PC contender Jim Prentice comes to Barrhead

Progressive Conservative party leader hopeful Jim Prentice paid a visit to Barrhead during his provincial tour last week to speak with residents.

During the August 15 stop, Federal Member of Parliament Rob Merrifield announced he is endorsing Prentice in his bid for the leadership.

“Speaking as a personal friend of Jim’s I know that he has what it takes to put Alberta back on the right track,” said Merrifield, “I served with him in Cabinet and I saw firsthand that his work ethic and dedication could get any job done. Also, Jim was raised in Yellowhead, so I’m certain that he will have the priorities of all Albertans in mind as Premier. Albertans can trust him to do the right thing.”

After leaving the federal scene in 2010, Prentice said he had no aspirations to come back into the public life. However as a “disappointed, tax-paying Albertan” Prentice said he felt someone needed to step forward.

“Alberta needs leadership. I see that in every respect in terms of our fiscal finances, in terms of trust Albertans have in their government, in terms of visionary plans of being part of the global economy,” he said. “Most significantly we need leadership in terms of the quality of services that we have. Public healthcare, public education, taking care of our senior citizens, all areas this province has been wanting in leadership.”

With concern about where the province is headed, Prentice explained the reason he’s running is simple; to help create a better future for the next generations of Albertans.

“I’m at the point in my life where what matters to me most of all is what this province looks like for our kids and our grandkids,” said Prentice. “That’s why I’m running, it’s as simple as that. Nothing else matters to me in the same way.”

Prentice shared his five key priorities if he were to win the leadership.

Prentice said the party will be one that can be proud of the way the province’s finances are managed. That includes everything from the format of a consolidated budget report, to clarity on how accounting is done. Prentice also said he plans to produce surpluses every year.

“Fifty per cent of the surplus is going to go into our savings account, and the other 50 per cent is going to go into paying our debt and building infrastructure,” he said.

Every Albertan has been disappointed, said Prentice, something that has to end.

“There’s lots of work to be done. I’m pretty frank that the trust that needs to exist between Albertans and their government has been significantly damaged and has to be rebuilt,” said Prentice. “It’s only going to be rebuilt one voter at a time. It’s going to take someone whom they trust.”

As a federal minister for five years, sitting at the heart of the Stephen Harper Government, Prentice noted he never once carried a Government of Canada credit card.

“I did that for a reason,” he said. “It introduced a discipline around my office.”

Though he said he wasn’t going into detail on the topic, Prentice did say he has yet to meet a farmer or rancher in Alberta who is not a passionate conservationist.

“Just because we’re in the energy business doesn’t mean we’re going to give up on the environment,” he said.

Prentice said Alberta has become too dependent on one customer: the United States.

In terms of energy, Alberta’s only customer is America. If the province wants a better future for the next generations, Prentice said Alberta can’t continue to send everything it produces to an oversupplied marketplace.

“Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, Korea, all these places are markets that want what we produce,” he said. “There’s no future for us in a world where oil is worth $110/barrel, there’s no future selling it to the United States for $50 or $60/barrel, which is what we’re doing.”

Prentice said the same logic applies to agriculture. The role of the government is to get markets open and make sure the right infrastructure is available, he said.

“I see it across Northern Alberta in the agriculture sector. We’re not opening markets the way we need to, we’re not being as innovative as we need to in terms of processing agricultural products,” said Prentice. “We’re not getting quality rail service in northern Alberta. Right now it’s an issue in every single community I go to, people can’t get their grain moved by CN, and people are demanding answers.”

If elected, Prentice discussed the plan he has to get Alberta caught up in terms of public infrastructure. The five year plan he is proposing is expected to cost between $15 and $20 billion.

A third of the money could be financed from surpluses generated and from cash reserves already on hand. Prentice said the remaining two thirds could come from debt finance.

“There’s no other way to do this folks, other than raise your taxes, which I am not advocating,” he said. “We’re going to build this infrastructure over five years, finance it over 15 years, and get this province back on track.”

As a province now sitting at a population of 4.2 million, Prentice said growth is a major problem.

This is a challenge because Alberta hasn’t made any investments and has fallen behind, he said. For example, for every 100,000 people coming to Alberta, they bring 15,000 children. Every time the province gets 15,000 new children, 28 new schools are required.

“Guess what happens if you stop building schools for 10 years? You end up in the hole we’re in now,” said Prentice. “In parts of this province we’re running lotteries for five-year-old kids to determine whether they can get into a public school or not.”

Prentice said the province faces the same problems in terms of senior citizens. Currently Alberta is building 800 senior citizen facilities every year, when there is a need for 2,000 per year just to keep pace.

“This is going to be a priority,” said Prentice. “We’re going to partner with our communities of faith to double the number of units that we’re building.”

Additionally, Prentice said the existing senior facilities are not as safe as they should be. Over 400 of them don’t have a sprinkler system, and therefore don’t meet the fire code.

“I know what will happen if there’s a fire in one of these facilities. We will not get people out,” said Prentice. “We’re going to invest some money, $250 million, and we’re going to do it as fast as we can. We’re going to have sprinklers so if there’s a fire, senior citizens who are the most vulnerable people in Alberta, are safe.”

Prentice said Alberta’s roads are also in the worst shape they’ve been in in his lifetime, which is another prime example of the underinvestment Alberta has seen over the last decade.

“The roads are in a condition that’s unacceptable. It’s an illustration of the chronic underinvestment in the province. This didn’t happen in a year, this happened over the last 10 years,” said Prentice. “There’s a lot of catch-up to be done. It can’t be done overnight, but I intend to put in place a plan that over the course of five years we’ll get the roads back up to the condition that Albertans expect.”

Prentice said he enjoyed his stop in Barrhead. “It’s a wonderful community. People who live in Barrhead should be enormously proud. This TSN competition speaks to the sense of passion about Barrhead and community volunteerism. Alberta needs more Barrheads.”