2.4 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 1.4 per cent.
Even now, with crude prices higher than theyB次元官网网址檝e been in years, there is widespread acknowledgment that the energy landscape has permanently shifted.
Climate change and the transition away from fossil fuels have moved to the forefront of the national and international conversation. Investment dollars are increasingly flowing to industries with favourable environmental performance, and companies B次元官网网址� Shell included B次元官网网址� are investing in green technology and decarbonization as part of their own net-zero commitments.
In the past several years, there have been various government attempts to address AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 challenges, from tax credits aimed at boosting the provinceB次元官网网址檚 rapidly growing tech sector to incentives for petrochemical development and investments in hydrogen technology.
Recently, a group of prominent Alberta CEOs B次元官网网址� including Pierce B次元官网网址� came together to form their own task force with the aim of coming up with long-term solutions for the Alberta economy.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a service in support of what governments might be able to do, without asking governments to do it for us,B次元官网网址� Pierce said. B次元官网网址淭he world is changing, in terms of the energy product it needs. And as a result, we must change too.B次元官网网址�
The task force aims to come up with a series of economic strategies, policies and incentives that will attract investment and jobs to the province. It will also look at ways to keep young people in a province that is viewed by some as stuck in the past.
Also involved in the project, dubbed B次元官网网址淒efine the Decade,B次元官网网址� are other heavyweights like EnbridgeB次元官网网址檚 Al Monaco and Cenovus EnergyB次元官网网址檚 Alex Pourbaix. And the task force includes executives of some of the provinceB次元官网网址檚 rapidly growing tech firms, such as artificial intelligence company AltaML and life sciences company DynaLIFE.
Diversification has been a buzzword in Alberta during previous commodity price downturns. It has always fallen by the wayside, though, when oil prices start to climb again, said Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta.
This time, however, itB次元官网网址檚 different, he said, and thereB次元官网网址檚 no time to waste.
B次元官网网址淎lbertaB次元官网网址檚 history of riding these boom and bust cycles B次元官网网址� is frankly, gone,B次元官网网址� Legge said. B次元官网网址淏ut we believe our best days are ahead of us. So many of the things that are happening In the world, the trends, the evolutions that are happening B次元官网网址� Alberta really has a shot to be a global leader.B次元官网网址�
David Taras, a political analyst based at CalgaryB次元官网网址檚 Mount Royal University, said the idea of a group of AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 top CEOs joining together to lobby for diversification, green energy, and the startup economy would have been unfathomable 10 or even 5 years ago.
The public relations message has clearly shifted away from defending traditional oil and gas, he said, to establishing AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 role in the public eye as a future-forward investment destination.
B次元官网网址淭he global tide has shifted, and shifted dramatically,B次元官网网址� Taras said. B次元官网网址淎nd the industry has not only caught up, but realized they have to move on, they have to be in a different place.B次元官网网址�
The Calgary and Edmonton Chambers of Commerce are not involved in the B次元官网网址淒efine the DecadeB次元官网网址� initiative but recently released a joint wish list for the federal election that calls for commitments from all the parties with respect to diversifying AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 economy.
Deborah Yedlin, president and chief executive of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said the organization is asking for everything from federal investments in grants and equity deals to foster the growth of the startup tech sector, to the creation of national Centres of Excellence within Alberta for sectors ranging from clean technology, artificial intelligence, and sports.
B次元官网网址淲e (Alberta) have the willingness to lead, but we canB次元官网网址檛 do it on our own,B次元官网网址� Yedlin said. B次元官网网址淲e need federal support.B次元官网网址�
Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press
Like us on and follow us on .
