Maintaining strong relationships with U.S. important
By Lethbridge Herald on September 10, 2022.
AT THE LEGISLATURE
Nathan Neudorf – UCP MLA for Lethbridge East
This summer has been a busy one! I was delighted to attend this year’s Canada Day festivities where we gave out over a thousand bags of popcorn, and handed out several buckets of candy at the Whoop-Up Days parade! It has been great to see people getting out and enjoying all kinds of summer activities once again, enjoying BBQs, pancake breakfasts and ball games. On top of all these fun events, I enjoyed one of my busiest summers ever as one of Alberta’s representatives to the Council of State Governments.
The CSG is the United States’ largest nonpartisan organization serving all three branches of state government. It was founded in 1933 and is a region-based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state and provincial officials shape public policy. Alberta is an associate member of CSG West, CSG MidWest and CSG National and I have represented Alberta at all three conferences and, most recently, attended the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (BILLD) in Madison, Wisconsin.
The importance of these meetings, conferences and training sessions is significant. The United States as a whole and each state individually are Alberta’s and Canada’s largest trading partner(s) representing over $113 billion US of trade each year for Alberta alone.
It will come as no surprise that energy and agriculture lead Alberta’s categories of largest trade, but did you realize that petrochemicals, manufacturing, and lumber are also high on the list? It also bears mentioning that all of these goods require a large and essential workforce in the railway, trucking and pipeline sectors and all their supportive industries.
Maintaining strong sub-national relationships with States like Michigan, Alaska, California, North and South Dakota, and Illinois just to mention a few is a matter of great importance. To be able to represent the work that Alberta has done on environmental protection and red tape reduction as well as opening trade offices in Denver, Seattle and Chicago to help secure better trade and trade policy in the future.
One major industry stakeholder in Alberta that sees the benefits of this relationship building directly is CP Rail. They ship products all over Canada and the United States and have just acquired Kansas City Southern railway to increase trade routes to the Gulf of Mexico. Making sure that governing bodies across all those states and provinces cooperate, coordinate and communicate benefits all of us.
Spending time with legislators from across the U.S. and Canada also increases my understanding of issues and solutions from a wide variety of perspectives. I can discuss and learn about best practices and initiatives from Democrats, Republicans, Liberals and Conservatives – and bring those ideas back to Alberta to help inform our policy development. Spending time with MLAs from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, MPP’s from Ontario and MNA’s from Quebec also increases our ability to build a stronger Canada.
Last but certainly not least, the training I received at BILLD is an intensely competitive application process and highly regarded course that develops legislators in a one-week program. Teaching communication skills, negotiation, civil discourse, and subnational trade helps all our elected representatives hone our skills and be better legislators. To be one of only two Alberta representatives to have completed this training in the past decade is an honour and a privilege. To be able to share how great Alberta and Canada are on this larger stage is amazing. We have a great story to tell and should all be proud of the freedoms and beauty we enjoy. Thank you, Alberta, for the true north strong and free!
10-9
…and this comes from you, Neudorf, a supporter of Danielle Smith and her fruity ideas….sorry, no credibility here…..birds of a feather.
“Environmental protection”? You mean like revoking the 1976 coal policy without any public consultation. Oh, and then reinstating the policy, but only after Albertans were naturally outraged following disclosure.
Sure Nathan.