Alberta Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd is heading south to promote the province's slumping oil and gas industry.

During a three-day visit to the United States this week, she will meet politicians and industry stakeholders to champion Alberta's energy policies, and talk about the importance of trade, cooperation and pan-continental energy security.

In North Dakota, the minister will meet members of the Energy Council, a group of state legislators mostly from energy-producing and refining states, along with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Senator John Hoeven, North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, and the chair of the Senate Energy Committee, Jessica Unruh.

According to the Alberta Ministry of Energy, more than 12,000 jobs exist in Alberta and North Dakota as a result of trade between the two jurisdictions, just over half of which are in the Prairie province.

“We have a long history of working together with the United States in a way that’s beneficial to both countries,” said McCuaig-Boyd said a Wednesday press statement, released ahead of her Thursday departure. "I’m looking forward to strengthening our important energy relationship, which provides good jobs for thousands of families and helps grow the economy on both sides of the border.”

Under current North American Free Trade Agreement rules, Canadian oil can be shipped into America without import fees, along with dozens of other goods covered under the 23-year-old agreement. That arrangement is now up in the air President Donald Trump reopens NAFTA negotiations and raises the possibility of imposing a border adjustment tax on Canadian energy.

This could have a major impact on Alberta’s economy and beyond. According to Statistics Canada, in 2014, about 130,000 people were employed in Alberta’s energy sector. Thousands have been laid off in the years since then, as global oil prices fluctuate and pressure mounts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

In December, Alberta will host an Energy Council meeting in Banff and about 200 U.S. legislators are expected to attend.

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No matter how much evidence from the actual planet keeps coming in, those of us who swore allegiance to that black gold keep on dreaming. Psychologically, the next few years are going to be interesting....but on the drought prone dry lands of the Great Plains, too soon I suspect, our only sustainable resource is going to be the sun and the wind.
The sooner we wake up to that reality, the better. We might even have time to resuscitate the native fescues that held our precious soil in place for millennia. Maybe bring back the buffalo that we white eyes killed for sport. OIl and gas??? An obvious end game.

These junkets are taken by every level of government and are yet another hidden "gift" to corporations at taxpayer expense. I'd like to see an investigation on how much is spent annually across the country on these gifts. I don't know when this practice started but I bet it coincides with governments accomplishing less that actually benefits people or the environment. Instead of governments passing momentous legislation that benefits the whole country like Universal Health Care, resolving the housing crisis, or closing tax loopholes, today's governments are busy shilling for industries and promoting projects that millions of voters are against. They are so cozy with industry they have gutted protections of waterways, the environment, endangered species, and even employees, to facilitate maximum profits for offshore investors paying no taxes. These same governments appoint loyalists to cushy government departments like the NEB, or AER and then they all insist they are unbiased when making decisions about the projects put forth by these companies. The approval rate says it all.