Senator Doug Black
Senator Doug Black
By Doug MacDonald
It isn't every day that a member of another Rotary Club introduces our guest speaker but it also isn't every day that the son of a well known Rotarian speaks to our club. Calgary- South member Doug Black ably introduced his son, Senator Doug Black. Jack admitted that his daughter wrote the introduction so this was a family affair.
Senator Doug Black was elected as a Senator-in-waiting in 2012 and appointed to the red chamber in 2013. A lawyer by profession, Doug has served on many boards including at the University of Calgary.
Senator Black believes his job representing Alberta includes thoughtfully raising current issues in a thoughtful way. These days, he is focused on how we can have an economy by intent rather than by circumstances. No one can miss that Alberta, and particularly the energy sector, is going through a time of significant change and the initial impact isn't good.
Senator Black noted that Alberta has a history of innovation and we're going to need that going forward. The world energy sector has changed dramatically with net importers like the USA now exporting. There is a growing interest in what the Senator called an "off carbon environment" with some focusing on developing renewable energy and others simply talking about ending our dependence on carbon based energy.
The impact on Alberta, and Canada, has been dramatic with tens of thousands of jobs lost, new investment drastically reduced and major projects stopped. It isn't just the energy sector and their suppliers that are affected. The social sector has been overwhelmed with demand for services as a result.
Access to international markets continues to be a priority but we also need to consider that eastern Canada imports 700,000 barrels of oil per day. Every one of those barrels costs more than a barrel of Canadian oil.
There are lots of people trying to innovate but they are working in silos. According to Senator Black, we need to create ways for these people to see what each other are doing so we can take advantage of good ideas in one sector that will help another.
We also need to find ways to increase venture capital. The major financial institutions aren't eager to take the risks that innovation requires. Alberta and western Canada suffers from a shortage of venture capital.
As usual, the question and answer session was as good as the speech. Thoughtful comments and questions show that Rotary is a place to learn too how we finance government - like it or not, we have to look at value added taxes the disconnect between so many Canadians and the energy sector - they don't understand where their energy comes from. We have to be careful that government does pick winners and losers by financing initiatives. We need to give people incentives to help each other. Aboriginal issues can't be seen as obstacles. The First Nations see themselves as stewards of the earth and we have to engage with them to find solutions. We need a new Alberta 2.0 approach that expands our vision of the future to be more than energy based. We can't blame people for not knowing the importance of a balanced energy sector - the energy sector hasn't done a good job of engaging stakeholders.
When asked how to advice unemployed petroleum engineers, Suzanne asserted that someone in that position should present themselves as a problem solver, not just an engineer. To another query about the role of government in technological development, Suzanne stated that such support could be helpful as long as government does not get in the way.
Greg Stevenson thanked our speaker with our customary CAWST certificate.
Our speaker, Senator Black