Strange fact: according to the University of Calgary’s Jack Mintz, British Columbia has a more competitive tax environment than Alberta. Even stranger: the decision that created that same tax environment, the harmonization of federal and provincial sales taxes, ended up costing a Premier whose government had become synonymous with scandal and who had personally managed to survive a drunk driving misdemeanor conviction he picked up while on vacation in Hawaii the job that he’d held for almost a decade. (more…)
Even at the best of times Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems to have a hard time heeding the advice of experts. In fact, judging by the way his government handled the elimination of the mandatory long form portion of the census last fall, one wonders if he hasn’t developed some sort of allergy to informed opinion. But with the country in the throes of electoral foreplay, the likelihood of him yielding to the recommendations of an unelected body of non-partisan experts is even smaller.
That’s a shame, given the content of the report released today by the National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy. (more…)
Alberta Business Person of the Year discusses his lessons of leadership
More than 450 business leaders and professionals crowded a ballroom at Edmonton’s Westin Hotel Thursday to honour Don Lowry, president of Epcor Utilities Inc. and Alberta’s Business Person of the Year. Lowry’s accomplishments are epic — he took a small, municipal water utility, grew it into a profitable regional entity and then got into the power generation business, acquiring TransCanada Power LP in 2005, and then split the company in two, creating Capital Power in 2009.
Assistant editor Geoff Morgan gets the behind the scenes detail on Alberta's fastest growing companies
The latest version of the Alberta Venture podcast features Assistant Editor Geoff Morgan making his podcast debut and discusses some of the businesses that topped this year’s Fast Growth Fifty list. As the author of our “Geeked Out” feature as well as many of the company profiles, he’ll give us his insight into what made these companies so successful. Companies discussed include DevFacto, this year’s fastest growing company, and Contava Inc., a security systems provider. (more…)
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has its priorities straight. The low-cost oil sands producer (TSX:CNQ) is an investor darling, trading around $42, in the upper end of its 52-week range, and it paid a handsome little 7.5-cent dividend to shareholders last quarter. This month, CNRL has also held or is holding investor events in London, Whistler, Tampa Bay and New York. Busy month for its executives. And oh yes, it had that pesky explosion and fire last week at its Horizon oil sands upgrader.
The complete list of Alberta’s fastest growing companies
Alberta Venture magazine and KPMG have released their annual Fast Growth 50 list honouring 50 of the fastest growing companies in Alberta. Appearing in the January issue of Alberta Venture and online at albertaventure.com, the list is tabulated by revenue, assets and profit increases over a three year period to rank Alberta’s 50 fastest growing companies. Topping the list is Edmonton’s DevFacto, a technology consulting firm that was among many others in the tech sector that had a growth filled year. (more…)
