Support for low-income families, creating jobs and diversifying the economy were centerpieces of the NDP government’s speech from the throne last week.
The speech, read by Alberta’s Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell, outlined the provincial government’s plan to build a greener, more diverse economy and to make it through the current low oil prices.
Premier Rachel Notley said the focus is on supporting each other and not by making a bad situation worse.
“It makes sense that we continue to meet Albertans needs for key services like health care and education, while taking action to create jobs and to grow and to diversify our economy,” she said during a March 8 press conference.
Notley said it’s important for the government to support families and act as a shock absorber to soften the blow of the poor economy.
“We have people losing their jobs each and every day, we have families that are struggling and we have important services that we in the government need to continue to deliver,” she said.
The speech announced the $340 million Alberta Child Benefit Plan for low-income families, adding 380,000 children will benefit from the initiative. As an example, the speech states a low-income single parent can receive $3,000 a year in benefits from changes to the Alberta Child Benefit and the Family Employment Tax Credit.
The Province will expand access to workforce and skills training and will make more financial resources available for businesses and job creators, including $1.5 billion for the Alberta Treasury Branches and directing Alberta Investment Management Corporation to set aside $500,000 for Alberta companies with growth potential.
The Province will put $34 billion towards capital projects such as roads, schools, and transit to keep up with infrastructure needs and support the economy.
Notley said investing in capital projects will support the economy.
“This investment will provide communities with the facilities they need while helping to keep thousands of Albertans working and supporting their families and retaining the trades people, equipment operators, engineers and other professionals we need as our economy returns to grow,” she said.
The speech outlined the Province’s commitment to its climate plan and carbon tax, including phasing out coal power generation, creating a carbon levy and investing it into renewable energy, transit and other ways to lower Alberta’s carbon footprint. Notley said more details will be laid out in the upcoming provincial budget.
She countered criticism of the Province’s climate plan saying the it will help Alberta in its goal of getting new pipelines built and diversifying its markets for oil.
Highwood MLA Wayne Anderson said there weren’t enough details and the throne speech was all about raising taxes with carbon tax.
“It’s a tax to prosperity kind of attitude and they hide it under the guise of nice little programs that were announced previously,” he said.
He said the NDP’s job creation programs haven’t been successful. He said a program touted to create 27,000 jobs has failed and predicted the proposed Bill 1, the NDP’s latest job creation plan, will also fail.
“They created zero, so they’re closing that down and now they’re opening it up under a different can of worms,” he said.
Anderson said the speech also didn’t address the province’s $10 billion deficit.
“You refuse to admit you’re now going to be at a well over $10 billion deficit,” he said. “We told you last year it was going to be a $10 billion deficit, you (the NDP) told us that was an untruth. Now you’re telling us it’s going to be a $10 billion deficit, but they won’t say that number.”
Anderson said families facing tough times need to make tough decisions and the NDP isn’t willing to do so itself.
He said the government needs to find ways to improve efficiencies and reduce spending.
“We’re not saying be radical, but if you can save two cents on a dollar, there’s a couple billion dollars right there,” he said.
Liberal leader David Swann said the speech covers a wide range of topics, but it’s lacking in details.
“I think there’s an interesting mix of priorities most Albertans share, but the devil’s in the details,” he said.
Swann said the potential $10 billion deficit is concerning.
He said his party has no problem with spending on capital priorities, such as schools, a Calgary Cancer Centre and flood mitigation, but added it’s not sustainable to borrow to cover operating costs. He said the government should be looking to make services more efficient or collaborative to reduce costs, or finding new sources of revenue.
With the price of oil still below $40 per barrel, Swann said new revenue sources and taxes need to be part of the solution.
“We need to be discussing other sources of revenue, including the PST that is so difficult for governments to discuss,” he said.
