Legislature Report: routing Fort Mac evacuations, preparing for post secondary education, filling cancer doctor shortage, telling two economic tales
George Lee,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
IN-AND-OUTS FOR FORT MAC ROADS TAKE TOO LONG—NDP
The province should put its pedal to the metal to create more escape routes and reduce evacuation pinch-points at the oilsands capital of Alberta, the NDP said May 16.
Lorne Dach, the NDP’s transportation and economic corridors critic, hinted that the province had unnecessarily abandoned one set of improvements for others, even though the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in northeastern Alberta had endorsed a new highway dubbed East Clearwater.
The highway would have paralleled Highway 63, the major in-and-out, north-south route for Fort McMurray. It would have dropped south from near Fort MacKay to Anzac, on its way past connecting with the city on its east side.
At the time of the endorsement, the estimated cost of East Clearwater was $1.5 billion. The plan has since been dropped by Wood Buffalo council.
Regardless of what improvements the province has chosen, it isn’t showing enough progress, said Dach. “The transcontinental railway took less time,” the member for Edmonton-McClung quipped.
Devin Dreeshen, the minister of transportation and economic corridors, said construction could start next year on improvements to an existing route in and out of Fort McMurray. Highway 881 is “a very important, critical road in the province of Alberta,” he said.
Highway 881 links the city – which in government parlance is called an urban service area – with Highway 55 at Lac La Biche.
Engineering on 14 passing lanes and consultations with First Nations along 881 are under way, said Dreeshen, the UCP member for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
Dreeshen continued: “ Whether it’s northern Alberta or other places across this province, we want to make sure that our road network is there not just to help out the economy and truck traffic but also (to make) sure that communities are safe.”
Meanwhile, a 200-plus-kilometre, gravel extension of Highway 686 is in the planning stages. Dollars are earmarked for consultation with three First Nations: Bigstone, Loon River and Peerless Trout.
The First Nations are helping choose the route, essentially marking a line on a map from Fort McMurray to Peerless Lake, Dreeshen said.
That type of consultation will make sure it’s a supported plan that gets developed, he said.
COLLEGIATE SCHOOLS ENDORSED AS POST-SECONDARY PREP PATHS
An Alberta system of specialized programming successfully primes students for their post-secondary futures and helps Alberta meet job market needs, the UCP member for Cypress-Medicine Hat told the legislature May 16.
Justin Wright said he has home knowledge of college schools. “Some of the best collegiate programs in our province are located in my charming constituency,” he said.
“Collegiate programs bring together students with similar interests to benefit from enriched courses, specialized facilities and enhanced learning opportunities through a unique delivery model.”
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said collegiate schools reflect Alberta’s support of choice in education, noting that the current budget assigns them $123 million in capital funding over three years.
“Collegiate schools play such a critical and vital role in not only our history of school choice and promoting school choice in the province but helping to ensure that young Albertans are able to learn the skills and competencies that are essential for success,” said Nicolaides, the member for Calgary-Bow.
Twelve collegiate schools are approved, five of them having opened in the 2023-24 school year. Seven are scheduled to open in 2024-25.
The province’s website says collegiate schools offer specialized programming in a subject or field and provide a “clear pathway” to post secondary education and careers. They can operate within any category of public school – regular public, separate, francophone or public charter – or as accredited private schools.
Collegiate schools may be eligible for startup funding, sometimes including a one-time grant of $50,000 to support the completion of applications. Each school must have a formal agreement in place with at least one post-secondary institution.
Hands-on learning like work experience is a requirement, along with bridging or dual-credit programming into a post-secondary future.
GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE IGOREES NEEDS OF CANCER PATIENTS – NOTLEY
Restructuring the delivery of health services amounts to a missed opportunity to address shortages of cancer care doctors and other front-line health care workers in Alberta, Opposition Leader Rachel Notley charged May 21.
Notley said that the target time to see an oncologist is four weeks, yet under the current health minister and premier it can take double that to see a medical oncologist and triple that to see a “crucially important” radiation oncologist.
B.C. and Ontario are outperforming Alberta by “aggressively recruiting” cancer care physicians, said Notley, the NDP member for Edmonton-Strathcona. In one year, B.C. attracted 60 oncologists while Alberta attracted 17 practitioners under the broader umbrella of cancer care physician.
Premier Danielle Smith said that Notley isn’t recognizing the importance of what the government calls a refocusing of health services delivery, part of which will allow it to do a better job of providing cancer care.
“The members opposite misunderstand what it is that we are doing,” said Smith, the UCP member for Brooks-Medicine Hat.
Smith said that the number of licensed oncologists in Alberta grew from 107 on March 31, 2015, to 142 on March 31, 2024, an increase of 33 per cent. Another 17 cancer care physicians will begin practising in 2024 and 2025.
Meanwhile, Calgary’s new cancer centre is recruiting for five vacancies, the premier added.
Responded Notley: “That is a fraction of what we are seeing in other provinces.”
She continued: “Albertans seeking cancer care are desperate. Why is it taking so long? Why is (Smith’s) government ignoring them?”
Smith said the doctors, nurses and support staff are being recruited, and the province has seen a “massive increase” in the number of accredited Alberta nurses.
“No one is ignoring anything,” the premier said.
OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES ON ALBERTA ECONOMY NARRATED TO ASSEMBLY
It is the worst of economic times, it is the best of economic times.
Mangled Dickens aside, a tale of two Albertas arose from the floor May 21 as a pair of duelling elected members traded statistics and opinions.
Side Worst was represented by Nathan Ip, the NDP’s jobs, economy and trade critic, and its member for Edmonton-South West.
“Since the UCP took office, Albertans’ incomes, purchasing power and standard of living have plummeted to lows never before seen in our province,” said the member for Edmonton-South West. “The minister is trying to avoid drawing attention to his government’s role in this, hopelessly insisting that we’re only looking at half the picture, but here’s the big picture: Alberta was once the envy of Canada, and we are falling behind on this government’s watch.
“When is the minister going to admit this growing crisis needs decisive action, or is he determined to further erode what used to be the Alberta Advantage?”
Representing Side Best was Matt Jones, the governing UCP’s minister of jobs, economy and trade.
“The Alberta Advantage is alive and well,” he said. I could point to 35,000 jobs created in the last four months or maybe 105,000 created over the last 12 months or maybe the fact that Alberta represented 90 per cent of private-sector job creation in Canada over a six-month period,” said the member for Calgary-South East.
“The members opposite are only looking at half the picture because they don’t want to look at the other half, which is that we have the lowest taxes in the (country), meaning that Albertans keep more of what they earn. They don’t have a sales tax. They have the highest basic amounts and world-class public services.”
Ip: lower than the Canadian average in economic growth, productivity and business investment; weakest wage growth of all provinces; less affordable two major cities than Toronto.
Jones: forecasted highest economic growth in Canada; highest productivity, youngest and most productive workforce in the country; high in-migration and wages; low taxes.
George Lee,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
St. Albert Gazette
