Local groups are keen to see what kind of cash will or won't come their way when Alberta drops its provincial budget on Thursday.
Big Lake Environmental Support Society (BLESS) would like to see money for deteriorating infrastructure and “long-overdue facilities,” said Dave Burkhart secretary and board member for the society since 2003.
“We've seen with the pandemic an unprecedented increase in visitors to the park that's having an adverse effect on natural areas,” Burkhart said.
On Feb. 24 the government will reveal the budget Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has said will be about moving forward.
“We’ve got such a bright future ahead of us. And this budget is all about seizing that opportunity,” he said in a social media video posted on Feb. 18.
Kenney said the budget will focus on three things: health care, getting Albertans back to work, and sticking to the fiscal plan.
The first thing to watch out for when the budget drops, Kenney said, will be big investments in health care to build heath-care capacity to treat more patients.
“We’ve got to learn to live safely with COVID-19 without the need for damaging restrictions that limit our personal freedoms and hurt our economy. And that means having a health-care system that can quickly handle any future surges of the virus,” he said.
Orissa Shima, a nurse at the Sturgeon Community Hospital and president of the local nurses’ union, said they haven’t had a chance to discuss the upcoming budget as they spent the last local meeting focused on going through the changes in the new collective agreement.
COVID is also still an issue at the Sturgeon Hospital, and nurses have been trying to get through this wave, said Shima.
“We’re tired. Many have been off with COVID themselves or have had kids with COVID. In general, we are very concerned about moves to privatize,” she said.
Shima said there are not enough nurses for privatization and creating dual-track health care makes no sense.
“Most members understand nothing good for health care will come out of a UCP budget, so we just brace for it and keep doing the best we can,” she said.
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron did not respond to The Gazette's request for an interview, but Amy Nastase, communication advisor for the city, said in an email city council is looking forward to the budget's release.
“It is our hope that the province will partner with municipalities to remove barriers to investment, and set the conditions for growth post-pandemic, to the benefit of St. Albertans and Albertans, alike,” she said.
Nastase said cities are critical to the economy and to Alberta’s recovery plan.
“Partnership with the provincial government to make investments in community infrastructure, transportation, and affordable housing are vital to set the conditions for post-pandemic provincial growth,” she said.
After the budget is released, Nastase continued, city administration will be doing an initial assessment of how the budget will impact city operations and more information will be provided once that is complete, “including an agenda report scheduled for the March 21 St. Albert city council meeting,” she said.
Schools in the region also have concerns and hopes about the upcoming budget.
In an email to The Gazette, Paula Power, communications manager for St. Albert Public Schools, said the board has concerns about the weighted moving average funding, which was brought in by the province in September 2020 to update the funding model.
“Our kindergarten numbers for next fall are indicative of another year of growth and the weighted moving average model means that our funding is based partly on previous years' enrolments,” said Power.
St. Albert Public is, however, hopeful for several funding increases to support things such as curriculum implementation, if it goes ahead; mental-health and counseling services; teacher bargaining; a new high school for Erin Ridge; school filtration; and transportation.
“[We want to see] full funding for fourth- and fifth-year high school students — the pandemic has hit our high school students very hard; many may want to return for another full year of high school. This will be a burden on our high schools, with only 25 per cent, and 50 per cent of the funding,” Power continued.
St. Albert Public would also like to revert back to the “prior model of funding [for] PUF (program unit funding) students and the supports they need to be successful — this is more important than ever before,” said Power.
In his social media video, Kenny said the budget will double down with big investments in employment and skills training.
Kenney ended the video on a more fiscally prudent note: “We will stick to our fiscal plan. Albertans elected this government to get spending under control and our fiscal house in order after four disastrous years under the previous government.
“I'm proud that we've held the line on spending for the last few years and will continue to show discipline to put us on our path to balancing the budget.”
