Notley talks Alberta’s Future in virtual presentation to SACPA

“The economy had stalled, the province had lost 50,000 jobs and the deficit – the deficit managed by those people who claim to be the best at managing our money, that had doubled. All of this despite and perhaps because of their 4.7-billion-dollar corporate hand-out and then COVID arrived and exacerbated these challenges at the worst possible time.”

Despite challenges facing the province, she said Lethbridge’s economy is more diversified than the rest of Alberta, but work is still needed.

“The people of Lethbridge remain innovative, determined, resilient,” she said, noting the City of Lethbridge’s early response to COVID-19, using the implementation of the temporary mandatory face mask bylaw as an example.

“I want to thank Mayor [Chris] Spearman and all city council for their work to support the people of Lethbridge and in particular, I want to recognize councillor Rob Miyashiro, who spearheaded the Lethbridge Helping Organizations [COVID-19] Response that was internationally recognized by the World Health Organization.”

More details on that here.

She also gave kudos to Economic Development Lethbridge, SouthGrow and the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce for their work in supporting struggling businesses through the Lethbridge Region Economic Development Task Force.

“I really want to thank all those not-for-profit organizations, the volunteer groups, the health care workers, the essential frontline workers, the citizens – who have just done so much to support each other and so many through this past year.”

Notley added that by working together, COVID-19 can be defeated, and economic recovery can be achieved.

“Frankly, while the pandemic and its effects remain are day-to-day reality and our front-of-mind concern, we actually need to start looking past it and plan for what comes next. We need a vision for after the vaccine,” she said.

Notley commented that a sustainable and diversified economy that benefits all Albertans is an “urgent need”.

“I would argue that my government [NDP] made a good start on making many important strategies to promote diversification. On that, I’m thinking of our investments on landmark renewable energy projects and fostering local upgrading and petrochemical refining and supporting new technology and innovation startups with a suite of targeted tax credits,” she said.

“While I’m proud of the progress we made, I know the real fix doesn’t happen overnight,” the former Premier said.

ALBERTA’S FUTURE

Notley said herself and her caucus have an initiative called Alberta’s Future. More information on this can be found here.

“I believe the real answers to our challenges today come from being bold enough to seek tomorrow’s solutions, not recycling yesterday’s playbook,” she stated.

“This means bringing every single Albertan into a conversation where we can chart that future together by creating a shared social and economic strategy, and we also don’t want to do that work in the echo chamber of partisanship.”

She said all Albertans, despite not everyone sharing the same views, have the right to voice their ideas and listen to others in a safe and professional manner, following certain principles.

“What are those principles? Well, first, in my view and that of our caucus – our economic plan must be focused squarely on the economic security of Albertans and that means jobs. Economic development that comes without jobs is not the kind of economic development that we need to be pursuing,” Notley stated.

She said the province needs jobs that “pay the mortgage, sustain families” and “improve the quality of life in our communities”, with those jobs lasting for the long-term.

She explained the second principle as such.

“The strategy that we develop has to benefit and include all Albertans. We cannot have an economic recovery that leaves more and more people left behind, and that means we have to include racialized people, women, people with disabilities and quite frankly, all the working people who did the heavy lifting during the last [economic] boom…all of those people have to be part of the recovery.”

Notley said the third principle involves creating a strategy that makes economic diversification a priority and “rejects any notion that it’s a luxury for another time”.

“We have to build on our existing strengths – yes, but we also have to forge new ones,” she said.

The fourth principle is making sure the public sector is “put at the table” with the private sector as “an active partner”.

“Today, Jason Kenney seems to see the public service as somehow being an impediment to economic success, as if firing more staff will somehow help the economy. It will not,” Notley said.

“The fact is Alberta is but one player in a larger, global, international economy and that means the public sector has an important role to play in marshalling our economic opportunities as strategically as possible.”

Notley explained the fifth and final principle of Albert’s Future as follows.

“We will not engage in a race to the bottom. We will build a path to the top. I will never accept – in fact, I will actively oppose any plan for economic growth that is focused on competing for the lowest and worst conditions for working people and the communities in which they live,” she said.

“That is not a race to the top. It’s the opposite. It’s a race to the bottom and here’s the thing, when you compete for last place, you actually risk achieving just that.”

She said those are just the principles of the Alberta NDP’s path forward. Next comes the specifics, and that’s where Notley’s party needs your help.

“While our team has tested, built and released three proposals or discussion papers so far and trust me, there are many more to come, we’re still building and consulting on ideas and we want to hear from you,” Notley stated.

SOUTHERN ALBERTA

The former Premier went to give some examples of strategies specific to southern Alberta’s economic recovery, with one revolving around the region’s “boom in renewable energy”.

“Two-billion dollars of investment in projects that directly benefit Albertans. We saw the opportunity in our sharp winds and sunny days, which is why our NDP government kick-started the renewable electricity program in 2017,” she said.

“That program brought major renewable energy players from around the world to Alberta’s doorstep and today, they are investing here.”

An example she used was the Travers Solar Project in Vulcan. More details on that here.

“According to Goldman Sachs, global investment in renewable energy is set to surpass oil and gas for the first time ever this year,” Notley said.

“Clean tech and renewable projects will drive trillions in investment and millions of new jobs globally so seeing this opportunity, what did the UCP do? Well, they’ve abandoned it. They’ve canceled any further large-scale competitions and stated the projects supported by my government would be the last. We can’t let this spark burn out just because the UCP is ideologically opposed to using Alberta’s vast wind and solar resources to generate renewable electricity.”

She said a goal of hers is to restore the province’s position as the number one “hotspot destination” in North America for investment in renewable energy, by making southern Alberta the power centre for the province’s “greener grid”.

“We know there are even more opportunities outside wind and solar,” she continued.

“Alberta also has the potential to be at the forefront of another significant renewable energy boom – hydrogen fuel production and export.”

She said the province is in a unique position to use its natural gas feedstock to produce blue hydrogen for fuel to meet future global demands for cleaner energy, which she said is an estimated $100-billion annual industry.

“If done right, Alberta could create thousands of new jobs, draw billions of new investment and spark an energy revolution on the Prairies, not unlike the one envisioned by Peter Lougheed when Alberta unlocked the oil sands over 40 years ago.”

“I’m not just talking about leveraging our abundance of natural gas for the purposes of developing blue hydrogen, a game changer in and of itself. I’m also talking about truly renewable green hydrogen.”

Further details about the Alberta NDP’s policy proposal on hydrogen can be found here.

“Oil and gas will always have a place in Alberta’s economy but in the face of unprecedented restricting and uncertainty, we must diversify,” Notley stated.

“We are energy leaders, it’s in our blood. Alberta can once again be a global energy superpower in all forms of energy.”

She said that it is important, though, to be mindful of how energy development interacts, intersects and impacts critical industries, such as agriculture.

PROVINCIAL SALES TAX

Notley also touched on the subject of a potential Provincial Sales Tax in Alberta.

She was asked if the province should have its own sales tax.

“This is a place where I do agree with the Premier [Jason Kenney] in that right now is not the time [for a provincial sales tax]. Our economy is in the worst shape it has ever, ever been and asking people to, you know, particularly regular Albertans, to pay more right now is not going to help the economy,” Notley said, adding there are other places Alberta needs to go first.

“First of all, we need to reverse the 4.7-billion-dollar corporate hand-out before we start asking, you know, my grandma down the street to pay more when she goes to the grocery store, so that’s one thing. The other thing that we need to be looking at is [that] Jason Kenney has already raised taxes and raised fees and raised costs on Albertans in a not progressive way. So, you’re paying the same whether you make $200,000 a year or $30,000 a year. Your car insurance costs have gone up thirty percent in the last 12 months. That’s a big thing and it costs everybody the same.”

Notley emphasized that the first priority in recovery going forward is to get the economy moving and “firing on all cylinders”, and to ensure there is a proper and fair system of taxation, as well as to “make sure that profitable corporations are paying their fair share”.

“Once those situations are in place, then we’ll look at the overall fiscal situation and consider other options and have conversations at that time.”

Notley’s full presentation to SACPA can be viewed below, courtesy of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs on YouTube.

(Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs on YouTube)

by Justin Goulet

Notley talks Alberta’s Future in virtual presentation to SACPA

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