Phone Script
"Hi, my name is [Your Name] and I'm a constituent in [Constituency Name]. Is [MLA Name] available to speak about the Mature Asset Strategy?"
If they're not available: "Could you please pass along my concerns about the MAS to [MLA Name]?"
Key points to mention:
- • I strongly oppose the Mature Asset Strategy
- • Oil companies should pay for their own cleanup, not taxpayers
- • This puts rural Albertans at risk and costs every household thousands
- • [Add your personal story if comfortable]
"I'll be watching how [MLA Name] votes on this issue. Thank you."
Sample Letter
Dear [MLA Name],
I'm writing as your constituent about the government's Mature Asset Strategy, which would let oil and gas executives and big polluters avoid billions in cleanup costs, leaving taxpayers to pay the bill. This plan risks delaying the cleanup of thousands of leaking, toxic wells across Alberta or letting companies avoid cleanup entirely.
We're seeing companies skip out on their obligations while poisoning land and water that farmers, ranchers, and every Albertan depend on. These companies signed contracts promising to restore the land when they were done. Now they're using bankruptcy and shell companies to "drill and dash", leaving us with contaminated land and no recourse. Rural Albertans built this province alongside the energy industry and they deserve better than being scammed by corporate executives who break their promises.
Our government allowed industry to design this new proposal through a closed-door process dominated by industry representatives and led by longtime oilpatch consultant David Yager.
Here's what's why this matters to me:
- Oil and gas companies already owe rural municipalities over $254 million in unpaid property taxes.
- The cleanup bill for Alberta's 300,000 unreclaimed wells is conservatively estimated to be $60 billion dollars.
- From 2010 to 2024, Alberta taxpayers paid $150 million to landowners on behalf of delinquent oil and gas companies for unpaid compensation.
- If companies don't pay, that burden falls on taxpayers like me.
- Each Alberta household could be on the hook for over $36,000.
We're in an affordability crisis. Schools, hospitals, and other public services are consistently underfunded. Yet somehow our government has billions to bail out delinquent oil and gas companies at our expense? This is a case of "Reverse Robin Hood" – stealing from everyday people to give to wealthy oil and gas companies.
The polluter—not the public—should pay. Companies that profited from our resources must clean up their mess.
I urge you to:
- Scrap this scam and go back to the drawing board
- Design a strategy that holds oil and gas companies accountable
- Ensure taxpayer money funds public services, not corporate bailouts
- Uphold the polluter pays principle
I'll be watching how you vote on this issue and sharing this with my neighbours.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Should Go Here]
[Your Address/Postal Code Should Go Here]