A Grand Total of $69.5 to %77.2 billion lost in just six years in Alberta

It needs to be said, the UCP excuse for a government has to go as the cost of the ideological partisan incompetence is staggering.

A Grand Total of $69.5 to %77.2 billion lost in just six years.

No way to understatement the fiscal horror Jason Kenney and Danielle Smith have unleashed on Alberta. Remember, this is ONLY a list of identifiable FUBARS, not a list of underfunded sectors or mismanaged Cabinet positions. That list is at this point unfathomable.
Six Years of UCP Debt Incompetence

Synopsis

Keystone XL Gamble – $7.5 Billion (Kenney)
Jason Kenney plunged Alberta into a doomed $7.5 billion pipeline bet—$1.5B equity and $6B loan guarantee—despite full awareness of Biden's pending cancellation. Interest payments on the $6B loan, assuming a modest 3.5% over two years, added at least $420M in banking costs before the project collapsed. This gamble was not strategic foresight—it was blind ideological loyalty to U.S. Republicans.
Total: $7.5B + $420M interest

Sturgeon Refinery Sinkhole – $1.3 to $2.5 Billion (Kenney)
Kenney extended Alberta's entanglement in the boondoggle of the Sturgeon Refinery without renegotiating contracts or demanding returns. Between poor tolling agreements and operational overruns, his tenure added up to $2.5 billion in cumulative exposure. Interest servicing tied to long-term debt financing brought an additional $175M to $340M in costs.
Total: $2.5B + $175–340M interest

Canadian Energy Centre – $100 Million (Kenney)
The $100M spent on Kenney's "War Room" was pure propaganda waste. With no return and widespread ridicule, this became Alberta's most expensive troll account. No revenue, no credibility, just taxpayer cash incinerated.
Total: $100M

Inquiry into Anti-Energy Activism – $3.5 Million (Kenney)
$3.5 million was spent on a sham inquiry that found no wrongdoing and delivered zero benefit. A one-man vanity project disguised as investigative governance, producing nothing but fuel for conspiracy theorists.
Total: $3.5M

Corporate Tax Giveaways – $4.7 Billion (Kenney)
Kenney slashed corporate tax rates in 2019 promising jobs. Instead, Alberta hemorrhaged $4.7B with no growth payoff. Many corporations used savings for executive bonuses and stock buybacks. This was not stimulus—it was surrender.
Total: $4.7B

Renewable Energy Moratorium – $33 Billion Lost (Smith)
Smith's 2023 moratorium froze 118 renewable energy projects and drove out $33B in clean energy investment. Rural Alberta lost critical tax revenue. Private sector confidence vanished. Alberta's global investment reputation was crippled.
Total: $33B

Coal Policy Flip-Flop – $15+ Billion Liability (Smith)
By lifting and then reversing the Eastern Slopes coal ban, Smith created a legal disaster zone. Payouts like the $143M to Atrum already materialized. With investor lawsuits pending, Alberta faces $15B+ in liability.
Total: $15B confirmed risk, $143M paid

Anti-Federal Legal Battles – $100–$250 Million (Smith)
Smith's courtroom crusades against Ottawa, including Sovereignty Act defences, cost Alberta between $100M–$250M with no tangible legal victories. These performative cases created instability, not solutions.
Total: $100M–$250M

Separatist Risk Premium – $5–$10 Billion Capital Flight (Smith)
Smith's secession flirtation scared off between $5–10B in investment. Investors now see Alberta as volatile and politically radioactive. This "risk premium" makes capital more expensive and less likely to land.
Total: $5–$10B

Jason Kenney: Ideological Foresight or Fiscal Fantasy?
Jason Kenney's four years were defined by ideological overreach masquerading as economic leadership. His Keystone XL disaster alone cost Albertans $7.5B, not counting hundreds of millions in interest on a loan guarantee that instantly vaporized with a predictable U.S. administration change. His refusal to pivot from failing megaprojects like the Sturgeon Refinery deepened losses, adding at least $2.5 billion in new exposure. The Canadian Energy Centre and the eco-radical inquiry—together a $103.5M exercise in political cosplay—delivered no returns and eroded Alberta's credibility. But perhaps most damaging of all were his corporate tax giveaways: a $4.7 billion sacrifice of public revenue for no appreciable job growth, yielding only shareholder bonuses and empty rhetoric. Grand Total: $15.8 to $18.1 billion, with interest charges adding $595M to $760M across major debts. Combined: $16.4B–$18.9B.

Danielle Smith: The High Priestess of Partisan Pyromania
If Kenney's era was defined by wasteful conservative pragmatism, Smith's is pure ideological vandalism. Her renewable moratorium scorched $33 billion in private sector investment and gutted Alberta's energy diversification. Her Eastern Slopes coal flip-flop exposed Alberta to $15 billion in legal liabilities—already costing $143M in settlements. The government's obsession with sovereignty and jurisdictional showdowns has racked up $100 to $250 million in court costs, while her separatist signalling has driven away another $5 to $10 billion in capital investment. This isn't governance—it's a controlled demolition of investor confidence, regulatory stability, and environmental credibility. Grand Total: $53.1B to $58.3B.

Combined Grand Total (Kenney + Smith):
$69.5B – $77.2B (including bank interest ±2%)

The Ideological Cost of UCP Misrule
The combined fiscal cost of six years of UCP misgovernance now eclipses $75 billion, effectively one full year of Alberta's total budget—wasted not on education, healthcare, wildfire resilience, or transition planning, but on partisan vanity projects, failed bets, lawsuits, and international embarrassment. From Kenney's Keystone delusion to Smith's anti-renewable crusade, these are not miscalculations—they are the inevitable outcomes of leadership that places ideology above evidence, loyalty above expertise, and political theatre above fiscal responsibility. These are not mistakes. They are warnings ignored, warnings repeated, and warnings still unheeded. Alberta is not just footing the bill—we are mortgaging our future to pay for their fantasies.

Citationable Sources:

Alberta Auditor General Reports (Sturgeon Refinery): www.oag.ab.ca

Government of Alberta: Keystone XL investment statement (2020)

CBC News, Jan 2021: "Biden revokes Keystone XL permit"

Globe and Mail, Nov 2021: "Canadian Energy Centre misses performance targets"

Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns Final Report (July 2021)

Alberta Budget 2019-2022 Corporate Tax Revenue Statements

Canadian Renewable Energy Association: 2023 Investment Freeze Report

Atrum Coal settlement filing, Alberta Justice, 2024

Alberta Government Legal Expenditures (Freedom of Information filings)

RBC Economics & Investor Survey, 2024: Investment Confidence Index – Alberta vs National

TD Economics 2024 Q1 Report: Risk Premium on Alberta Corporate Bonds

University of Calgary School of Public Policy: "The Fiscal Fallout of Sovereignty Politics in Alberta" (2024)