Alberta Firms in ‘Dire’ State Need Aid Soon, Minister Says

(Bloomberg) -- Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage said the Canadian government needs to release its aid package for the country’s energy industry soon as companies struggle with the Covid-19 pandemic and oil-price crisis.

The package may include liquidity for companies and measures to help speed up the cleanup of old wells, Savage said Tuesday during an online presentation. Bill Morneau, the federal finance minister, said March 25 that aid for the industry could be coming within hours or days.

The measures have taken “too long,” but the delay in the package’s unveiling doesn’t “mean it isn’t coming, it just means it’s complicated,” Savage said.

“It needs to come and it needs to come soon,” she said. “These companies are struggling, they are in a very, very dire condition.”

Savage said her department still is working with the federal government on the package. Alberta is prepared to backstop the federal programs “where needed,” she said.

The federal Finance Ministry responded that energy workers who have been laid off can access the wage subsidies and emergency response benefits the government already has introduced, and said it’s working on the liquidity measures for the industry.

“We’re continuing to work with provinces and stakeholders from the energy sector to ensure that we can provide appropriate credit measures for the industry, especially the small- and medium-size firms in that sector, and support its workers,” said Maeva Proteau, a spokesperson for Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s office.

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