In what should be a head-turning moment for the oil industry, a Texas oil manager is leaving his position with TransCanada Corporation in Houston, Texas to become the new chief of staff for the far-left provincial New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Ryan Meili in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

As reported by the local Canadian newspaper:

The Saskatchewan NDP is set to name an oil industry manager currently living in Houston, Tex., as the new chief of staff to party leader Ryan Meili.

Olin Valby, who will leave TransCanada Corp. when he starts next month, is Meili's first major hire since winning the party's leadership race in March.

According to his online resume, Valby – a former ministerial assistant in Lorne Calvert's NDP government – has 20 years' combined experience in government and the oil industry.

Meili said Valby, whom he has known for 20 years, has a "real understanding" of how legislative business and the oil business work.

Meili has recently endorsed controversial Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  Ocasio-Cortez defeated establishment Democrat Joe Crowley in the primary for the 14th Congressional District in New York City.  The DSA seeks to abolish capitalism, and its constitution is clear in that its members "reject an economic order based on private profit."

Ocasio-Cortez herself opposed the oil industry, tweeting against politicians accepting oil money and changing their positions to support the Keystone XL pipeline (a TransCanada project); against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and for it to be "time to end fossil fuels" while referencing an oil spill by TransCanada's Keystone pipeline; and supporting Bill McKibben's fossil fuel divestment movement, which also seeks to sue oil companies for the costs of climate change.

Valby's employment history suggests extensive oil industry experience, with his statement that he "[d]elivered 75+ pipeline and facility projects on time and on budget [and] [c]lient CAPEX [capital expenditures] ranged from $100K to over $1B."

One wonders at TransCanada's view of its hiring processes when one of its senior project managers leaves his position to become chief of staff to a far-left political leader who supports a de facto communist with policy positions of abolishing both capitalism and fossil fuels and suing the oil companies into oblivion for climate change reparations.

Of course, TransCanada should not be surprised by any of this.  Back in February, the Saskatchewan media were already reporting that Valby was tied as one of the largest financial donors to Meili's campaign.