Many western Canadians welcome the election of Donald Trump. It's not surprising because western Canadians (except for those on Canada's left coast in Vancouver) are generally more pro-American and pro-business than Canadians in the eastern half of the country.  
                                              Hicks on Biz: Trump could be good for Alberta
edmontonsun.com
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Graham Hicks                                                 November 10, 2016                             
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Please, no more hysterics.
The sky is not falling.
 American President-elect Donald Trump could be very good for Alberta.
 Did we happen to mention the Keystone XL pipeline?
 Alberta’s biggest challenge is not climate change and greenhouse gas  emissions, but the need for new pipelines to get our stranded oil and  natural gas to market.
 Outgoing American President Barack Obama vetoed the Keystone XL  pipeline – carrying up to 1 million barrels of dilbit (diluted bitumen) a  day from the oilsands to under-utilized upgraders/heavy-oil refineries  along the Gulf of Mexico. Trump has promised to reverse that decision as  soon as possible.
 Trump believes fossil fuels will continue to play a major role in providing cheap energy to America and the world.
 Trump will take a very different environmental stance than Obama,  with an underlying assumption that environmental concerns can be met  without excessive government interference and subsidy.
 Trump will embrace the “greening” of fossil fuels as another solution to global warming.
 Environmental improvements that make money will be welcome.
 Those requiring government subsidy will not.
 This is good news for Alberta. Our expertise in lowering greenhouse  gas emissions from fossil-fuel production will be back in demand.
 Keystone XL – the safest pipeline in the world - will alleviate the current oilsands production bottleneck.
 The USA needs our oil. Despite big production increases, America  still imports 10 million barrels of oil to feed its daily 19.4 million  barrels' appetite.
 The USA needs the Keystone pipeline.
 Trump has promised, like Justin Trudeau here, massive infrastructure  spending (roads, bridges, hospitals etc.) to make America great again.   This is great news for Edmonton’s world-class engineering and  construction cluster, led by Stantec and PCL.
 Trump’s America-first trade proposals are expected to be aimed at China and Mexico, not Canada.
 He’s expected to go after countries that have massive trade imbalances with the USA, not Canada.
 Trump, as a businessman, knows Canadian business is hugely invested  in the USA.  Our pipeline companies, utilities, banks, real estate  developers, engineering  and construction firms have a greater presence  in the USA than ever before. The USA needs our investments, Our  economies are as intertwined as any two countries in the world.
 The greatest danger to Canada’s economy won’t be exclusion from the  American economy, but our ability to compete under essentially the same  free-trade deal as we now have.
 Trump is promising corporate America lower and fewer taxes, less  regulation and no carbon tax. He will offer tax breaks to bring  off-shore companies back home, erect trade barriers (not against Canada)  to discourage the import of  cheap foreign goods and encourage  made-in-America manufacturing.
 Meanwhile, Alberta has raised taxes on corporations and high-income  earners. Regulations and government decrees are piling up. The cost of  Alberta’s industrial electricity will double in the name of climate  change. A carbon tax equivalent to a provincial sales tax is looming.  (To its credit, the ND government is lowering royalties on conventional  oil production in 2017.)
 If Trump delivers on his taxation promises, Alberta companies won’t  look to China to produce their goods.  Instead, they may move lock,  stock and barrel to the USA. Why would new investment come to Alberta,  when the USA can offer a much better deal?
 Our current Alberta regime believes all good things flow from a  government that acts in what it perceives as the interests of the  people.
 The new American government is all about minimizing government  interference, lowering taxes, letting the free-market rule and rewarding  individual effort.
 My greatest optimism is in finally getting the Keystone pipeline  built, even though all our international output will still be shipped to  our one-and-only international customer, the USA.
 My greatest fear is that the  ND government’s onerous taxing  policies, the carbon levy, and massive wind farm/solar subsidies  will  push current and future Alberta businesses and entrepreneurs south of  the border to a far more business-friendly regime.