Horner talks budget

Lakeland residents who attended the provincial budget consultation session in Bonnyville this past Wednesday were primarily concerned with two things: balancing the budget and keeping up with growing infrastructure demands, a trend that was echoed across the province.

Minister of Finance Doug Horner stopped in Bonnyville as part of a provincial tour to hear what Albertans felt should be prioritized in the next budget, touching on topics ranging from current priorities to future savings plans.

He said he has been consulting across the province with CEOs and CFOs from the major corporations who are heavily invested in the Lakeland area to get an idea of what they feel the big budgetary issues are, but he added, "it's really important to be in the community and listen to the community leaders and residents of the community about what their priorities are for the budget."

Throughout the consultation process, Horner said a few trends have emerged, which will be taken into consideration when creating the next budget.

"Having all these consultations, all of these surveys, you do start to see some common themes and some common priorities," he explained. "Health and education are common priorities across the board. Infrastructure's another one across the board. Making sure our operating budget is balanced is a priority in everybody's lives, homes and businesses."

He also explained a major concern shared in all the consultations so far has been ensuring infrastructure needs are met and do not fall behind the growth the province is currently experiencing.

During the town hall-style meeting, residents were given the opportunity to voice their thoughts during a budgetary exercise, ranking their priorities when it comes to health, education, agriculture, economic development and social services. The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund was also discussed, as well as the Alberta Sustainability Fund.

In terms of balancing the budget, one resident, a former teacher and current housewife, said ensuring the budget balances at the end of the day is a priority.

"We're worried about the future generation," she said. "We're also showing them that money is easy come, easy go...I live in a home, I take care of a home. My budget has to be balanced every month, for my responsibilities, for my children's fiscal wellness. I think the government needs to do the same."

Craig Copeland, Mayor of the City of Cold Lake, took an opposing point of view, explaining, "Because of the way the province is growing in leaps and bounds, especially here in the resource sector, I think you've got to start borrowing money...When you do the budget, determine what it is you need to spend and if your revenue is not going to meet that target, you're going to have to borrow money. We can't sit around and watch schools and hospitals crumble away in Alberta."

Infrastructure was a primary concern for those in attendance and Genia Leskiw, MLA for Bonnyville - Cold Lake, discussed the issue at length, saying the Cold Lake Oilsands create a large portion of Alberta's wealth and the region needs to start seeing more benefits.

"The oil and the money is coming from a good portion of the Athabasca Oilsands, particularly the Cold Lake Oilsands," she said. "We feel like we're a little Fort McMurray and we would like to see the same benefits given to Fort McMurray given to this area."

In terms of what infrastructure specifically needs to be looked at, Leskiw listed the area's over-populated schools, the unfinished wing in the Cold Lake hospital and the cost to transport educational specialists to the region. Though she said the area is grateful for the $13 million recently dedicated to expanding seniors' housing in Bonnyville, even after the two phases are complete, there will still be a waiting list. She also mentioned education and economic needs in the local aboriginal communities.

"We talked about Highway 63," she said. "Well, you should travel Highway 28. I do that sometimes two or three times a week and you can't pass anybody because it's just a heavy stream of traffic and trucks. The havoc that they do on our road system is tremendous."

She added the area is very fortunate to have a good primary health care network in Bonnyville, but there are still needs to be met.

"We are very, very fortunate. But there are a lot of things we need," she said. "We don't have a homeless shelter. We deal with crises in our office all the time, families that are in crisis and we have nowhere to put them."

She likened the situation to Robin Hood, with the province robbing from the rich to give to the poor.

"There are a lot of things that this area needs," Leskiw said. "We feel that we're as good as For McMurray, if not better, and we would like to have the same opportunities as Fort McMurray. Take from the rich, give to the poor."

After the consultation session, Horner said he was impressed with the turnout, which was higher than any of the other sessions so far across the province, and he invited all Albertans to have their say by filling out the online survey at dollarsandsense.alberta.ca.

"I encourage all Albertans to go and do the survey," he said. "We're up over 4,000 respondents to that now. All of that comes together and builds the building blocks for what will be the budget in the new year."