Finance Minister and President of the Treasury Board Nate Horner spoke at the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce's Post Budget Luncheon. (Photo: LNN)

By Christian Oldale

Horner, Neudorf speak on Budget 2024 initiatives in Lethbridge

Mar 6, 2024 | 12:19 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Finance Minister and President of the Treasury Board Nate Horner was in Lethbridge on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.

Horner was the featured speaker at the Post Budget Luncheon put on by the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce. At the luncheon, Horner took to the podium to speak about Budget 2024, and some of the initiatives that will affect Lethbridge and southern Alberta.

Horner explained, “If you want to talk about some of the big spending pieces in Lethbridge, I would point to the Medical Teaching School at the University, the continuation of the Highway 3 twinning project, and some new spending within agriculture and irrigation.”

Among the first items that Horner spoke on was the Medical Teaching School, which is receiving $43 million from the provincial budget. The project will transform existing space in the U of L’s Community Centre for Wellness into a teaching facility for medical students.

READ MORE: U of L receives $43 million to create Rural Medical Teaching School

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Horner said the goal of the project is not just to train new doctors that the province needs, but to help keep them local.

“Usually 70 per cent [of doctors] stay in the community they are trained in, so we’re pretty excited about that.”

Minister of Affordability and Utilities, and Lethbridge-East MLA, Nathan Neudorf also joined Horner to speak at the event, and spoke about how else the Medical Teaching School will help other projects move forward in Lethbridge and southern Alberta.

Neudorf said, “The professional increase, it ties in nicely to things in the budget, like the Cath lab, that are continuing to succeed.”

For the Highway 3 twinning project, Horner emphasized how the project will help the area, and bring business to southern Alberta. He said, “We know that it is really going to tie this region together, and you see the investment in McCain Foods, to Cavendish, all of the other investments and potential investments that will come to the area.”

Horner spoke on drought prevention in the Budget, and highlighted an item from Minister Schulz, which Horner described as a reimagining of the Alberta Community Resilience Program, which was a multi-year grant program supporting the development of long-term resilience to flood and drought events.

READ MORE: Alberta proposes $125 million for new Drought and Flood Protection Program

Horner said, “There’s $75 million in funding that a lot of those projects would fit, whether that is floods or drought, they would be able to pull from that funding.”

The full 2024 Alberta Budget is available to view at the provincial government website.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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