The name Fort McMurray rolls off the tongue easily when you talk about oil and gas in Alberta.
Perhaps Nisku, Leduc and other places dotting the Alberta landscape also deserve prominent spots in the conversation, a back-and-forth on the legislature floor last week suggested.
Brandon Lunty, the UCP member for Leduc-Beaumont, said: “Simply put, Alberta’s economy is driven by our world-leading energy sector, and while Fort McMurray is the heartbeat of this sector, all regions of our province have their role to play.”
Lunty said Nisku in his riding supports and provides services for the oilsands. But it’s also there for the rest of an industry spread across Alberta.
“Over the years Nisku has continuously adapted to meet the demands of the energy sector, and the community is deeply invested in its success,” said Lunty.
His comments come in advance of the inaugural Nisku Energy Show, set for May 14-15 at the Silent Ice Sports and Entertainment Center in the community immediately south of Edmonton.
Under the tagline Fueling Energy and Innovation, the show will feature “expertise and advancements shaping Alberta’s future,” a regional chamber of commerce Web site promoting the event says.
Energy and Minerals Minister Brian Jean said, “It’s good to see some positivity in this place.”
The member for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, Jean pointed to the Nisku Business Park’s connection to one next door in the City of Leduc, along with the region’s Leduc No. 1 history.
The discovery of oil in the Nisku Formation in 1947 triggered a conventional oil boom across Western Canada. “The historical impact . . . is undeniable,” Jean said.
Nisku-Leduc is also a freight and transportation hub next to the QE II highway, with connections to Edmonton International Airport, Canadian National Rail and the combined company of historic railways Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, called CPKC.
Nisku Business Park is within a hamlet under Leduc County’s jurisdiction. Bordering the City of Leduc and the City of Edmonton, it was started by the Sparrow brothers in 1972. Today it’s home to more than 800 businesses in sectors that include energy, advanced manufacturing, and transportation and logistics, the county’s Web site says.
Together, the Nisku Business Park and neighbouring Leduc Business Park form the second-largest energy manufacturing industrial park in North America and the largest in Canada, the site says. The Leduc park accommodates more than 500 companies and employs more than 15,000 highly skilled workers in trades and professions, its own Web site adds.
Jean used the exchange with Lunty to take a jab at Ottawa and its policies. “They’re sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong, and you know where they’re putting it? In the pocketbooks of hard-working Albertans and people from all across Canada that rely on the oil and gas industry,” he said.
“We have the energy, and we can provide it to the world. Let’s do it together.”
Mining and oil and gas extraction accounted for 22 per cent of the Alberta GDP in 2022, statistics compiled in a provincial report say. Total employment in 2023 was 0.4 per cent higher than its level in 2022, says the 2023 industry profile published by the Alberta Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade.
In 2023, there were 133,700 people employed in the industry — 97.5 per cent of them full-time.
