Others will have better commentary on the business aspects of Encana's decision to move HQ to US. But here are some initial thoughts on the politics.
Alberta Energy Company was created as a provincial crown corporation by Lougheed to invest in oil & gas sector, but more importantly to ensure that the AB govt had a window on the sector.
In this respect, and despite their numerous major differences, Lougheed's motivations with AEC was similiar to Pierre Trudeau and Petro-Canada.
AEC then greatly expands due to the rise in natural gas prices in the 1990s, gets privatized, and then mergers with Pan-Canadian to become Encana. A common oil patch business story.
I have no doubt that Encana's HQ move will be politically weaponized. Critics of Trudeau will blame his govt exclusively. And yes some of his policies contributed to this. But there were other factors too...
Falling AB natural gas prices & rise of US Shale. Both of which led to greater Encana investment in US. Greater access to capital in US than in Canada. Having a CEO and other Board members from the US also played a role.
I am also struck by the comparison with SNC-Lavalin. Butts told HofC committee that the threat (unfounded) of their HQ move to London was a national emergency....But the clear signals over many years of Encana moving to US were missed by the Trudeau Liberals.
Kenney's corporate tax reduction, as in case of Husky, does not seem to have deterred Encana from moving.
With any business decision of this magnitude, there are lots of different metrics that were used. But among the public and AB govt, I suspect that the market forces will be downplayed and Trudeau's policies will be seen as the only explanation.
The announcement was delayed to after the federal election (like Husky and AB budget too), but the re-election of Trudeau did not trigger Encana's move. It was already occurring as Gwyn Morgan's Fall 2018 op-ed (eagerly retweeted by UCP) illustrated.
