Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Innovation Doug Schweitzer. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

“Just watch how fast this government is going to move,” says Schweitzer on unemployment

Sep 4, 2020 | 12:36 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Alberta’s new Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Innovation is feeling optimistic about the future of the province’s job situation.

Doug Schweitzer is responding to the latest unemployment figures from Stats Canada that were released Friday morning.

READ MORE: Unemployment rate at 8.6 percent in August for Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region

The jobless rate for Alberta in August was 11.8 per cent with the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region leading the province with 8.6 per cent unemployment.

Schweitzer says the provincial government still has “a lot of work to do” to see the economy fully rebound.

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“A big part of what we’re working on for this fall is developing our sector strategies from agriculture to technology and innovation areas, to labour and training. We’re just making sure we have the right skill sets, the right environments, the right policies here in Alberta, backed by infrastructure investments as well to make sure that we have the right structure here in Alberta to make sure our businesses can flourish.”

He believes one of the biggest strengths Southern Alberta has is its diversified economy that relies on agriculture, natural resources, healthcare, and post-secondary education, among others.

Diversification is one thing Schweitzer wants to focus on for the rest of the province.

Perhaps one of the starkest numbers to come out of this month’s unemployment report is for younger Albertans.

Among the 15-24 age demographic, 27 per cent were out of work. To clarify, a person is only counted as being unemployed if they are able to work and are actively looking for a job.

“I’m 41 years old and you have young people looking at me and saying – your generation had it easier, your generation had opportunities. What about our generation? How are you going to make sure we have those same opportunities? We want to stay here, this is our home. How do we make sure we have opportunities here in Alberta?”

For the minister, he says this drives home the importance of having a solid recovery plan that is rolled out sooner rather than later.

Schweitzer and his team have been working closely with the ministers of labour and advanced education to come up with strategies that are targeted at the younger demographic and getting them, not only jobs for right now, but experiences that will allow them to have successful long-term careers.

“Just watch how fast this government is going to move. The one thing we are willing to do is move faster than any other government in the country and we’re going to make sure Alberta is set up for success in the long-term.”