Local business owners and elected officials got the chance to hear and ask questions of two Alberta politicians about what the province is doing to support them.
Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation Doug Schweitzer, along with Dale Nally, associate minister of natural gas and energy, spoke about vaccination rollouts and strategies the province is taking for economic growth during a virtual roundtable held by the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 13. Nally is the MLA for Morinville-St. Albert, while Schweitzer is the MLA for Calgary-Elbow.
Curtis Crouse, St. Albert Chamber's new board chair, said there was optimism and excitement in the air around the potential of economic growth in the province.
“It was just really exciting to see that they are thinking outside the box, and they are looking at maximizing our natural resources – outside of the traditional oil and gas,” said Crouse.
Schweitzer said the province is looking toward the future with their recovery plan, which will focus on three pillars. These include goals like making sure Alberta has the most competitive tax environment in the country, that the government is efficient by cutting red tape and spending, and has the ability to train talent.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of work in our recovery plan with the Minister of Advanced Education, as well as the Minister of Labour to make sure we have the ability to train talent,” he said.
Around 80 people joined the meeting, but the question period was limited. Three pre-screened questions from business owners were asked during the roundtable, along with a question from Sturgeon County Mayor, Alanna Hnatiw.
Hnatiw asked the MLAs what the province is doing to support the aviation industry.
Schweitzer said the government is currently developing an aviation logistics strategy and it is one of the areas they want to flesh out.
“When it comes to cargo and logistics transportation during this pandemic, we've actually seen them do quite well,” said Schweitzer.
Alberta is positioned, geographically, to be a logistics and distribution hub for Western Canada, he said.
“We're seeing further potential investments as well coming from grocery stores, Amazon and other things like that because we're seeing a change in trends and buying patterns,” he explained.
During the initial discussion, Schweitzer spoke about sector strategies in energy, minerals and agriculture and the need for intentional diversification. He said Alberta is often called the “Texas of the North.”
“Texas was very purposeful in its approach to making sure that it was innovative, that it could diversify. Now it has one of the most diversified economies in the entire United States … we have to make sure we're equally purposeful here in Alberta,” he said.
Nally spoke about the energy sector strategies. He commended the City of St. Albert on its decision to explore a feasibility study into a municipally-owned energy corporation.
Alberta’s energy industry will continue to be a driving force and be at the heart of provincial and national economic recovery, said Nally. He cited a recent Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers announcement stating they are expecting a 14 per cent growth this year in upstream natural gas and oil investment.
“Our government has made a commitment to an energy-only market, we’ve actually seen over a billion dollars worth of announcements on renewable energy projects and I know of another half-billion dollars of renewable energy project announcements that are coming up,” he said.
Nally had his own pillar to add for the province's recovery plan – Alberta's Natural Gas and Vision Strategy that was released in October.
He discussed his plans for LNG, hydrogen, the Alberta Petrochemical Incentive Program, the creation of a circular economy in plastics and industrial growth.
“We need to create more industrial use for natural gas, and that's about growing the economy,” he said.
St. Albert Coun. Ray Watkins, who spoke on behalf of the mayor, talked about the challenges the province has faced. Diversification into other areas is important to the creation of jobs, and Watkins said he believes “concentrating on energy, forest and agriculture industries are key, because that’s what is going to build this province.”
Watkins thanked the province for providing capital stimulus funds and splitting costs for the twinning of Ray Gibbon Drive, which led to Uline's 600,000 sq. ft. facility in the Anthony Henday Business Park.
Business supports, vaccines
As for the government's plans to support funding options for start-ups and new businesses that opened during the pandemic, Schweitzer said options will be rolled out in the coming weeks.
“Our goal is to actually have it available for businesses that fall under that category, so they can apply later this month,” he said.
During the discussion, Schweitzer spoke about the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant. That grant offers funding to small and medium-sized businesses, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations that have seen revenues drop by at least 30 per cent.
Half of the $500 million allocated for the relaunch grant has been spent, "so we want to make sure we continue to be there to support our small businesses,” he said.
Watkins said he was happy to hear about what the province was doing to help small businesses.
“I'd like to urge you to continue to help small business, which is the foundation of our economy because they've been very, very hard hit,” he said.
Another attendee asked the MLAs what they are doing to help businesses in the personal service sector get their doors opened back up.
Schweitzer said they have heard from many different people, from gym owners to hockey parents, about re-opening. He said the numbers look encouraging and the positivity rate is starting to come down, but there are still some concerns with hospitalization.
“We have heard loud and clear that we need to get some of these personal services businesses open – when it's responsible to do so,” he said.
Nally said he has also heard from salon owners in his constituency, his daughter being one of them.
“I don't have an answer for you. But I can only say that message has been delivered,” Nally said.
The final question was around what the government is doing to speed up the process of vaccination so that the province has 24/7 vaccination programs, similar to what's being done in other countries.
Schweitzer was frank.
“Right now, our capacity to deliver the vaccine actually exceeds the supply of vaccine coming into Alberta.”
In the coming week, Schweitzer and Nally said they expect all care homes to have received vaccinations. The targeted goal is to get the most vulnerable vaccinated, said Schweitzer.
“In the coming weeks we’re going to start being able to open this up to people that are in the 75 plus category and then slowly work our way back down … but hopefully as fast as possible."
