Tories ready to spend in bad times
The Alberta government will open its pocketbook, splashing billions of dollars on infrastructure and carbon capture projects, contending spending now will lessen the wallop of a worsening global economic storm.

Exactly how much won’t be known until the provincial budget, but Tuesday’s throne speech signalled the Stelmach government will use its emergency savings to stem job losses, attract private-sector investme n t and encourage consumer spending.

The province will also unveil a 2 0 -ye a r strategy to better mana ge s oci a l , environmental and infrastructure strains fuelled by oilsands development, which powered Alberta’s recent boom.
In an evening speech to manufacturers and exporters in Edmonton, Premier Ed Stelmach said more details of the plan will be unveiled later this week.

According to sources, a panel has been working on the strategy for nearly a year, apparently with strong co-operation from oilsands producers who want a stable workforce and healthy social conditions.

For their part, the companies could be expected to pay a portion of costs for social services and infrastructure.


The new blueprint comes nea rl y t wo ye a r s after a 19-member committee, which included representatives of governments, industry and municipalities, made 120 recommendations for “orderly development” of all aspects of life in the vast oilsands region.

“It will be the most comprehensive oilsands planning we’ve done,” Stelmach told the manufacturing conference after the throne speech.

Chris Schwarz, Edmonton JournalLt.-Gov. Norman Kwong read the speech from the throne on Tuesday at the legislature.

“It will guide our path forward for responsible development of our national treasure — even during these turbulent times.”

While the Stelmach government’s throne speech attempted to buoy Albertans’ confidence in the economy, opposition leaders criticized the province for not spelling out how it plans to aid Albertans who’ve lost their jobs or who’ve watched their savings evaporate with plummeting financial markets.

“This is a throne speech that is full of recycled announcements and vague plans and has no specifics to solve the problem,” NDP Leader Brian Mason said. “We’re entering very difficult and dangerous economic times, but this government is completely oblivious. There’s nothing in here about job creation.

“He’s throwing the working families of this province to the wolves.”

Liberal Leader David Swann said the true test of the government’s economic vision will come in the budget.

He said he wants a greater focus on “greening” and diversifying Alberta’s petro-driven economy, arguing a provincial budget is needed in weeks, not months.

“Blind faith in the market is not leadership,” the Grit leader said. “It is not planning and guiding for the future and ensuring we protect the other two legs of a sustainable economy, which have to do with social supports and environmental protection. This is not a time for platitudes and soft ideas.”

As opposition parties called for swift action on the economy, spending watchdogs warned the Conservative government could blow through its cash reserves with little to show for its drained savings accounts.

The province has roughly $13 billion socked in a capital account and its Sustainability Fund, created to protect government programs from volatile drops in oil and gas revenues.

The throne speech, read by Lt.Gov. Norman Kwong, indicated the province plans to continue bankrolling infrastructure projects, including building schools and health-care facilities.

The Tories also reiterated a pledge to pour $2 billion into helping energy companies develop technology to capture and store greenhouse gas emissions from coal power plants, upgraders and, potentially, the oilsands.

“There’s nothing in there about reductions. There’s a lot in there about sustaining what we’ve got, looking forward to a measured approach,” Finance Minister Iris Evans said after the speech. “When the economy falters, then the government lends a hand.”

The wrong hand is being extended, contended Scott Hennig of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, cautioning the Alberta government is digging itself into a financial hole.
“We’ve got Albertans tightening their budgets, tightening their belts, and the government released a laundry list of spending,” said Hennig, adding his organization wants a seven per cent reduction in expenditures in the upcoming budget, expected in March or April.

“Alberta government spending is a small part of our overall GDP,” Hennig said. “The government does not drive the economy. Private individuals and businesses drive the economy.”

The province conceded in its throne speech that its actions alone won’t turn around the economy.

The Stelmach government used the platform to outline its other plans for the year, including further reforms of the medical system, establishing a footing in new export markets, offering energy-efficiency rebates to consumers and fostering research and technology.

Yet, Alberta’s traditional oil and gas economy remained front and centre.

The province is launching a competitiveness study of the energy sector to compare Alberta’s royalties, regulations and taxes to other jurisdictions.

It also wants to nurture valueadded development in oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

These measures are too little, too late, according to Wildrose Alliance Leader Paul Hinman.

He blasted the province’s handling of royalty changes, which were brought in last month, despite many in the energy industry lobbying for a respite.

Hinman wants the province to grant a royalty holiday until commodity prices rebound.

“Industry is moving out. Rigs are moving out. The price hasn’t rebounded. Now is the time to act on that, not study it,” the Wildrose leader said. “They know it, and if they don’t, then they’re economically challenged.”

Before the throne speech, Stelmach said his government will focus on protecting jobs.

But Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, said he found no evidence the province plans to back up this promise.

McGowan noted little has been done to stop bitumen and valueadded oilsands jobs from flowing south of the border.

“ If Ed Stelmach has a plan for protecting Alberta jobs, it seems to me it’s nothing more than crossing his f ingers and hoping the economy recovers,” McGowan said.