Throne speech opens last session before election

Watch the throne speech here.

The spring session of Alberta’s 29^th Legislature—the last session before the next provincial election—was opened Monday with a promise by the provincial government to build an Alberta that works for all Albertans.

The throne speech, delivered by Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell, outlined action the provincial government is committing to continue in the legislature’s fifth session.

The Rachel Notley government says it is focused improving the lives of everyday residents, rather than an elite few, while reducing the province’s vulnerability to the volatility of the energy market.

“When your government was elected in 2015, Alberta was in the midst of one of the most dramatic oil price collapses in generations,” Mitchell said.

“For decades, governments in Alberta responded to economic busts in a predictable way. They made things worse. And everyday Albertans paid the price. The middle class got squeezed and the most vulnerable were left behind.”

Promises from the throne speech: healthcare, affordable child care, water on First Nations

The government boasted a $1.9 billion decrease to the provincial deficit and said it remained on track to balance the budget by 2023 without affecting public services.

Instead of cutting funding, the government said it would boost Alberta’s Classroom Improvement Fund for school improvement across the province, and launch a new child care program in addition to the $25-a-day pilot it started in 2017.

Though few details were offered about it, the new program was touted as a way to make child care more affordable for all families.

Continued investment in medical facilities like the Red Deer Regional Hospital and Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary was also promised.

The government said it will “defend Albertans from American-style health care” by introducing Bill 1, An Act to Protect Public Health Care.

It also promised water infrastructure on First Nations across the province.

Seeking long-term solution to oil crisis

The throne speech offered one guarantee from the Notley government regarding the Trans Mountain pipeline: “We will not let up until it gets built.”

Alberta’s government pledged to keep the pressure on the federal government, but said, “In the meantime, we are not sitting around and waiting.”

Albertans were told to expect railcars to start moving oil in July, a measure which has been called a “short-term” solution to the backlog of product. Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement was supposed to relieve the situation, but was delayed at the beginning of the month.

In the next year, if reelected, the government also plans to continue spending a committed $3.5 billion on private-sector refining and upgrading facilities. In January, it made a $440-million loan guarantee to Calgary-based Value Creation Inc. to build a bitumen upgrader in the industrial heartland.

The estimated $1 billion that has already been spent as part of the Made-In-Alberta strategy has created about 8,500 jobs.

“Let’s stop burning our resources for nothing, and start delivering on the full potential of this province,” Mitchell said in the throne speech.

To make the province less vulnerable to the boom-bust cycle of the energy sector, the province also promised continued diversification in technology, tourism, film and television, and agriculture.

Alberta government promises ‘democratic reform’

The throne speech also said the Notley government would introduce new measures to restore trust in government.

“For too long, governments in Alberta worked for political insiders, well-heeled special interests and the super rich. We set out to fix this,” Mitchell said, citing the banning of corporate and union donations to political parties and the reduction of management salaries and politician expenses.

The government said it would further strengthen democracy in Alberta by closing loopholes that have allowed big money to still be used into party campaigns.

Throne speech offers no clue as to election date

The throne speech did not include any hint as to when Albertans will head to the polls. Fixed-date legislation mandates an election must be held between March 1 and May 31. Because an election campaign period must last 28 days, the election won’t be held earlier than mid-April.

However, Notley said over the weekend the calendar would not be affected by police investigation into the United Conservative Party’s 2017 leadership campaign.

“If I were to have my calendar driven by the timelines around RCMP investigations into conservative wrongdoing, then we'd never have an election,” Notley said.

“The reality is that, you know, we don’t know how long this investigation will go on. We don’t know how many more things will be investigated. We just don’t. And so we’re just going to have to go ahead, and Albertans will have to make their decisions.”