Normally used to outline the provincial government’s agenda for the coming year, the March 18 Speech from the Throne served as a springboard for the April 16 provincial election.
Read by Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell March 18, the 30-minute speech was broken into four key areas: restoring trust in government, the creation of jobs and investment, defending existing jobs, specifically those in the energy industry, and building a province that works for everyone. On March 19 Premier Rachel Notley dropped the writ ending the NDP’s four-year reign of the Legislature.
In the first section on restoring trust, Mitchell said governments in Alberta, for too long, have worked for political insiders, special interest groups and the “super rich.”
“We set out to fix this,” she read, noting one of the ways they did that is by banning corporate and union donations to political parties and strengthened lobbying laws.
Mitchell added the government also reduced politicians’ travel and hospitality budgets by 80 per cent.
On the topic of job creation, the government stated they are preparing the next generation for the jobs of the future by investing in education.
“Across the province, the schools our kids go to are better equipped to help them meet the challenges of the world ahead,” Mitchell said. “From Grande Prairie to Medicine Hat, Lethbridge to Slave Lake, more than 240 badly-needed schools have been built or upgraded.”
Mitchell went on to say how the government is creating jobs by building and repairing about 4,700 affordable homes for seniors and people in need. The speech also stated additional jobs were added to the economy through the government’s capital plan — building highways, bridges, light rail and interchanges are helping people move freely.
On the subject of job protection, the government said they continue their fight for pipelines to help get oil and gas to market. They are also confident that the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which will transport oil from Alberta to B.C.’s coast, will be built.
“Trans Mountain remains in play because we compelled the federal government to step up and buy it,” Mitchell read.
However, until it and other pipelines are built, they plan to lease up to 4,400 rail cars and move an additional 120,000 barrels of oil a day.
The government also said they plan to continue their efforts to diversify the energy sector and create extra value by encouraging investment in new technology that will allow companies to use the byproducts created through the extraction of oil and gas to create new products.
In addition, the government said they want to continue their efforts to diversify the economy as a whole so the province is not subject to the boom-and-bust cycles common to resource-based economies.
One of the ways they said they have done this is by cutting the small-business tax by a one third and providing access to capital during the economic downturn.
The speech also stated that with the Climate Action Plan and the introduction of a carbon levy, Alberta is the most sought-after market in Canada, if not on the entire continent, for renewable energy investments.
“By 2030, we will see 5,000 megawatts of green electricity generation, about $10 billion in new private investment and the creation of 7,000 jobs,” Mitchell said.
The speech also pledged to strengthen critical women’s health services and reduce the cost of drugs for seniors and protect against an American style health care system.
She said that by investing in health infrastructure, most notably the creation of a new high-tech lab in Edmonton, patient safety will be improved and test result wait times shortened.
Local reaction
The Speech from the Throne was more than a little bit lacking, at least in the opinion of Glenn van Dijken, the United Conservative Party candidate for the new Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock constituency.
“It was more of a campaign speech than a Speech from the Throne,” he said. “The government didn’t address a lot of the issues that matter to Albertans. The need to get people back to work, jobs, the economy … I didn’t hear any of that.”
van Dijken added that the healthcare measures the government is proposing will have little impact on reducing wait times.
“I look at the Speech from the Throne and I see the failure of this government to address some of the critical wait-time issues in the health care system,” he said. “We’ve seen a government that has increased the price we are paying, but we are getting worse outcomes. I want to see us get to the point where we have improved outcomes for less.”
van Dijken added he was not surprised Notley decided to call an election almost immediately after the speech, noting the UCP is glad to have the opportunity to address what it sees as the most-critical issues.
“We need to get pipelines built, jobs to return to Alberta and ideas to grow our economy. I believe this government has been a complete failure. They failed to stand up for Alberta and get us into a position where our voice is heard in the federation,” he said.
van Dijken said a UCP government’s first priority is to attract investment by repealing the carbon tax, lowering corporate tax, and reducing red tape for potential employers.
“I think the real question this election is which party is in the best position to bring investment back and get Alberta working again,” he said.
