Premier Danielle Smith speaks with Legislative Reporter George Lee about matters important to rural Albertans
Alberta’s rural heartland will continue to inform the UCP agenda in 2025, Premier Danielle Smith said in a year-end interview aimed at audiences beyond Calgary and Edmonton.
Health care, public safety and housing for seniors are among the issues that small-town, small-city, and countryside Alberta can expect continued progress on, she told George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter and Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association’s legislative reporter.
Edited for flow and clarity, the full year-end interview with the premier follows.
Full interview with Alberta Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi can be found by CLICKING HERE
George Lee: Good day, Madam Premier. It’s nice to connect with you.
You and your party have completed a busy year, with about two dozen UCP bills making it to the floor of the legislative assembly and being passed into law. So as you look back on 2024, how would you describe the approach you’ve taken in advancing your agenda and serving Albertans?
Premier Smith: Yes, it is nice to connect. And yes, it has been a busy year.
We went into the election talking about key issues that my caucus had identified, like affordability, jobs and the economy, and making sure we have enough people to fill the growing demand for new workers. We had to deal with the significant and growing issues of public safety and mental health, and we also had to reform the health-care system and stand up to Ottawa.
So those have been my guiding principles for my first two years on the job.
Lee: Starting with affordability, jobs and the economy, what have you and your government accomplished?
Premier Smith: We’ve introduced major affordability initiatives. Over the past three years, some $6.5 billion has been spent on helping people with everything from electricity prices through to a fuel tax reprieve through to subsidized childcare, low-income transit passes, food bank grants and discounts for seniors.
It’s just remarkable to see the number of people who have come here and who keep coming because there are so many great jobs. Yes, there’s a higher level of unemployment because when people arrive and they’re looking for work; there’s always a lag time. But the economy keeps building and keeps creating incredible numbers of new opportunities.
Our construction sector is booming, up 35 per cent year-over-year, including an increase in home construction. We keep hearing multi-billion-dollar announcements, like those from the Industrial Heartland area, all the way to De Havilland and their development of water bombers in Calgary.
So we’re pleased about what’s happening there.
Lee: Albertans are still experiencing that lag and other economic challenges. What do you see coming to fruition in 2025 that will help catch things up to the positives in the economy?
Premier Smith: We constantly have new projects that are being updated and announced. And one of our most effective ways of getting to the finish line on those is with our Investment and Growth Fund. We like that program, especially, because it has allowed us to announce things in rural Alberta and elsewhere.
We’re getting concerned that there’s only so many houses that can be built and so many jobs that can be created, and that we’re getting overwhelmed by the number of newcomers over the last three years.
