EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith told municipal leaders on Thursday that they should consider a range of revenue sources to boost their local economies, including defence, agriculture, food processing, AI data centres, film, and other tourism and sports attractions. "It's amazing to me that even though we've had a lot of instability in our energy prices, we continue to create jobs, we continue to grow our economy, said Smith when taking questions at the Alberta Municipalities Spring Municipal Leaders' Caucus. "We continue to have high established weekly earnings, and that's because our energy companies are now able to expand their operations without having to hire a bunch of additional workers, which means those workers are available for other industries.".Her words were in response to Stettler councillor Dusty Myshrall’s question about his town’s economic growth efforts, and after he asked Smith about her vision for smaller communities, Alberta's economic strategy, and how those communities could attract more investors. Smith pointed to the federal government's recently announced 20-year plan to invest $180 billion on air defence, and claims they will likely spend a similar amount on Army and Navy projects. Prime Minister Mark Carney suggested that a strong preference will be given to domestic manufacturers when the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) seeks new equipment, as he announced the new project. Smith believes Alberta municipalities, such as Wainwright, Cold Lake, Suffield, and Edmonton, could be prime targets for that spending. "We are perfectly situated to have multiple regions of our province benefit from the framework that that investment is going to bring, not only to service all the service men and women who are going to be there, but also the supply chain associated with everything you're going to need for components," Smith said. .Smith also pointed to the agricultural food processing industry as a potential area in which smaller municipalities could expand. "Minister RJ Sigurdson will tell you that we have had the most success in attracting agri-food processing in our history," Smith said. "We're up to four and a half billion dollars worth of agri food processing, and that was what helps with food costs."She claimed Alberta has previously missed out on revenue and faced higher food prices because producers would have to take the food from Alberta, send it to Ontario for processing, and then ship it back to Alberta for sale. "So agri-food processing not only creates a new economy and supports our farmers, but also brings down food costs as well," Smith said. "And so, looking at how you might establish industrial zones to attract that kind of development, I think, is one way that the rural, small towns can plug into them." .She likewise made her case for communities to welcome AI data centres. These projects have been a point of contention in communities, as some have expressed concerns about the amount of water needed to cool them and the energy they could draw from Alberta's energy grid. Smith countered these concerns by pointing to Alberta's regulations requiring facilities to provide their own energy, and said there are other ways to cool the centres without subtracting mass amounts of water. "So, data centers, if we can find proper zoning for them, I think those are part of this; that's another potential new source of revenue, because it's good industrial rates," Smith said. "So, those are going to be very low intensity for you to manage, as I understand with industrial properties, but potentially very high revenue for you.".Communities can also focus on drawing film and television projects to shoot in Alberta."I think Fort Macleod is almost like Hollywood North," Smith joked. "It has so many productions going on down there."According to Smith, those projects could be part of an overall tourism strategy, and building sports infrastructure could help smaller communities attract higher-profile amateur events and the attention they bring. "I think if you can build out those kind of that kind of infrastructure for ice, or pickleball courts or field houses, that will lend itself to our tourism strategy as well, Smith said. "So, I'll put that one out there."
