Tim Shipton occupies a vantage point in Edmonton that gives him a big-picture view. As president of Alberta Enterprise Group, he leads a public policy advocacy group of businesses with more than 30,000 employees in fields from accounting to steel. As a former finance director for the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, he knows politics inside out.

Alberta Oil: You told a Calgary industry conference held by the Canadian Institute that Alberta needs an “oil sands response team.” Why?
Tim Shipton: We’re at a political crossroads. We all cheered when we were recognized as having the world’s second-biggest oil asset. We forgot the responsibility that goes with such an asset. We have to stand up with confidence and defend our industry. If some of the climate change policies that the critics talk about pass unopposed, by default we’re going to see a historic transfer of wealth out of Alberta to the rest of Canada and the world that is going to tear up the fabric of Confederation.

AO: When will this all come to a head?
TS: We’re paused now. We’re in a time out. I put the critical moment five years down the road. We’re going to come out of recession. We’re going to see if the oil sands industry learned its lessons or whether it will go at breakneck speed, driving up costs and environmental effects. There has been a shift in society. The industry’s mantra has been that oil demand will always be there and criticism is no big deal. But political pressure against it, originating with environmental movements, isn’t going to go away. We need a fundamental rethink about how we’re perceived globally and how we do business.

AO: Do business leaders understand the risks?
TS: They’ve seen they can no longer sit on the sidelines and let government tell the story in isolation. During the trade mission that Alberta Enterprise Group took to Geneva in 2009, it was made obvious to us that there could be massive costs placed on every barrel that comes out of the oil sands. But we’ve seen no practical or tangible result.

AO: What is to be done?
TS: Industry needs to embrace organizations like ours who want to get out and help. There needs to be a sharing of information. The only way we’ll be successful is with the facts. The facts are on our side. But the facts need to come out in a timely fashion. If they don’t, you’re lost. You need to be there. Resources have to be dedicated to this. A segment of society is immune to facts. What we’re fighting for is the hearts and minds of average Canadians. That’s who is going to decide whether we should have the trust to develop the resource. It’s not going to be radical environmentalists. You don’t demonize those people. You work hard and earnestly to respond with the facts. This is the first time Alberta has been global news. We have to develop coherent strategies to deal with that.