Ag minister highlights good things growing in Southern Alberta

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on March 4, 2022.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Minister Nate Horner speaks at a Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce event Thursday at the Multicultural Centre.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce invited Alberta’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development Nate Horner to speak about the current state of the province Thursday.
During the Meet the Ministers event at the Multicultural Centre located at 421 6 Avenue S., Minister Horner touched on different areas, from truck driver training, healthcare, agriculture infrastructure and the broadband strategy.
“There’s 190 different potential projects on our department tracker, different companies coming to Alberta proposing different ideas and a lot of those proposals and initiatives are faced right here in the south along Highway 3 where there’s this mass of irrigation and opportunities,” said Horner.
He said he is very excited with what is happening in Lethbridge, with the Highway 3 Twinning project, and the Exhibition Hub which he hopes will be completed by next year.
Horner said his department continues to analyze if Alberta is competitive enough in the agriculture sector compared to Saskatchewan and the northwest states.
“We’re punching above our weight with what we’re able to grow, the types of cash value crops that were able to grow,” said Horner.
He said they will continue to ensure that they are encouraging as much investment as possible in land in the province.
Horner said he is also very excited about the broadband strategy as the need for it was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That’s something that we really saw amplified, the need for it during the pandemic. Whether it was kids trying to learn from at home or any of the other work from home issues we saw, that definitely made it clear how important that is for the province,” said Horner.
Horner also spoke about recruitment of physicians and nurses and how there are some good things in the budget for it.
“The big investment that people saw in Red Deer I want to make sure that conversation is being had about Lethbridge and I assure you it is,” said Horner.
He also touched on truck driver training and said $10 million a year for the next three years through the Driving Back to Work Strategy, under the Minister of Transportation, will go a long way toward alleviating issues.

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