One of the three men vying for provincial Progressive Conservative party leadership Thomas Lukaszuk last week vowed to “remember Bonnyville” should he be voted in as Alberta's new Premier next month.
Speaking exclusively to the Nouvelle, the Edmonton – Castle Downs MLA shared his views on a variety of local and regional issues in a lengthy sit down last week, stating unequivocally that several local projects currently on hold courtesy of the provincial government would be “closely looked at” should he come into office Sept. 20.
“The platform that I have sat down and carefully developed really divides itself up into two parts, two equally important parts,” Lukaszuk said. “One deals with economic development, the stuff that pays for everything, and the other with social development, the stuff that really speaks to our quality of life, and I'm a strong believer that you can't have one without the other, they are very much interdependent.”
He added, “Economically, we are very fortunate here in the way that the oil and gas sector has been phenomenal for this province and will continue to be for many, many years to come. But what we need to do moving forward is diversify our market so that we are not singularly dependant on one resource.”
Lukaszuk discussed exploring possibilities in the agricultural sector, while also stating the province had to seriously look into identifying “the next natural product” after oil and gas.
“The last time we ever did anything substantial with regards to development of resources was Premier (Peter) Lougheed, 43 years ago, when he invested in oil and gas, and I think it's time we started to look into doing the same thing again,” Lukaszuk said. “I always say the Stone Age didn't end because they ran out of stone back then, the Stone Age ended because bronze came along. We need to start thinking about what our bronze is going to be, not necessarily to replace oil and gas, but certainly to supplement it.”
On the social side, Lukaszuk was keen to point out that for any significant growth to occur in Alberta, the provincial government had to look into investing in infrastructure that he claims has been “forgotten” over the past number of years while the province has dealt with reducing its debt.
“For this province to grow and for us to be able to advance on the economic side of things, we need to have people, skilled people that are able to carry out our jobs. That means we have to train our own and retain them so they don't want to leave this province, while also attracting more from the outside,” Lukaszuk said. “The currency by which you attract and retain is not about dollars anymore, because there's always somebody else willing to pay more, it's about quality of life.”
He added, “People will not come to Bonnyville and young people will not stay in Bonnyville if they do not have the quality of life they expect and deserve.”
“One thing that has taken a beating over the past few years is our infrastructure. We didn't build for 20 years while we worked to reduce our debt, and we hardly even maintained for those 20 years and that's coming home to roost now. If you were to go into rural Alberta, they will tell you about the condition of water lines, sewers and the poor condition of our roads.”
He added, “They will tell you we're short on seniors facilities, short on hospitals, short on schools, and if you think we're short already, consider the fact that this province is growing by roughly 100,000 people every year, so we need to ramp up on social construction.”
Lukaszuk noted that Albertans could trust him when he said it would be a priority of his to “rebuild the province”, stating it was time “we build a province we are going to be proud of” rather than following what he described as previous administrations mentality of building a work camp.
Having discussed his platform at length, Lukaszuk was keen to reassure Albertans that he would look out for their best interests whenever an issue or potentially problematic situation occurs, with the controversy surrounding the federal government's temporary foreign worker program of particular interest to him.
“The issues surrounding the temporary foreign worker program is something I'm quite passionate about being an immigrant myself, but, despite the recent news coverage, this isn't a new problem. This is something that has been dogging Alberta for decades,” Lukaszuk said. “I know why the federal government is doing what they're doing – they're not making these changes because they don't understand what it's doing to Alberta, they know what it's doing to us. They're doing this because of crass politics, because this decision sells well in Ontario and they need to win seats in Ontario, it's that simple.”
He added, “I'm sick of hearing that we need to sit down with the Prime Minister, or we need to sit down with the Minister of Immigration, because they know what's going on. For me, there is only one solution – we need the same deal here in Alberta that Quebec has.”
“Quebec is the only province that negotiated autonomy on immigration, which means they get to decide who and how many, but my idea is if it's good enough for Quebec then it's good enough for Alberta. The time for talking is over, we all know it's time for action and as Premier, I will be demanding Alberta is given the same deal as Quebec with regards (to the program) and with regards to immigration.”
Having visited the Lakeland on numerous occasions during his time as a provincial politician, Lukaszuk said he was “very well versed” with the problems and issues currently affecting the local area and he was keen to reassure Bonnyville residents that they “would not be forgotten” should he be successful in his leadership bid.
“The big thing in this area right now is that of (the regional waterline from Cold Lake), and that all falls into quality of life. How are we going to keep our young people here in Bonnyville if we don't have a steady supply of water?” Lukaszuk questioned. “There is nothing more basic than water. This region desperately needs to grow and for it to grow it needs a water supply, it's that fundamentally simple.”
Lukaszuk also discussed the merits of tweaking the advanced education system so as to bring programs to students rather than forcing students to leave home in order to enroll in their particular program of interest.
“The big problem with advanced education right now is that whenever a young person wants to pursue a career in nearly anything these days, they are forced to leave the Bonnyvilles and the Cold Lakes to get educated,” Lukaszuk said. “That needs to change, we have to create opportunities for young people to pursue a post-secondary education, but remain in Bonnyville should they wish to do so.”
He added, “There's absolutely no reason why the University of Alberta cannot deliver a nursing program at Lakeland College, the problem right now is these institutions don't see anything in it for them. They know that if they wait long enough, young people will go to Edmonton and learn to become a nurse. We need to change that way of thinking.”
Another think Lukaszuk believes needs to change is the public's opinion of its provincial government and he says the only way that's going to happen is for Alberta's next leader to have an “open book approach” to the way they govern.
“There are a number of things the next leader has to do to ensure it doesn't fall into the same patterns of previous administrations, the most important of which I believe is operating with total and full openness,” Lukaszuk said. “I already indicated that I will be asking the auditor general to continue with his investigation and review everything he feels needs to be reviewed.”
Having spent much of the past 14 years bouncing from ministry to ministry on the provincial scene, even spending time as Deputy Premier, Lukaszuk said he is the only candidate with the necessary knowledge and experience needed to lead the province “the way it needs to be led.”
“I'm fortunate enough that at my age, I have more political experience, more elected parliamentary experience than both of my opponents put together, so I have that intuitive knowledge of Alberta and the issues facing the province,” Lukaszuk said. “I've lived this province for the past 32 years, I've lived its issues for the past 14 years as a cabinet member, but this is the first opportunity where the real Thomas gets to come out and I get to paint my own picture of what I think this province should look like.”
He added, “Out of the three of us, I know I'm the only one capable of hitting the ground running as Premier the day after the election. I'm the only one that is coming out and offering fresh ideas and fresh solutions to problems. I'm the only one that actually knows these problems without needing to be briefed, and I'm the only one that has been forthright throughout my entire time in politics.
“Whenever I had issues with the Premier in the past, I brought them to light and was subsequently canned as a result. Whenever I've had issues with my colleagues, I've brought them up which has upset them. I was the first person that came out and admitted that we have lost the moral authority to govern, now everybody is saying that.
“At the end of the day, Albertans deserve a Premier they can trust. They need somebody that will be able to admit their mistakes and not throw their staff or volunteers under the bus whenever a problem comes to light. Most importantly though, they deserve a Premier that intuitively knows right from wrong and they need somebody that lives and breathes the issues facing this province and who knows how to deal with them.
“I believe I am that person.”
