The Small Town Loans Officer

This is a true story that happened to a friend.

He was walking down main street in a small Alberta town on his way to do an errand and encountered his Alberta Treasury Branch loans officer.

After some friendly chatter she said "I approved your loan for the 20 acres you were going to buy. When are you going to be closing on it?"

"I won't be closing on it if the government messes with the royalties!" he replied.

She was surprised and asked why not.

"The price of the land, along with most other real estate in Alberta, will drop if the PC's kill the boom with this new tax grab" he said. He's a pretty shrewd businessman and knows which way the wind blows when it comes to doing business.

The loans officer knows that and was a bit taken aback. "I thought it was just about getting the fair share and the oil companies can afford to pay it?"

My friend chuckled and said "That's what they want people to believe. The reality is that following the royalty review recommendations will devastate oil and gas. I even wonder if that is the plan; deal with the boom by destroying it."

The loans officer was more shaken. "I just lent Doug a bunch of money to buy a new vac truck. And Jim a bunch to build the new shop for his testing company."

My friend sighed and said "For your sake, I hope you've gotten lots of collateral on those loans. Those small oil and gas service businesses will be hit hard."

The loans officer was clearly disturbed, and said "I'd better get informed on this issue."

Afterwards, my friend reflected that if a person in the position of the loans officer didn't "get it"; what state was the average Albertan in? Clearly woefully misinformed.

Get the message out. Make sure that Albertans understand what is going on with this royalty review, and the negative impacts that it will have on everyone in the province.