ATHABASCA/BARRHEAD/WESTLOCK - Last year was a banner year for Alberta that saw a rebound in resource prices that helped the United Conservative government balance the budget and put the province well on a road to recovery. The future is bright, said Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken in a Dec. 29 interview, and balancing the budget was just the first step. “I think probably the biggest highlight is where our budget is landing — a balanced budget and forecast surpluses. When we ran in 2019, we committed to getting the budget balanced, and some people would say that commodities helped balance it and that definitely didn't hurt,” he said. “We got to balance the budget by holding the line on spending when we were seeing huge, 4 per cent increases year over year with the previous government, and that's just not sustainable. So, we had to get our spending in line … Now we’re within the range of comparative provinces, so I’m quite, quite excited about the future of Alberta.” It wasn’t only the resource market that helped get there though. Growth in a couple diversifying sectors like film and technology helped as well, along with significant increases in investment and venture capital funding, which has doubled to more than $500 million since 2019, van Dijken said. A turnaround in agriculture was also crucial in 2022, especially in the immediate region as none of the three local rural municipalities were forced to declare an agricultural disaster for the first time in many years. “We went through some pretty difficult years with wet, and then drought in 2021, but in 2022 throughout my constituency it was a relatively good crop year. We haven't seen a good crop year like this for quite some time,” van Dijken said, adding across the province crop yields were up 10 per cent.” With Danielle Smith taking over the leadership of the United Conservative Party in the fall, and ascending to the premier’s chair soon after, van Dijken was also named parliamentary secretary of agri-food development, a fitting position for a man that has spent a lifetime in agriculture. “I really enjoy the work,” he said. “The ministers got me involved in a few items on the road, like in beginning of January, I’ve got to go to Charleston for an agriculture leaders’ summit, leaders from right across the continent will be gathering there. “We see agriculture and agrifood development as a significant area of growth for our province, going well into the future.” And that bodes well for the region. Another big highlight was the start and completion of long-coming major infrastructure projects — the Highway 55 overlay project through Athabasca; the Highway 831 project, south of Boyle; the start of the new Athabasca bridge and a bevy of others throughout the entire constituency. Next year, Highway 44 south of Westlock is scheduled to undergo serious repairs, along with the repaving of Highway 33 north of Barrhead. “All of those are very necessary to ensure that we have the infrastructure in place to continue to grow. Nothing happens overnight,” he said. On the topic of the new premier, van Dijken said he’s glad to see she’s a vocal critic against policies like the coming increase in the federal carbon tax, the need for more rural health professionals and emergency medical personnel. “I believe she's been a really strong advocate for a number of items in the province. And you know, we, in our constituency, we continue to work with trying to ensure that we have the staffing necessary for all the health facilities in our constituency. It has been a struggle over time, but I think she's taking some good steps to improve where we'll be a year from now,” said van Dijken. “I’m quite happy with where premier Smith is leading us and I look forward to 2023 election.”
