Mike Moffatt | Here’s why Alberta’s energy sector doesn’t need a bailout–yet

Increasing job losses in the energy sector in 2015 have some people calling for a government bailout, but the numbers don’t warrant it compared to other sectors, said Assistant Professor Mike Moffatt.

In his op-ed for Canadian Business, Moffatt compared job losses in Alberta in the last 12 months to Ontario manufacturing’s sustained years of decline and found the manufacturing losses were higher in previous years.

Since there were no bailouts to the manufacturing industry, Moffatt argued Alberta’s energy sector doesn’t need a bailout yet.

“When thousands of oil sector jobs are lost in Western Canada, it’s called a collapse. When thousands of manufacturing jobs are lost in southwestern Ontario, it’s called Tuesday,” said Moffatt.