Premier Danielle Smith and members of the Alberta Next panel drew a full house in Airdrie on Monday night, in what was another warm, enthusiastic event where the crowd cheered the panel’s proposals for immigration and separation.The majority of the 550-plus standing-room-only crowd was receptive to the panel’s six proposals at the Airdrie Town and Country Centre, as they joined past town halls by overwhelmingly supporting the ideas presented in straw polls.Billed as a listening session on provincial priorities and Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa, two of the six ideas that have drawn a lot of heated debate have been equalization payments and exiting the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), and that was no exception on Monday night.“The equalization formula hasn’t changed since 2007, and it’s stacked against smaller provinces,” Smith said.She stated that Alberta has consistently been penalized under the system because it is assessed on its “ability to tax” rather than its actual revenues.“As a result, Alberta is assumed to have a provincial sales tax when we don’t even collect it,” she said..Marty Belanger (@Martyupnorth), a prominent political commentator on social media, later argued that shifting to an Alberta pension plan should be an obvious choice.“I think the pension plan is a no-brainer of all these proposals,” he said.“We’re contributing $9 billion and only getting six back, which, by definition, means that we could [create one] today.”He added that pension contributions have climbed sharply over time.“When I started out here working, my contribution rate was 1.9%. My kids today are contributing 5.95%. It’s being mismanaged, and I don’t think they’ll have a pension in the future. So it’s a no-brainer,” he stated.Panelist Andrew Judson, a senior advisor at Fort Capital, agreed, calling the issue both financial and deeply personal.“This is a big deal. It’s very personal. It’s [people’s] funds, it’s their retirement,” he said.Judson pointed to research backing up the proposal.“The Fraser Institute published a report from our Alberta analyst on the economics and math behind this implementation,” he said.“There’s just no question that an Alberta contributor would see their contribution rates fall, and their benefits rise.”.Alberta Next panel discusses pensions, immigration, and federal policies in Fort Mac.Immigration and its impact on affordability again sparked a wide-ranging discussion.Sumita Anand, co-chair of the Premier’s Council on Multiculturalism, stressed the importance of immigration to Alberta’s identity but raised concerns about future stability.“Immigration is the fabric of Alberta,” she said.“But if Alberta also becomes unaffordable, where do we go from here? Where do our children and grandchildren find a stable job? What are they going to do to be able to structure their lives?” she asked.“We need to put certain checkstops in place, and we need to realize that they need the same opportunity, the same resources that we had.”John Williams, founder of the Alberta Public Relations Corp., took a more critical stance when he came up to the microphone, arguing that immigration should be tied more directly to economic contributions.“Immigration should improve and enhance our society, and people need to contribute. There are a lot of refugees that don’t work and who use our social services,” he said, arguing that new arrivals shouldn’t get access to social services for five years.Williams also raised concerns about student opportunities.“Student unemployment is affected by foreign workers,” he said, citing that 20% of students aren’t working.“Our youth aren’t working and therefore the majority of their take-home money doesn’t go into our economy.”Smith acknowledged the pressures immigration can place on housing and jobs, noting the rapid pace of recent arrivals compared to past years and saying it was unlikely the province could keep up with the current system.She added that Alberta could sustain roughly 1% of its population — about 50,000 newcomers a year — rather than the 150,000 it has seen annually over the past three years..WATCH: Alberta Next panel floats working with provinces to amend Constitution .One attendee told Smith she hoped Alberta would “hold the line and not bend the knee” in light of the premier’s recent talks with Prime Minister Mark Carney.Smith reiterated her commitment to defending the province’s interests and attributed the rise in Alberta sovereignty popularity to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s policies, stating that only through action could the province heal the rift.“I told the Prime Minister that Justin Trudeau created the separatist sentiment in this province,” Premier Smith said.“It’s only going to be undone by reversing the terrible laws and impacts that have stifled our ability to build and develop wealth. That’s the only way to deflate that movement, but it has to take action — not just words.”Smith also set a clear deadline for progress on pipeline projects, which remain a central issue for the province.“When [Carney] says he’s aiming to have a new project list out by Grey Cup, which is November 16, I’m looking at that as a deadline,” she said.“Then I want to see legitimate pipelines to the West Coast.”The panel is set to reconvene Wednesday in Grande Prairie for the ninth stop in the ten-stop tour.The final town hall will be in Calgary on Sept. 29.
