Analyzing Major Royalty Debates in Alberta’s Oil Sands: Corporate Power at Play in a Subnational Resource-Cursed Petrostate by Justine Salam A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Global Governance Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2021 © Justine Salam 2021 Examining Committee Membership The following served on the Examining Committee for this thesis. The decision of the Examining Committee is by majority vote. External Examiner Patrick McCurdy Associate Professor, University of Ottawa Supervisor Angela Carter Associate Professor, University of Waterloo Internal-external Member Sharon Kirkpatrick Associate Professor, University of Waterloo Other Member(s) Eric Helleiner Professor, University of Waterloo Heather Whiteside Associate Professor, University of Waterloo ii Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Abstract Canada has the third largest proven oil reserves in the world and these are predominantly located in the province of Alberta in the form of oil sands. Despite having large oil resources and the ability to profit substantially from oil royalties, Alberta levies lower royalties on oil corporations than other comparable jurisdictions. Even when oil prices were extraordinarily high in the post- 2000s, over the last decade, researchers argue Alberta was inefficient in maximizing revenues from the oil industry (Campbell, 2013; Shrivastava and Stefanick, 2015). This is a critical problem given that the natural resources sector, particularly the oil sands, is a primary stream of provincial government revenue. Focusing on ideational, interest-based, and institutional factors (the three “I”s) that influenced provincial policy under both successive Progressive Conservative (PC) (2007) and New Democratic Party (NDP) (2015) governments, this study examines the underlying reasons for Alberta’s unwillingness to raise royalties and profit accordingly from oil exploitation during the two landmark royalty review processes of 2007 and 2015-16. This study also uses resource curse and petrostate theories to illuminate collections of “I”s specific to oil contexts and Doris Fuchs’ corporate power framework to map the various ways the dominant interest-group, oil corporations, exerted influence on the royalty review process and ensuing policy. I find that oil sands royalty stasis in Alberta can be explained by constellations of intertwined institutional, interest-based, and ideational factors, both general and typical of oil contexts. iv Acknowledgments First, I am grateful for the support of my committee members. My supervisor, Dr. Angela Carter, guided and inspired me every step of the way with kindness and generosity. She made me believe in myself and in the value of this research. Committee members Dr. Eric Helleiner and Dr. Heather Whiteside challenged me to strengthen the work and helped me to do it by providing extensive feedback and guidance. I also valued the advice of Dr. Patrick McCurdy and Dr. Sharon Kirkpatrick during the defense. Thank you all for your commitment to my research. At the Balsillie School of International Affairs, I would like to thank Dr. John Ravenhill, Dr. Andrew Thompson, Tiffany Bradley, Joanne Weston, and Shelby Davis for their support, guidance, and encouragement. I am grateful for scholarships received from the BSIA to carry out my research and present at international conferences. I also owe thanks to colleagues across the University of Waterloo’s main campus. Dr. Nadine Fladd generously provided me with writing support throughout my degree. She accommodated all my requests when I was traveling the world, from the NATO Headquarters in Belgium to Indonesia. She was a steadfast coach, mentor, and now friend. Tanya Gillert and Lauren Broderick offered me critically important career and skill development guidance and they empowered me in my professional development journey. Dr. Angela Rooke hired me to participate in shaping the University of Waterloo’s first professional development credential. Her dedication to graduate students is far reaching. I was—and they are—lucky to have her! The GSPA team—Angela, Marta, Sarah, Tasha, Suzanne, Trevor, Julie, and Katie—welcomed me and encouraged me throughout the process and always with good humor, whether through dill flavored popcorn, coffee times, and king cakes. During my doctoral work, I was fortunate to work alongside a supportive cohort, with Clay Dasilva, Dr. Karolina Werner, Dr. Anastasia Ufimtseva, Dr. Masaya Llavaneras-Blanco, Dr. Maissaa Almustafa, and Dr. Skylar Brooks. I am also grateful for the friendship, company, and support of Dr. Amy Janzwood in powering through the last steps of the PhD. I am also greatly indebted to an incredible network of friends who provided me with comments on drafts of the work, Dr. Karolina Werner, Dr. Brent Epperson, and Sarah Howard. They lead busy lives, yet found the time to provide me with insightful feedback. From Nordic spas, to Chicopee ski hills, and the remote lakes of Algonquin, my incredible friends Khodayar, Renato, and Abhinav accompanied me on memorable adventures. Their constant support and encouragement drove me to the finish line. v I give special thanks to Lucas for his love and support. We led incredible—and unforgettable— expeditions from the depth of Tobermory shipwrecks, to the stillness of Algonquin lakes, and the rivers of southern Ontario. He set me up with the best work environment possible, and then, encouraged me to take on the world. I also give special thanks to Janice, my kindred spirit, for her care and perspective. She offered the space, environment, and delicious food I needed as I was writing the last few chapters. Scientist, builder, adventurer, survivor, and friend, from British Columbia to Ontario, Janice taught me to live in the present. Today is the prize! Special thanks also to Raffi for his encouragement and love throughout the final steps of the thesis. He made me look at it like a marathon, as I kept my eyes on the finish line. He stood, undisturbed, while I pulled the hours and he reminded me to listen to my inner light, to trust myself. His unwavering love and support filled my heart with dreams of today and tomorrow. Partout, tout le temps. Finally, my thanks go to my family. I thank my father, Salam Abdullah, for challenging me to enter the English-speaking academic world, even when I spoke no English; my mother, Marion Rey, for encouraging me and asking for regular updates on my work; my brother, Lancelot Salam, for never missing an opportunity to tease me and the PhD; and my sister, Kio Salam, for promising me travels as a reward for completing my work and for being by my side as I wrote the final pages. Being spread across four countries, three continents, and fourteen time zones can be challenging, especially during the pandemic. But I felt the presence and support of my family every step of the way. Alors cette thèse? FINIE! vi Table of Contents CHAPTER I Introduction: Situating Alberta’s Oil Sands Royalties .....................................1 1.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................1 1.2. Problem and Research Question ...........................................................................................2 1.3. Literatures, Analytical Framework, and Argument Summary..........................................3 1.4. Methodology and Positionality ..............................................................................................6 1.4.1. Case Selection and Methods ...........................................................................................6 1.4.2. Positionality: Distant Yet Connected ...........................................................................10 1.5. Contributions.........................................................................................................................12 1.6. Thesis Structure ....................................................................................................................13 CHAPTER II Framing Institutions, Interests, and Ideas in Alberta with Oil Theories & Corporate Power ..........................................................................................................................15 2.1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................................15 2.2. The 3Is in Comparative Politics & International Political Economy...............................16 2.2.1. Institutions ....................................................................................................................17 2.2.2. Interests.........................................................................................................................18 2.2.3. Ideas ..............................................................................................................................19 2.2.4. 3Is Interactions .............................................................................................................20 2.3. Resource Curse & Petrostate Literatures ...........................................................................21 2.4. Global Governance and the Role of Corporations ............................................................23