Provincial finance officials are trying to allay investor concerns after Sweden’s central bank—which had invested about eight percent of its foreign-exchange reserves in Australian and Canadian government bonds—became the latest global financial institution to dump the province’s bonds over concerns about greenhouse-gas emissions. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: Alberta is already hurting from five years of low crude prices and pipeline constraints. Foreign financial entities have sold more than US$30 billion in Alberta assets over the last three years. Last month, Norway’s largest pension fund divested its debt and equity holdings in four Canadian oilsands companies, including Suncor Energy, over environmental concerns. If the trend continues, it could further the split between Alberta and Ottawa over climate change. Alberta’s oilsands, the world’s third-largest crude reserves, exist in the form of a bitumen that must be heated to extract oil—an energy-intensive process that means greenhouse-gas intensity is more than three times higher in production in Alberta than Quebec. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has vowed to continue to strengthen environmental policies, while Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has said the federal government’s measures are devastating the province’s economy.