The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that mayor Ted Clugston in Medicine Hat, Alta., knows all too well that oil and gas production is deeply susceptible to the whims of global energy price fluctuations. The Post's Vanmala Subramaniam quotes Mr. Clugston saying: "When I was first elected six years ago, we had 4,000 gas wells and we had oil production as well. Everything we have was paid for by our natural gas." Those days are long gone and picturesque Medicine Hat, population 63,000, has only 400 gas wells left in operation, hitting revenue and employment. However, new economy industries are popping up. One of Canada's largest cryptocurrency miners, Hut 8 Mining, is expanding in the town. The expansion will benefit the town's coffers more than employment numbers, since cryptocurrency mining requires a lot of electricity. The town had been banking on the opening of one of the largest cannabis greenhouses in Canada, operated by Aurora Cannabis, which had promised to create at least 600 jobs. Due to declining revenues and stagnating sales, Aurora in November announced it was temporarily halting construction. Mr. Clugston believes the halt is just temporary and the Aurora facility will eventually open.