{"id":232069,"date":"2019-09-23T21:34:51","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T01:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=232069"},"modified":"2019-09-23T21:34:51","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T01:34:51","slug":"its-on-kenney-vows-to-counter-texas-efforts-to-lure-canadian-companies-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/09\/23\/its-on-kenney-vows-to-counter-texas-efforts-to-lure-canadian-companies-south\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It’s on:’ Kenney vows to counter Texas efforts to lure Canadian companies south"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Jason Kenney said there has been a huge flight of money and jobs from Alberta’s energy sector to Texas in recent years. (File Photo<\/a>: Jason Kenney\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CALGARY \u2014 Alberta’s premier has a message for Texas firms looking to lure Canadian businesses to the Lone Star State \u2014 it’s on.<\/p>\n

Jason Kenney said there has been a huge flight of money and jobs from Alberta’s energy sector to Texas in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that’s exactly why we are offering a better environment for investment than Texas,\u201d he told a news conference in Calgary on Monday, where he was recapping recent trips to New York City and Ohio.<\/p>\n

One Houston-area real estate company says it has helped move 40 Canadian companies in the last year and a half, mostly in the oilfield services sector. Arrowstar Realty has already sent 15,000 brochures boasting of tax holidays and a booming local economy to businesses across Western Canada and is planning 50,000 more mailers.<\/p>\n

The economic development association for Lubbock, a west Texas city, has been holding one-on-one meetings with Canadian companies it thinks would be a good fit. It has been offering free land and other perks to some interested firms on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey put up billboards here. They’ve got advertisements. We’ll be doing the same thing,\u201d Kenney said.<\/p>\n

His government’s plans to lower taxes, reduce red tape and ease regulations are making Alberta a more attractive place to invest, Kenney said. The province has also given municipalities the power to offer tax holidays and other incentives to attract business.<\/p>\n

He said he’ll be looking to pitch Alberta to Texas businesses during trips to Houston and Dallas in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can save on taxes. They can have the most competitive regulatory environment in North America by coming to Alberta,\u201d Kenney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Texas: it’s on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas and Canada have so many business ties that a Canada-Texas Chamber of Commerce started up a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n

In the past, the flow of money and people between the two places was relatively even, said the chamber’s Doug McCullough.<\/p>\n

But lately many more Canadian companies have been moving into Texas than the other way around.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Texas oilpatch is much healthier right now,\u201d said McCullough. \u201cI think it’s just natural that companies are just seeking out the opportunities that are here.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said Canada has a lot to offer Texas companies looking to expand, such as an ability to attract top global talent with looser immigration laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s definitely a give and take.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CALGARY \u2014 Alberta’s premier has a message for Texas firms looking to lure Canadian businesses to the Lone Star State …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":232072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-lauren-krugel","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232073,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232069\/revisions\/232073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}