Premier outlines vision for economy at chamber talk
By Lethbridge Herald on April 17, 2023.
Premier Danielle Smith speaks during a luncheon hosted by the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce Monday at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge.
Herald photo by Ian MartensAlejandra Pulido-Guzman – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – apulido@lethbridgeherald.com
The Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce hosted a lunch with Premier Danielle Smith Monday where she outlined her government’s vision for a strong and prosperous economy in Alberta, and the role the business community plays in Alberta’s future.
During the introductory speech, CEO of the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce, Cyndi Bester said she was excited to see Finance Minister Travis Toews during the Budget 2023 announcement, referencing the incredible work that Southland Trailer has done by doubling its production and creating 250 new jobs here.
“I appreciate the fact that the government recognizes that it does not create wealth, but rather creates conditions favourable for investment attraction and wealth creation,” said Bester.
Premier Smith said she hopes that shows the importance the UCP places in the mid-size cities which are really coming into their own. She said those cities have formed their own council where 23 mayors collectively work together to make sure their priorities are on the table.
“I think a lot of policymaking might have been done through a binary look at rural versus urban – urban being Calgary and Edmonton – but when you look at the incredible amounts of growth and attraction that we’re seeing into our mid-sized communities and the fact they’re becoming such an important hub that supports the rural municipalities around it, just know that we have a very strong desire to make sure that continues,” said Smith.
She recognized Mayor Blaine Hyggen was in the audience and said “I wonder if he wants to come up and give a rebuttal because, boy he’s been given us a little bit of a rough ride about things we might have missed.”
Smith talked about the importance of the type of work Chambers of Commerce do across the province, as well as the ideas and policies they generate.
“Your advice makes sure that decisions we make do what they’re meant to do. Sometimes policy, sometimes we get it wrong, and we rely on you to tell us how to make it right and our government is always listening to you. We believe the government’s role to create a positive and supportive environment for economic growth and you can do it we do best which is creating jobs and opportunities so that people can support their families and pay the mortgages and buy groceries,” said Smith.
She then spoke about how her government has lower taxes, took away the fuel tax, and how budget 2023 built on the foundation of job creation, economic growth, diversification and investment attraction.
“We’re sending this loud message to the rest of the country, and the world that Alberta is open for business, we have opportunities, we have well-paying jobs, we have targeted support for strategic and emerging sectors,” said Smith.
She said the government was able to do this by balancing the budget. She said the province has a surplus, and is paying down debt.
During the question-and-answer session a local family doctor who sub-specializes in care of low-risk obstetrics, Dr. Sharon Rowan, told Smith that even though she applauds her commitment to maintaining healthcare services and funding and increases in cardiology services locally, her team is in crisis.
“Lethbridge delivers 2,200 plus babies a year, that is equivalent to South Health Campus in Calgary and we have one obstetrician locally. AHS instituted a prenatal clinic at the hospital to help us with the crisis with a timeline of one year. This crisis is not going away in a year’s time and there’s reluctancy to support it and further nurture it and allow it to grow to provide sustainable ongoing care for pregnant patients in Lethbridge,” said Rowan.
She said there is no support for the area’s obstetrical care crisis, and those in the trenches are getting tired.
“My question to you is, why is maintaining a high level of care for our senior population who belongs to country clubs and provides donor support, more important than providing care to pregnant patients and newborns in a state and sustainable manner,” said Rowan.
Smith asked her to stay at the microphone so she could answer her question and get input from the doctor’s answer.
“The problem, and I saw this last time I was in politics, is that I would go to a rural hospital and the first thing they would say is ‘we used to deliver babies here and we don’t anymore because we lost our anesthesiologist’ and when you lose your anesthesiologist you’re not able to perform emergency cesareans in the event mom gets into trouble and as a result we are stripping all the obstetrics out of our rural hospitals.
“It seems to me there’s gotta be a better way of identifying at-risk moms and then maybe having them go to a major hospital, but we have midwives who are able to have home births and if you can have midwives doing home births, surely we would be able to support more maternity in all of our rural hospitals and so it seems to me it hinges on not having enough anesthesiologists and I welcome your input on what we ought to do,” said Smith.
Dr. Rowan said that is not the case for Chinook Regional Hospital.
“We are a regional referral centre so we are the referral centre for the entire western side in southern Alberta, so everybody from Claresholm and south,” said Rowan.
She said the problem was a recruitment and retention issue and they needed a commitment from all levels of government to fix the situation.
Reporters were not given opportunity to ask questions of Smith.
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Perhaps, also, the Premier isn’t comfortable taking questions on how ‘Take Back Alberta,’ the far right fringe group, is infiltrating and taking over the UCP Party from within.
The impact of this group wielding this power would be “an assault on public education and weaken public health measures.” Their statements also include “replacing the RCMP with a provincial police force, replacing Revenue Canada with an Alberta tax collection agency and pulling out of the Canada Pension Plan and replacing it with an Alberta pension plan, and a possible referendum on Alberta’s separation from Canada.”
Now, because of this, even many former ‘conservative’ voters will vote for the AB NDP for the first time on May 29th, and good on them.