Suncor to eliminate up to 15 per cent of staff; 2,000 jobs could be affected - Calgary Herald

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“The government of Canada would be moving heaven and earth if we saw layoffs of this scale in the central Canadian manufacturing industry,” Kenney told reporters on Friday. “This truly is a jobs crisis and an economic emergency and it deserves to be responded to here in Alberta the same way it would be in Ontario or Quebec.”

Kenney said he is once again calling on the federal government to “do no more harm” to Alberta’s oil and gas sector, adding Ottawa should press the pause button on its proposed Clean Fuel Standard, which Kenney said will make Alberta energy companies uncompetitive on the global market. He also once again slammed changes to the environmental review process put in place by Bill C-69, saying the result has been investor uncertainty at the worst possible time.

However, Kenney also pleaded with oil and gas companies themselves to do all they can to avoid layoffs.

“I don’t think any of us should be surprised if there are additional layoffs from other companies that are hemorrhaging cash right now,” Kenney said. “I would implore them to do everything they can to keep their work force intact. To recognize that they’ve made big profits in the past for their shareholders based on the hard work of those employees.”

Suncor Energy cut its capital budget earlier this year by $1.9 billion, and reduced its prized quarterly dividend in May by 55 per cent. It also scaled back some operations at its Fort Hills oilsands mine.

Suncor posted a first-quarter net loss of $3.52 billion, including a $1.8-billion non-cash asset impairment charge, and then a $614 million net loss in the second quarter.

Alberta’s NDP Opposition pointed out that according to Suncor’s second quarter report, the company’s net earnings in the prior year quarter included a one-time deferred income tax recovery of $1.1 billion as a result of the UCP government’s corporate tax cut. The UCP has lowered Alberta’s corporate tax rate from 12 per cent to 8 per cent in an effort to attract business investment and create private sector jobs.

According to Suncor’s second quarter report, “net earnings in the prior year quarter included a one-time deferred income tax recovery of $1.116 billion associated with a staged reduction to the Alberta corporate income tax rate of 1% each year from 2019 to 2022.”

“Jason Kenney made a bad deal. Suncor received over a billion dollars from the UCP’s $4.7 billion corporate handout and they’re not hiring, they’re firing,” said NDP Leader Rachel Notley in a statement.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vY2FsZ2FyeWhlcmFsZC5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvbG9jYWwtYnVzaW5lc3Mvc3VuY29yLXRvLWVsaW1pbmF0ZS11cC10by0xNS1wZXItY2VudC1vZi1zdGFmZtIBjgFodHRwczovL2NhbGdhcnloZXJhbGQuY29tL2J1c2luZXNzL2xvY2FsLWJ1c2luZXNzL3N1bmNvci10by1lbGltaW5hdGUtdXAtdG8tMTUtcGVyLWNlbnQtb2Ytc3RhZmYvd2NtL2U5MzFkNDcxLWJjMDgtNGI1My1iZTRkLTNiNzQwZTQ4OWY1MS9hbXAv?oc=5

2020-10-02 19:10:14Z
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