Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the government and municipalities will be prepared for any challenge when they partner together. In partnering with and between municipalities, Smith said it is the only way to accomplish tasks. “And we understand that, so close co-operation is never going to stop,” said Smith in a Thursday speech at the Alberta Municipalities Convention and Trade Show. “After all, maintaining the Alberta Advantage takes a lot of finetuning, attention to detail, listening to opinions and concerns of residents in every corner of the province.” However, she said it does pay off. She added Canada’s most competitive tax regime and reductions in red tape translate into Alberta having the highest per capita investment. At the moment, she pointed out Alberta businesses are creating more jobs than those in other provinces. She said there are hundreds of projects in development, representing a total value of $150 billion. Alberta saw major spending in the natural gas value chain, carbon capture utilization storage, and agrifood in the second quarter of 2024. The Alberta government has backed up these business successes by balancing the budget for the third year in a row, paying down debt, and growing its savings. Because of Alberta’s positive qualities, she said people are relocating to it from other provinces and around the world. Its population rose by almost 50,000 people in the first quarter of 2024 and an all-time high of 200,000 in 2023. She said this population increase has increased its personal income tax revenue by $458 million. From this growth, she said there are challenges. One area she said is being strained from this growth is kindergarten to Grade 12 education. Budget 2024 allocated $2.1 billion over three years for new school construction and modernizations to add about 35,000 student spaces. While the Alberta government suspected this amount was fine, she said she realized she had to do more. That is why she announced the School Construction Accelerator Program last week to create 200,000 student spaces in the next seven years. She asked municipalities to work with school boards to get sites permitted and ready. If municipalities can prepare the sites, she said the Alberta government will provide the funding. Until 2021, interest rates on loans for municipalities were based on the Alberta government’s cost of borrowing. While that changed, she said it will be going back to this policy in 2025. That means it will be decreasing the cost of borrowing for municipalities by up to 0.5%. She said it is making this change because it has balanced the budget and paid down debt. By lowering the interest rate, she predicted it will save them $7.2 million in 2025-2026 and $12.1 million in 2026-2027. She said this change will include to counties, airports, and irrigation districts. Smith concluded by calling Alberta Municipalities “such an effective voice for so many different local governments.” She said it is helpful to have one source to offer insight and feedback before it focuses on major issues and troubleshoots along the way. “You do a tremendous amount of work, and you do it very, very well,” she said. Smith followed up by saying Alberta Municipalities offers a model on how politics should be conducted. “Because I would hazard a guess there are a number of different political stripes in this room for how you vote provincially and federally, and yet you’re able to come together on a council and make constructive decisions for your citizens,” she said. “And I think that’s really important.” She used to work as a talk radio host. While she works as premier now, she said her time on talk radio taught her people can find common ground with those who disagree with them. Smith said at the Alberta Municipalities Convention and Trade Show in 2023 her government and municipalities have to collaborate to succeed. .Smith says Alberta government, municipalities should collaborate more.“When we work together, when our province faces significant challenges, we can only address them through collaboration based on genuine respect and open communication from both sides,” she said. She praised Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver for building relationships with municipalities. From the Alberta government, she said people can expect collaboration on important files.
