This has been one of the nicest falls, lots of sunshine, fresh air, and autumn colors. I have been able to get to many communities in West Yellowhead and am sensing a feeling of hope and renewal for the future among my constituents.
As we make our way towards a provincial election in May 2023, it is important to ensure the leadership in Alberta is one that will take our province forward. As my good friend Searle Turton says, 鈥淗istory is made by those who show up鈥�, and right now, this couldn鈥檛 be more true.
Our government has definitely 鈥渟hown up鈥�!
By balancing the budget, cutting taxes, and creating an environment that welcomes new investment, our government is building a new Alberta Advantage that is diverse and resilient to outside economic forces.
Alberta is estimated to currently have more than 100,000 job vacancies. One initiative to help address these Labour challenges, is a new advertising campaign called Alberta is Calling, which is meant to highlight all the benefits of living and working in Alberta as opposed to cities like Toronto and Vancouver.
According to Statistics Canada, Alberta saw a net gain of approximately 10,000 people in the second quarter of 2022. This makes four consecutive quarters of positive net migration to our province.
Whether it鈥檚 affordable homes, low taxes, good jobs, or world-class quality of life 鈥� families and businesses from across Canada are choosing to come to our province and participate in the new Alberta Advantage.
The real numbers are very exciting. From January to June 2022, we welcomed 15,208 people from other provinces. Over the past four quarters, we welcomed 23,132 people. But these latest second quarter numbers are the highest provincial migration numbers we鈥檝e seen since the second quarter of 2014 and serve as a strong signal that Alberta is truly back on the right track.
This success stands in stark contrast to when the NDP lost hundreds of thousands of jobs and chased billions of investment dollars away with their job-killing policies and risky economic ideas and the NDP Minister of Energy suggested folks leave Alberta to go to B.C. to work.
The latest example of our government鈥檚 policies being attractive for investment decisions and therefore job creation is airplane manufacturing giant De Havilland announcing it is building a massive manufacturing plant and aerodrome in Wheatland County, just east of Calgary.
Dubbed 鈥楧e Havilland Field,鈥� the new facility will be located between Chestermere and Strathmore, where the company has purchased more than 600 hectares of land. The new De Havilland plant will support at least 1,500 high-paying manufacturing jobs once it is completed, and hundreds of construction jobs as it is being built.
The De Havilland announcement follows several other landmark investments from major companies like Amazon, Dow Chemical, HBO, Air Products, Northern Petrochemical, and Walmart. These companies are investing more than $10 billion into projects across Alberta, which will employ tens-of-thousands of Albertans for generations to come.
The policies of our United Conservative government are working to create jobs and investments in communities like ours. By cutting taxes and red tape and launching initiatives like Alberta Jobs Now and Alberta at Work, we continue to do all we can to make Alberta the best place in the country to live, work, play, start a business, and raise a family.
For generations, Canadians came to Alberta in search of better lives and better futures. Now, a new generation is following in their footsteps and heading west to participate in the promise of Alberta.
In every corner of the province and in all sectors of the economy, optimism is growing for the future 鈥� and our government is working tirelessly to make sure Albertans are going back to work and participating in this new Alberta Advantage.
Ratifying a new deal with doctors
A new agreement between Alberta鈥檚 government and the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) that will see the government invest an estimated $750 million to stabilize the health-care system has been ratified by physicians throughout the province.
Alberta physicians will see an average rate increase of four per cent over the four-year term. This is in line with other recent public sector agreements. There will be larger average increases for specialties facing greater pressures such as family medicine, which will see an average effective increase of 5.25 per cent when the value of other investments are factored in. A total of 70.2 per cent of physicians who voted were in favour of the new framework. The agreement covers four fiscal years, from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2026.
Providing Albertans with job-ready skills
Alberta鈥檚 government is creating new opportunities for Albertans to develop the skills they need to build new careers and secure Alberta鈥檚 future.
Advanced Education will invest $8 million over the next two years to fund new micro-credential programs. These short-term programs will create new opportunities for unemployed and underemployed Albertans to quickly re-skill or upskill in our changing economy. This will allow Albertans to better meet industry needs, re-enter the workforce and quickly pivot in their careers.
Martin Long, MLA,
West Yellowhead
