WESTLOCK — Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken is summing up Alberta’s 2024 budget as a “very responsible” budget that may be difficult for Albertans in the short-term but is focused on building a stronger future.
The provincial UCP government released their 2024-25 budget Feb. 29, with a focus on tightening the purse strings, a budgeting process that for many local residents and Albertans across the province, means “a lot of asks.”
“A lot of decisions have to be made and I think the minister and the government made decisions that put us in a good position to provide the services that Albertans need and deserve but also then, planning for the future,” said van Dijken.
“I believe it’s a responsible budget — budgeting that is a return to a balanced budget by the end of the year. That was important for us,” he added, noting such stringent planning will help ensure there are no “big surprises” down the road. “We commit to balancing the budget but at the same time we’re very prudent (with) forecasts and benchmarks, utilizing benchmarks I believe are very realistic, very practical and allowing us to feel confident that we’re on the right path.”
van Dijken noted several capital projects impacting the region in this year’s budget but could not speak to every single one pointing out that “not all of the projects have been announced or identified.”
“The Athabasca bridge (near Fort Assiniboine) will continue to proceed, it’s on time and it’s coming along well,” said van Dijken, noting the project by the industrial park in Westlock will also be completed this year. “They are going to start construction on the Highway 44 passing lanes, south of Westlock. That construction will start this summer,” he said, pointing out another capital project at the Westlock Healthcare Centre, that has been delayed a bit.
“We do have an expansion that’s expected for the MPR … it’s essentially their unit for sterilization and for operations and that will assist them in increasing their surgeries in the Westlock Hospital,” he explained. “That’s a goal that we’ve had for a number of years and hopefully that comes around this year.”
The modernization project at Barrhead Composite High School is also continuing with design and the replacement school in Waskatenau should start construction later on in the year and be ready for the fall of 2026. Van Dijken noted upgrades to the trades (and) technical school at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, which also is receiving funding this year.
“We have a lot of apprentices that go (there) from our Westlock, Barrhead and Athabasca area. That’s an important one I think for our region.”
van Dijken spoke on the new taxes being introduced and noted that the electric vehicle tax is recognition of the fuel tax collected on internal combustible engines that goes towards repair and maintenance of Alberta roads.
“I think what we have to recognize as we transition to electric vehicles that we have to continue to recognize (the) user-pay model is an important part of the strategy for responsible management,” he said, noting 44 States in the U.S. have implemented a similar system for electric vehicles.
Electric vehicle owners will have to pay $200 annually when they register their vehicles, in lieu of the fuel tax that traditional combustion engine vehicles have to pay when they fill up the tank. The new electric vehicles tax will come into effect in 2024-25 and will generate $1 million in revenue that year. In 2025-26 the tax will bring in $5 million, with $8 million expected the following year. The fee is in line with what the province estimates drivers pay annually in their fuel tax. The tax will not apply to hybrid vehicles.
“I believe it’s a good director to go. It’s about the same amount of tax as 30 litres of fuel a week,” he added, noting the vaping tax speaks to the concerns over health challenges with vaping and goes hand in hand with the province’s tobacco tax, to help cover health costs of that activity.
“It’s not completely without its risks. It was felt it was important, especially for our youth, to have that identified, that there are challenges (starting to be) recognized in vaping that were not necessarily evident earlier on.”
In two years, Albertans will be saving money on their taxes with a new personal income tax bracket of eight per cent on the first $60,000 of income. That delay is also about introducing the tax break in “a manageable way,” he said.
“Everybody will continue to benefit from the increasing personal tax exemption, but it was felt it would be prudent to delay on the eight per cent tax on the first $60,000,” said van Dijken.
The recent announcement on the new stand-alone Stollery Children’s Hospital is another budget item that is important for this region said van Dijken, noting many families in the constituency are big supporters of it and have benefited from the hospital.
“There is money being set aside for the planning of that. It is a very, very large project, a lot of planning has to go into it,” said van Dijken. “But once we get that hospital in place, then we free up a bunch of other spaces where the Stollery is currently occupying.”
With files from Jennifer Henderson.
