An Economic Vision for Alberta | Alberta’s NDP

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[00:02:43]Good afternoon and thank you so much for being here. I'm Janet Aramco, the MLA for Calgary Curry. Thank you again for coming. Before we begin, I want to acknowledge that we're gathered here on Treaty7 territory and I want to recognize the Matei people who share a deep connection to this land. I am thrilled that we are able to hold this important announcement here in the writing of Calgary Curry. And I want to say a huge thank you to Best of Kin for hosting us and to Cole, one of the owners of Best of Kin for joining us today. Best ofkin is a vibrant and unique spot in our community and the exact type of business we want to see thriving in Calgary and across the province. Which is why I am so pleased that we're having conversations today about how we can grow our economy and support local businesses just like this one. So without any further ado, I will now turn things over to Nahed Neni, leader of the Alberta NDP to talk a little bit about how we're going to do exactly that.

[00:03:47]>> Well, great. Thanks so much, Janet.

[00:03:49]Thank you, Cole. Thank you for having us. I only realized 30 seconds ago that Cole is also the chef. So, if people are waiting for their food, it's my fault.

[00:03:59]Uh I apologize, but it'll be worth the wait.

[00:04:03]You know, today we will likely hear uh a little bit from the premier a little bit later because she has suddenly discovered after months of denying it that Albertans are in fact in a cost of living crisis. Uh we've been pushing her for months to do something about affordability in the cost of living.

[00:04:21]Clearly, they have no plan. They have no strategy. They're just making it up as they go along as they always do with one-time measures. We're thinking about this a little differently. And last week I sat at a kitchen table in the community of Chaparel talking about our affordability agenda, how we're keeping money in people's pockets. But a lot of that works best when we have a plan to grow the economy. And today we're at Best of Kin talking about how we're going to support businesses and how we are going to create long-term economic growth for our province so that we can do more than just get by. so that we can actually build real wealth for future generations. And so today, I'm here to give you a first look at the Alberta New Democrats economic plans for Alberta, focused on three key priorities.

[00:05:12]Creating good jobs now and in the future, restoring responsible government, and ensuring all Albertans can share in our province's economic success.

[00:05:22]So, first, creating good jobs now in the future. jobs-driven economic growth.

[00:05:27]That's about helping Albertans earn more by investing in skills and training, supporting businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses to grow, and making sure that growth leads to better paying jobs. This in this includes attracting jobs and investment through a head office strategy. You know, all my years as mayor, we celebrated the opening of head offices in Alberta. Now we see them leaving Alberta and it's time to get back to make sure those good jobs and that decision- making happens in the province and it means building a more resilient economy focusing not just on energy as the cornerstone of our economy but energy in all its forms conventional unconventional clean green renewable we released our energy policy just about a month ago we encourage Albertans to take a look at that looking at how we're investing in export capacity in pipelines that can be built with a particular preference on a pipeline to the southern coast of British Columbia, but also in natural gas, in renewables, in electricity, and in critical minerals. But we also need to focus on other areas where Alberta has the potential to be a global champion. Those include agra food and agra business, travel and tourism, transportation and logistics, financial services, life sciences, cultural industries, including film and television, and others where we really need to be able to focus in on how we can build Alberta's economy and build great jobs. It was a shock to me to learn that the government of Alberta has no economic development strategy. They just make things up as they go along.

[00:07:14]And when you really push the government on this and say, "Where should we be growing? What industry should we focus in?" At some point, they will say AI data centers. But that's all they got.

[00:07:24]We need to be much more thoughtful and we need to build on the success of the work that I did as mayor of Calgary over 11 years in which even in economic hard times, the city of Calgary grew every single year and we grew jobs every single year. That's the work that we need to continue to do.

[00:07:42]Part of that means we need responsible government. We need government that is frankly good with money. And our current government is terrible with money.

[00:07:52]They've created an unstable policy environment that freezes investment. The biggest example of course of that is separatism where we have seen the Alberta Chambers of Commerce and businesses large and small say that their investment is drying up and their business is drying up because of the instability created by constantly changing government policy and the premier attempting to do anything in her power to save her own political skin instead of focusing on the importance of economic growth here. That also means, of course, being pro-C Canada and being anti-seeparatism, not when it's convenient, but always. It means not pandering to the separatists. It means creating a stable political environment for all businesses to invest and grow in Alberta. It means not flip-flopping on policies daily. And of course, it means government needs to live within its means. And it means a commitment that we will make to balancing the operating budget in the business cycle. Unlike, of course, the current government that has seven times the oil revenue that Rachel Notley had and larger deficits than Rachel Notley ever had. They're bad with money and Albertans deserve a government that is good with money. Finally, this is all about sharing prosperity. It's about ensuring that all Albertans, regardless of whether you're an entrepreneur like Cole or someone struggling to make ends meet or someone who's doing really well, that we all have the opportunity to share in the prosperity of this place. Right now, we have what's called a K-shaped economy where some people are doing very, very well and large large numbers of Albertans are doing worse. 60% of Albertans say they're having trouble making ends meet. Onethird of families here in Calgary, the richest pro city in the richest province in one of the richest jurisdictions in the world, onethird of families here don't have enough to eat every month.

[00:09:42]That is not an economy that works for everyone. And we need to make sure that when Alberta thrives, Albertans thrive as well. And we'll make sure this happens by investing in great public services so that health care and education are always there for you. That also attracts investment and attracts talent to the community by tackling the cost of living crisis.

[00:10:04]We've already announced our affordability agenda, keeping money in your pocket. We can't talk about economic profitability when affordability is still an issue.

[00:10:15]and also replicating the incredible success we've had in Calgary through Enough for All, Calgary's poverty reduction strategy, ensuring that we've got a poverty reduction strategy that works for people who are feeling vulnerable across the entire province.

[00:10:31]And I want to say a note about all of this on small business.

[00:10:36]Small business is the backbone of our economy. It's where we see almost all of our job growth. So, we need to ensure that Alberta goes back to what it was before this government as the very best place in North America to start and grow a business. And we need to be able to do that. There are ways to do that. And we can work on all of those things. So, I encourage Albertans to learn more and find out more. If you're really insomniac, you can hear me talk about this for nearly an hour at the Chamber of Commerce, uh, which I did last week.

[00:11:06]But the key that I want people to understand is that government has a role in building the economy. You have to be laser focused on jobs and on growth. You have to be laser focused on spending within your means and on sharing prosperity with all Albertans. Sadly, this government is a government that doesn't really particularly like governing. They like scoring political points. They don't like rolling up their sleeves and doing the hard work to build the economy now and for the future. and in Alberta's new democratic government will do just that. So, you're sick of hearing me talk. Let's hear from a real entrepreneur. And I would love it to turn it over to Paul. Awesome.

[00:11:43]>> Uh thank you very much, Mr. Nenshi. Um yeah, we're honored to be here. Um we're we're a very small business as as uh Mr. Nenshi mentioned. I am the chef and the owner of this place. Um and uh we are looking forward to economic growth uh in the province of Alberta. Um it's been far too long uh where we haven't seen that and we're we're super uh looking forward to doing that. Um on on another note um one of the other things that we are in coalition about no uh no pun intended but uh water not coal uh so you know our good friend the hurt and Albertton core blund was very much behind this uh and so are we here at best of kin so water not coal um and then on this as far as the small businesses are concerned we do want to grow we do want to see our business grow we do want to see the affordability in Alberta increase so that people have more uh disposable income so they can come to places like this, spend their hard-earned money and uh help us support our staff, help us grow our team uh and grow our brand and and grow our recognition across the province and across the country. U so yeah, we are looking very much forward to that. And the other thing that we're very much looking forward to is a different outlook on the rights of our gay, trans, and LGBTQ community here in Alberta. So, thank you very much.

[00:13:06]>> Thank you, Cole.

[00:13:09]You know, folks like Cole, Cole, not Cole, folks like Cole make the economy work.

[00:13:17]And entrepreneurs like Cole, small business people like Cole, who run their businesses with integrity, incredible values, who treat their staff well, are exactly the kinds of entrepreneurs that we need to be supporting in this place.

[00:13:31]Economic growth sounds abstract, but really what it is about is creating growth that people can feel in their everyday lives, that people feel in higher wages, that people feel an economic security.

[00:13:48]You know, right now we have a world where people who go to work and work hard every single day, take their kids to the grocery store at the end of the week, and are scared about what happens at the till.

[00:13:59]I'm tired of hearing from moms and dads in the community who have stopped buying grapes because they can't afford grapes for their kids. We've created a society where grapes are only for the wealthy.

[00:14:11]It cannot continue. It cannot continue like this. And government has a role to play and that role involves supporting businesses small, medium and large. It involves building our energy sector. It involves building up other sectors in the economy where we have the ability to be global champions.

[00:14:29]It means government setting the example by living within its own means and it means making sure that all prosperity in this province is shared by Albertans and we feel great about it. So yes, our economic plan is for the business community. It has to be. But it is also for all Albertans.

[00:14:48]And what we need is pragmatic government. You know, I think I showed that for 11 years as the mayor of Calgary. building the economy of this place, working with business, but also making Calgary one of the greatest places to live in the world. We had the chance to do that in Alberta. And it starts with a better government. It starts with a government that doesn't distracts us with division and hatred and separatism. It starts with a government that doesn't punch down on vulnerable Albertans. It starts with a government that cares and knows about governing and is willing to roll up its sleeves and do the work. Albertans, you deserve a better government and Alberta's new Democrats are ready to be that better government for you. All right, with that, we're happy to take questions.

[00:15:32]>> All right, we'll start with questions in the room. I'm going to ask you to come to the mic so our folks online can hear and please state name and outlet.

[00:15:38]>> Hi there. Uh Mark Vani, CTV Calgary. Uh just a question regarding Smith's announcement today, affordability. Uh wanted to ask you what you think of it.

[00:15:47]Um they're calling it Danny Dollars. Is it a responsible approach? What what are your thoughts?

[00:15:53]>> Well, I don't know what the announcement will be, though. Uh this government, as always, uh talks to journalists, certain journalists, before they tell the public about anything. So, we assume this is some sort of rebate. Uh maybe it has something to do with the gas tax. Here's the thing. The price of gas went up four months ago, and the government would have had the chance at that point to give people gas tax relief. They chose not to. In fact, over and over again in the legislature, the premier said, "There is no affordability crisis.

[00:16:24]Alberta is booming. People are great.

[00:16:26]And what's a few bucks on a tank of gas?"

[00:16:30]Now, suddenly we've released our affordability agenda and all of a sudden the province is an affordability crisis and they've created some program on the back of an envelope. At the very last second, they've cobbled it through.

[00:16:41]Undoubtedly, we'll be paying a lot of consultants and a lot of administration to give Albertans a few dollars back.

[00:16:47]And I'm not begrudging giving Albertans a few dollars back. We've been calling that for that for months. But these one-off things are not solving the affordability crisis of Alberta. And the premier needs to understand that people are facing tough times. That the world she lives in, a world where she gets a larger housing allowance than people on age get to get through the entire month, is not the world most Albertans are living in. And I look forward to this government coming up with a serious cost of living plan. But they won't. Every single thing they've done since they've been in government has increased Albertans's cost of living. The only thing they've done to reduce costed give people what I call the bag of chips tax rebate. A tiny little tax cut that most people haven't felt at all. When they have the chance to give Albertans real relief, they resist it because they'd rather have the money to cover their monstrous deficits.

[00:17:38]Smarter, better government will lead to a better cost of living for people. And it's not just oneoff stunts uh or Danny dollars that will do it.

[00:17:51]>> Just just a quick follow up on that. Do you think that money should be spent to repay debt instead of providing it just directly to uh to to Albertans? Yeah.

[00:18:00]>> Well, you know, we have called for the government to actually follow its legislation, which is to reduce the gas tax when oil prices are high. The idea there being that the government's getting a giant windfall, so they should share some of that windfall with regular people. I totally believe that. The issue here, however, is the government also has left the budget in shambles.

[00:18:20]They've got a massive deficit that they're only covering because their allies in the Trump administration have engaged in a war and killed little kids uh in the Middle East. And we've received some money through no success of our own or no hard work of our own.

[00:18:35]All of that said, we got to fix the budget as well as reducing people's cost of living. Ultimately, when we run huge budget deficits, that leads to higher taxes in the future with interest. So, I think we can do it all. Uh, but it's going to require a smart government that's isn't just interested in scoring political points, but a government that is actually thoughtful and strategic, which we've seen no evidence of with this government. Right.

[00:18:59]>> We're going to move to Zoom for our next question. Lisa Johnson, Canadian Press.

[00:19:03]Lisa, your line should be open.

[00:19:07]Um, hello. Can you hear me? All right.

[00:19:14]>> Sorry, Lisa. Oh, there you are. Hi, Lisa. We can hear you now.

[00:19:17]>> Okay, great. Um, I'm wondering like I mean when Ralph Klein did uh >> something similar to what I think we're expecting um from Smith today, >> a lot of uh her opponents criticized her for for it being a gimmick. uh handing out $400 checks or whatever. But I mean, what is Can you Can you give me like a practical reason why that is bad fiscal management?

[00:19:43]>> Well, remember when Ralph Klein did it, the government was not only running a surplus, but had no net debt. And so his argument at the time was, listen, we've got money. Why should we be hoarding it in the government? We're not in the same situation right now. This government has put our budget in absolute shambles. And yeah, it does feel like a gimmick. Now that said, anything that puts money in people's pockets, I'm not going to criticize. But at the end of the day, you know, this has to be part of a broader strategy. Economists will tell you this kind of money, if it's not part of a bigger strategy, can be inflationary. It can lead to, ironically, higher cost of living. And I just hope that the government has done the math, has done the thinking uh about how they want to do this, and they've got the amounts in a way that'll be meaningful to people >> while not wrecking the economy. The odds of the government having done that since they invented this 24 hours ago are very low.

[00:20:39]>> Do you have a followup, Lisa?

[00:20:42]>> Um, yeah, actually, no, I'm good.

[00:20:44]Thanks.

[00:20:45]>> Awesome. Our next question, will Vassor Western Standard Will your line should be open?

[00:20:52]Hi, thanks thanks for taking my question. Um, I'll start uh with the on topic one first. Um, I'm just curious on the on the money front. Uh, the key to erasing Alberta's $9.4 billion deficit where um is that all about generating $9.4 billion in e economic growth or where do the cuts have to come from or the fiscal management in order to help mitigate that?

[00:21:18]>> Terrific question. So, you know, I managed to pass 11 straight balance budgets at the city of Calgary with the lowest residential property taxes in the country. So, when you're deaf about it, when you're smart about it, you can get these things done. The number one thing is to focus on economic growth. We have to do that. Uh, and that what this government's been particularly bad at.

[00:21:39]Unemployment, of course, is up by an entire point since Danielle Smith became the premier. So, focusing on the economic growth is a critical part that helps us on the revenue side.

[00:21:49]This government also, and I know every opposition says this, but in this case, this government is characterized by untold amounts of waste, fraud, corruption, and abuse. We got to get rid of it all. I'll give you an example.

[00:22:04]We've replaced AHS with 13 new healthcare agencies. The government refuses to say how much more is being spent in management and administration in AHS. We've seen consultant reports that estimate that it will be up to 10 times as much in management and administration as in the old health care system. The government won't rebut that because they can't. They've increased in they've created incredible red tape and incredible bureaucracy. Nearly a billion dollars in contracts going to Sam Mar and the government's friends to lead to lower outcomes, worse outcomes for surgeries. So getting rid of the ideology, the waste, the fraud, the corruption, and the abuse is a really important part of the work that we have to do as well. Will that balance the budget? Probably not. Will it help us focus our spending on things that make a difference to Albertans? Absolutely, it will. And then finally, we need to be thoughtful on our budgeting processes.

[00:22:57]At the city of Calgary, I used a process called zerobased budgeting where we look through every single uh business unit.

[00:23:04]Saved about half a billion dollars in total for the city of Calgary. and strong fiscal management from a government that actually cares about such things can make a big difference as well.

[00:23:13]>> Do you have a follow-up, Will?

[00:23:16]>> Yeah. Um the on Saturday the premier on our radio show was talking about the Corblund petition and really threw some uh some gray area over whether or not the petition will be able to make it to the October referendum in time because it has to go through a uh committee, a c a legislative committee. Um, and so my question on that would be, uh, your party, what is your guys's openness to trying to find a way to get that question onto the October referendum?

[00:23:46]>> The pre the premier's hypocrisy on this is extraordinary.

[00:23:50]When it comes to her separatist friends, she just says, "You just have to tell me you got the signatures, and never mind that there was a court case that says it's unconstitutional. I'm going to do it for you. It's fine. I'll just do it in a televised address to the province that costs millions of dollars."

[00:24:05]But when it comes to something she disagrees with where she knows she's going to lose the referendum, she suddenly says, "Oh, there's process.

[00:24:13]You ticked off a box that doesn't automatically give you a referendum." By the way, it's the same box that Thomas Lucas ticked off that suddenly automatically required a referendum.

[00:24:22]Albertans are so much smarter than the premier gives us credit for. Give Corb Lond and the 200,000 people who signed that petition their referendum. You wrote the law. abide by the law even when it's inconvenient. And the New Democrat position on that referendum has always been clear. There are plenty of places in the world with metallurgical coal. There is only one eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Let's say no to coal mining on the eastern slopes. Let's preserve our watershed. Let's preserve the economy of southern Alberta, the farming economy of southern Alberta, and let's say no to coal mining. And if the premier doesn't have the guts to do it, doesn't have the courage to do it, would rather pay hundreds of millions of dollars to Australianowned bill Australian billionaire owned coal companies than let the people decide in the referendum. You believe in direct democracy, you always tell us you do.

[00:25:09]Let's have the referendum.

[00:25:11]>> Right. Our next question goes to Katherine Gowski, all Alberta.

[00:25:15]Katherine, your line should be open.

[00:25:18]>> Yeah, thanks very much. Um so for the jobsdriven uh economic growth we see increasing automation, we see increase in energy prices that is not necessarily translating into capital expenditures.

[00:25:34]Correct.

[00:25:34]>> So can you provide some more details on how you plan to ensure that economic growth is coupled with jobs growth?

[00:25:43]Yeah, that's really the critical piece here is that people have to be able to see the benefits of economic growth in their everyday lives, which means we have to think about economic growth slightly differently than we have in the past. So, you know, we have record amounts of oil production right now from the oil sands. But the jobs haven't returned since 2015. There have been next to zero new home starts in Fort McMurray over the last three years despite record levels of oil production.

[00:26:10]And that's because of automation. It's because of AI. It's because the oil companies have figured out ways to reduce their cost per barrel. So what we need to do is ensure that the kind of economic growth we're focused on is growth that creates jobs. That's why in addition to energy, there's a number of industries that we look at that are futurep proofed. We have to look at going up the value chain in industry in energy and in other in other industries.

[00:26:35]So a good example of this is aggra food and aggra business. We sit on some of the most fertile soil in the world. We have some of the best knowledge of agriculture in the world and there's 8 billion hungry mouths to feed across the world. But this government does pays lip service to agriculture at best and is antagonistic to agriculture at worst, wanting to build AI data centers, for example, on prime agricultural land. So we have to be more thoughtful and much more strategic in the work that we're doing. Similarly, we have brilliant brains here in healthcare and in life sciences, but we're not great at commercializing that work. So again, as mayor of Calgary, we set up the Opportunity Calgary investment fund, and one of the first things we did was create a hub for life sciences commercialization in aerospace and defense. The world is spending a lot more on defense now. We've got a great aerospace hub here. We have the opportunity to commercialize that work.

[00:27:30]And this is where government can be really helpful to business. We can of course remove red tape. We need to do that. We can help move up the value chain. We can invest in the right kinds of skills and training. And we can prioritize government investments on job creating growth. And those are all things we've done to great success in the past in Alberta. We've done them to great success in Calgary when I was mayor. And we can do that provincewide.

[00:27:55]Do >> you have a followup, Katherine?

[00:27:56]>> Oh, I should have mentioned Katherine one other thing which is I think I mentioned it earlier which is the head office strategy. you know, we have lost our ability to really aim for those highlevel decision-making jobs in Alberta. You know, when I the one of the very last things I did before the pandemic, before I left being mayor, was work with and convince three of India's five largest IT firms to set up their Canadian and in some cases North American head offices here in Calgary.

[00:28:25]And that's the kind of work we need to get back to. when Imperial Oil is basically moving its head office to Houston, it's clear that government policy is not doing what we need here.

[00:28:36]>> Uh yeah, so followup um unrelated related to the anticipated upcoming announcement, I believe the Alberta Federation of Labor had mentioned they wanted to see perhaps a windfall tax. So when that there are these huge profits um for example when oil prices spike that some of that profit goes back to um public coffers. I'm wondering whether your party has a stance on those type of windfall taxes.

[00:29:07]>> I mean look we'll have a lot more to say on tax policy in the weeks and months to come uh because we do need to modernize our tax policy. That said, let's focus on what's happening right now, which is that we have windfalls to the federal and provincial governments uh because of the war in Iran, because of Donald Trump's war, and the government has no idea what to do with that. They're just using it to cover up their debt instead of figuring out how to invest for the future. Uh and that's the second part of our of our policy today is responsible government that spends money better. And I think that helps us answer a lot of the questions that we're raising around where is the revenue come from and what do we do with it when it comes.

[00:29:52]>> All right, our next Nate Pike at the breakdown. Nate, >> oh my gosh, what a treat, Nate. We never hear you at any of these.

[00:30:00]>> Nate, your line should be open.

[00:30:02]>> Hi there. Thank you so much for taking my question. I hope you can hear me.

[00:30:04]Okay.

[00:30:04]>> Yeah, we can hear you.

[00:30:05]>> Perfect. Uh, I thought both of these questions were going to be off topic, but between you and Cole, it teed me up quite nicely. So for my first question, Daniel Smith has said that she'll be following the process under the citizen initiative act for the water not cold petition that could potentially push the actual referendum back at least four years uh down the road. Do you believe that the premier should issue the water not cold question as written uh as written by Corb Blunt under the referendum act as she has with her nine other questions to ensure that it's included in the October referendum if the signatures are verified? Look, she h What? What? Verifying signatures. We do that. I thought you just had to say you had the signatures and the premier would agree with you. Oh, no. Only if she owes you something. So, yes, of course she should. She has the powers today to make this happen. Unlike Thomas Lucas, Corb Blond was clear from the day one that he wanted a referendum. So, she's forcing a referendum and blaming it on Lucas who said on day one he didn't want a referendum. And for Cororb who said he wanted a referendum on day one, the premier is pretending that this is not the case. She has the power to issue this today. If she wants to wait till July 1st to see when the signatures get ratified, she can issue it on July 1st.

[00:31:19]Her own legislation gives her the power.

[00:31:21]She did it for her separatist friends.

[00:31:23]She should do it for the Albertans who want to protect our watershed. Do >> you have a follow-up, Nate?

[00:31:29]>> Yeah, on a different topic entirely. Uh given the new article from the Globe and Mail last night that revealed that AHS or Alberta Health Services has been served production orders in association with the ongoing investigations into the procurement scandal or as you folks like to call it Cupcare and given that the issuance of those orders strongly suggests a high suspicion of criminality, do you believe that the premier should be transparent with Albertans as to whether or not any other government agencies, ministries or employees have also been served with production orders? That is a very carefully worded question. Uh I will give you a less carefully worded answer.

[00:32:05]The only kind of government who hides as much as this government has hidden on the corrupt care scandal is a government with something to hide. Simple as that.

[00:32:15]We should have had a public inquiry into this two years ago.

[00:32:19]The government has steadfastly refused to shed any light on this. And every single time there's a revelation, the premier says she didn't know. She didn't know that the Minister of Justice is Sam Mish's cousin.

[00:32:32]She didn't know that her ministers were going to hockey games with Sam Mar. She didn't know that AHS told her not to sign the Turkish Tylenol deal.

[00:32:44]And she blames everything on AHS. And every time she does that, she tells on herself because she doesn't know that as premier she runs AHS.

[00:32:54]And by the way, she did know enough to meet with Chachendra Prasad when she was running for the leadership who was in charge of procurement at AHS.

[00:33:02]Why would you meet with someone so low down in the civil service when you're running for the leadership unless you're up to something? So, absolutely, we still need a public inquiry on corrupt care. We need to clear the air on this and just saying the RCMP is investigating and not telling us who or what they're investigating or what's been turned over. um and relying on Justice Wein's report where Justice Weine says on the first page of his report that he didn't have the mandate or the ability to actually make any judgments on whether the government had any wrongdoing. We can't do it anymore.

[00:33:36]Albertans deserve to know the truth. The premier needs to come clean and she won't. And if because she won't, Albertans would be forgiven for thinking she's got something to hide.

[00:33:45]>> All right, our next question is from Michelle Belfontaine, CBC. Michelle, your line should be open.

[00:33:54]Michelle, I think you're still muted.

[00:34:00]>> Hi, can you hear me now?

[00:34:01]>> Hi, Michelle. Yes, >> thank you. Um, this is an off-topic question uh again about the premier's expected announcement this afternoon and I'm wondering um from your perspective I mean should the government provide these Alberta energy rebate payments to help people with affordability which is something that people have been asking for after a windfall from high oil prices or should they instead put the money towards health education social problems you know for example people who are currently on age who may be transferring to ADAP and of course there's a lot of u a lot of uh what's the word fear about that that transfer transfer.

[00:34:39]>> Well, listen, the answer is why not both? When you receive the kind of windfalls that this government has received, if you had good fiscal management in the first place, you could do a combination of a bunch of things.

[00:34:51]The problem is the premier and the former finance minister were very clear this entire spring. I must have asked them a hundred times if they were going to provide a gas tax rebate. And in a rare moment of clarity, they basically said, "We need the money more than Albertans do. We've got a giant deficit we've got to cover." If we hadn't had such bad fiscal management in the first place, then we wouldn't be in this situation. And yes, it's true. People living on Asia are terrified that they're going to starve to death, that they're going to get kicked out of their homes as a result of these cuts. And these cuts are a rounding error in the Alberta budget. the cuts, the chaos, the corruption, and particularly the cruelty that this government runs with is very clear. So, yeah, they've got a huge windfall. Of course, we want to share that with Albertans in an effective and efficient way that puts money into people's pockets. But if we didn't have such a terrible fiscally managed government in the first place, if we didn't have a government that was so bad with money, we wouldn't have to ask these questions.

[00:35:51]>> Do you have a follow-up, Michelle?

[00:35:53]>> Yeah, I do. And of course, we're all relying on the same news story uh that was published last night uh for the information about this. So I I'm just going to ask this to you. It appears at least from the story that we have all read. Um that this this will be I guess it's not income tested, but there will be an income off. So somebody who makes a lot of money won't qualify for these payments. Does does this make the payments a little better in your mind?

[00:36:18]Like I mean I I remember with the Ralph Bucks, I'm sure that I think everybody got it.

[00:36:22]>> Everybody got them. every child as well.

[00:36:24]So, I mean, I'll I'll reiterate what I said earlier is remember in the case of Ralph Klene, this was a dividend payment to Albertans. The debt had been cleared.

[00:36:34]There was no deficit. The government was in surplus. We're in a very different situation right now. This is a desperate bid by a premier whose polls are crashing, who's losing the faith with Albertans on the separation issue to change the channel. This is clearly a program that they wrote on the back of an envelope. They probably worked on it for about 24 hours. Surprisingly, it came out right after we put out our thoughtful and planned out affordability strategy for Albertans and it comes after four months of the premier saying that Albertans are not facing an affordability crisis and everything is fine. So, they made it up on the back of an envelope. They probably hired consultants to help them with it. They have no idea how they're going to distribute this money. The administration cost will probably cost almost as much as the rebate. And we haven't heard how much the rebate will be. This is not a great way to create public policy. Um, and yes, absolutely Albertans need a break. Yes, Albertans need more money in their pockets, but a hastily crafted policy by a government that spent the last year saying there's no crisis. Doesn't fill me with confidence that it's going to work well.

[00:37:39]Right, >> we're going to do a final pass for questions in the room. All right, with that, that concludes our press conference. Thanks, folks.

[00:37:46]>> Thank you.

[00:37:48]Heat. Heat.

[00:38:23]Heat. Heat.