Prosperity is not a statistic, and it is not something you feel because a government release tells you GDP is up. You feel it in ordinary life. You feel it when a paycheque goes a little further, when buying a home still feels possible, when your community feels safe, and when you believe your kids have a fair shot at doing better than you did. That is the Alberta I remember, and it is the Alberta I believe many people are trying to find again.That doesn't mean Alberta was ever perfect. It wasn't. We had recessions, bad governments, and oil crashes. But it was not supposed to become the main character in your life. People disagreed about politics without treating each other as enemies. You could argue over dinner, disagree completely, and still get up the next morning and go to work together. Somewhere along the way, we started losing some of that confidence.Alberta is still doing better than much of Canada, and that shouldn't be ignored. The Alberta government now expects real GDP growth of 2.3% in 2026, helped by energy, manufacturing, agriculture, investment, and construction. That is positive. But it also proves the point. Economic growth does not automatically mean people feel prosperous. Canada’s inflation rate was 3.1% in September, and Albertans are still dealing with the everyday cost of groceries, insurance, utilities, transportation, and housing.Calgary tells part of the story. We built a tremendous amount of housing because people kept coming here. That new supply is now showing up in the market. September sales were down slightly from 2025, while buyers had more choice and some parts of the market — particularly apartments and row housing — had softened. That is not necessarily bad news. It is what happens when supply starts catching up with demand. If housing is too expensive, the answer is not to make it harder to build. The answer is to build more of it..The same common sense should apply to government. If infrastructure is strained, build it. If businesses are reluctant to invest, find out what is standing in their way. If people no longer trust an institution, earn that trust back. Municipal governments also have to stop treating higher property taxes as the automatic answer to every budget problem. Government is a business with a social conscience. There are good and bad years, and when times get tougher, businesses cut expenses. Governments should do the same before asking citizens for more.I don't want Alberta to go backward, and I don't think most Albertans do either. Looking back is useful only if we are willing to learn from it. Alberta was at its best when it rewarded work, welcomed investment, kept taxes low, and respected individual freedom. Those principles are not outdated simply because some of the world has changed.Alberta will keep changing as it always has. The question is whether that change makes life better for the people who live here. That means affordable housing, safe communities, good public services, responsible spending, reliable infrastructure, and an economy where people still believe effort can improve their lives.Alberta doesn't need to reinvent itself. It needs to remember what made it work, fix what no longer does, and continue building forward with some confidence. Prosperity should once again be something Albertans can see in their own lives, not just something governments report on a spreadsheet.
