Tag: budget cuts

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Economic Ft Mac

Budget Cuts at Least Partially Responsible for Resignation of Keyano College President Kevin Nagel

The Keyano College president and CEO, Kevin Nagel, has resigned and the resignation is at least in part over budget cuts and financial struggles. Nagel took the position of president at the college in 2011, and the decision to resign was made after careful consideration. The Board of Governors received Nagel’s resignation last Monday. A press release by Kara Flynn, the board chair, stated “The Board of Governors would like to thank Dr. Nagel for his contributions to the College and the wider region. (We) wish Dr. Nagel well in his future endeavours.” The college has seen declining revenues as oil prices have dropped in recent years, because industry training services n longer have the same demand that they did just a few years ago and fewer people training for lucrative oil industry jobs.

Forecasts for revenue at Keyano College have declined by 20% over the last two years. During a recent Friday Board of Governors meeting the school discussed goals and set a spending reduction. The goal is to cut spending back to $68 million instead of the amount of $81 million that was spent last year. Nagel quickly came to the defense of the financial approach that the college has taken when he gave an interview to Today, an interview that occurred just a few days before Nagel tendered his resignation. In the middle of 2015 Keyano College let 21 staff go and cut out 12 programs that were previously offered because of the struggling economy and low oil prices, and further cuts have been needed so the college can stay financially stable.

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Economic Ft Mac Politics

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Makes $80 Million in Budget Cuts and Cancels Projects

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, budget cuts

During a recent council meeting the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo council agreed to $80 million in budget cuts and cancellation of future projects in an effort to bring spending under control and offset dropping revenues which resulted from lower oil prices. The council cut $14 million from the operating budget alone, and the rest of the savings was seen by canceling or at least delaying 10 different capital projects. The Wood Buffalo region must strike a balance between much needed improvements and infrastructure upgrades which contribute to further growth and economic health and downsizing to take into account the fact that revenues are down because oil prices have plunged in recent months. Coun. Tyran Ault stated “I’m very happy, I think we saved a significant amount of money for taxpayers today.” Not everyone was on board though, and some have voiced concerns that too much cost cutting could have a negative impact when oil prices start to rise again.

Some of the projects that were canceled as part of the recent Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo budget cuts included a permanent Conklin waste water treatment plant project expected to cost around $39 million and an energy supply pipeline expected to cost around $27 million. According to Fort MacMurray Mayor Melissa Blake “What I experienced is that it was quick and easy. Sometimes administration had recommendations for … holding or deferring some of these projects and saving us money, so it wasn’t a wasted process by any way shape or form.” The review of projects was finally stopped at 10 pm even though there were still 5 projects left to go over.

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Alberta Economic

Teachers in Alberta Concerned About Possible Budget Cuts

teachers, budget cuts

Teachers in Alberta are concerned about possible budget cuts as oil prices continue to drop and the government face potential budget shortfalls. Wood Buffalo is one of the areas which could be impacted if the new 2015 budget cuts school and teacher funding. According to Mark Ramsankar, who is the president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, “The greatest source of frustration I hear from teachers is they are unable to reach the children in the classroom with the resources available. They know the needs of the children, but they can’t reach them because they don’t have the resources. The impact the projected cuts will have on education and the classroom in general, we believe, will be devastating.” Jim Prentice has already warned that coming budget cuts could be almost 10%, and that is a significant amount.

When discussing the needs of teachers and the potential budget cuts Ramsankar also said “When we look at the pressures teachers are under, it’s about making sure they have the opportunity to really extend the education system. What we’re trying to do is give students a fighting chance for their futures. To simply turn it back and suggest teachers whine about these conditions is overstated.” Wood Buffalo already has a high cost of living, and new teachers do not make a lot of money. In addition there is already a lack of resources for teachers in Wood Buffalo, and budget cuts could just make things worse for teachers and students both because some schools have high populations while others continuously scout for new students.

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Alberta Canada Economic Ft Mac

Budget Cuts Force Shell Investment Decisions to be Delayed

Shell investment decisions, budget cuts

Budget cuts due to the falling price of oil has cause expected Shell investment decisions to be delayed. The final decision on investing in the last two phases of the Carmon Creek project has been delayed. This was announced shortly after the Royal Dutch Shell company revealed on Thursday that the business will be cutting $15 million in global capital spending. 40 projects have been either eliminated or delayed as a result of these cuts, and Carmon Creek is one of the projects affected. This announcement comes just a few weeks after Shell Albian Sands said that they would cut 10% of their workforce, costing about 300 jobs. All of these cutbacks are the result of oil prices dropping fast, making it difficult for petroleum companies to stay cost effective and lowering the potential profits seen with new projects.

Right now oil prices are volatile, and these are much lower than they have been in the recent past. High gas and oil prices have made oil recovery very profitable, but when prices go down then budget cuts must be made to offset the lower profits achieved. The Shell investment decisions announced in the last month have been caused by concern that oil prices will continue to plummet and recovering this precious resource will be much less profitable in the near future. The effect that these decisions have on Wood Buffalo and Fort MacMurray could be damaging. It is too soon to tell which projects will be delayed and which ones will be put on hold indefinitely.