BARRHEAD – Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken disagrees with Town of Barrhead Coun. Dave Sawatzky's statement that the United Conservative Party (UCP) government has not had a strong focus on economic development for rural Alberta.
In preparation for the Town of Athabasca's Jan. 10 council visit, where councillors submitted their questions in advance, Sawatzky asked van Dijken what the province's plan was for rural Alberta, specifically for the Barrhead region.
In his preamble to his question, Sawatzky noted that not only did it seem that the UCP government did not have a focus on rural economic development, but it actually "closed large employers in the Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock constituency" such as the Alberta Distance Learning Centre and the drastic downscaling and eventual closure of the Swan Hills Waste Treatment Centre.
"There has been a lot of work done to encourage rural economic development throughout the province," he said.
van Dijken specifically noted the government's five-year rural economic development plan unveiled by Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Nate Horner and Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development Brian Jean in mid-December.
He said the plan focuses on five-key strategies, the first being identifying and improving economic development-enabling infrastructure.
The second strategy, he said, is to advance entrepreneurship capacity and culture through rural Alberta by giving additional business support, such as grants through the Canadian AG partnership.
The third strategy, which van Dijken considers perhaps the most important, is supporting labour and skills development to enhance workforce capacity.
"Where we really see the need is in our health system. We have our young people go off to school in larger centres, and when they finish their studies decide to stay in those locations," he said. "We all know that healthcare staffing is an issue, especially after coming out of a difficult period, and we need our young people to come back and work in rural areas. We also need to attract more young people into careers in the healthcare field because many have written off the sector as undesirable after watching what has gone on for the last two or three years."
The fourth and fifth strategies are to increase rural tourism and build rural development capacity through regional partnerships.
van Dijken pointed to the province's film and television tax credit as a way the government was attempting to grow rural tourism.
"The film industry sees Alberta not only for its natural beauty but its talent," he said. "And these companies are making productions seen worldwide, helping bring attention and tourism to Alberta."
van Dijken said another area the province is working hard on, which will help improve rural economic development in rural communities, is improving broadband Internet connectivity.
He referred to the federal government designating broadband as an essential service setting 50 megabytes per second (MBPS) download speed and 10 MBPS upload speed as a necessity.
"Service Alberta approached the federal government to partner with them (and private investment) to invest in a strategy that would help the province fulfil (what the federal government through the CRTC) set as their target," van Dijken said, adding the province set aside $390 million for the project. "We believe the vast majority of Alberta should reach the (50 megabytes per second (MBPS) download speed and 10 MBPS upload) goal within three years. Because let's face it, the key for families to succeed in business or education, as we have seen in the last three years, is having good, affordable Internet."
van Dijken added that while it might not have an impact on Barrhead, the province's $933 million investment into irrigation infrastructure will pay big dividends for rural Alberta.
"The government sees energy and agriculture with large growth potential. Proper irrigation is a big part of that," he said.
van Dijken also talked about the province's investment in increasing the number of seats in the University of Calgary's veterinary program as a critical move in protecting the province's agricultural industry.
He also noted the more than $8 million investment the province has made to help Indigenous communities through the Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.
"To help support Indigenous communities' participation in commercially viable resource projects, which will also help support rural economic growth," van Dijken said.
