Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise on behalf of the constituents of Airdrie-Chestermere to respond to this Government's speech from the throne.
It has been one of the most remarkable and humbling experiences of my life to represent the teachers, health professionals, entrepreneurs, neighbors, friends and family in my community to whom I owe so much for my own upbringing. It is an honor unlike any other that I've known to serve these people and I pledge to do so to the best of my ability however imperfect it may be.
My remarks today are derived from the now thousands of conversations I have had with my constituents. I feel that my vision for this province is merely a reflection of the hopes and dreams that the majority of my constituents share.
My constituents are very entrepreneurial in nature. They are concerned that our province is losing its competitive advantage as the best place in Canada to start up and run a business. They are burdened by excessive and growing amounts of government regulations. Many own or work in our province's energy sector which has been hit hard by lower commodity prices and this PC government's disastrous energy policy.
Given that oil and gas remains the primary driver of our economic engine, an important balance must be struck between creating a business environment that encourages ongoing exploration and development activity, while at the same time ensuring that Albertans receive appropriate compensation for these resources.
Unfortunately our current provincial government has demonstrated by its actions that it has no understanding of how to strike this critical balance. Tens of billions of dollars in energy investment and the tens of thousands of jobs created thereby have fled to neighboring provinces due in large part to the new royalty framework – one of the most misguided and mishandled policy debacles in Alberta's history.
Aside from reversing the damaging royalty hike imposed on our conventional oil and gas entrepreneurs by the current government, I am committed to advocating for policies that create a business environment in which energy entrepreneurs can thrive and create jobs for all Albertans. Doing so is essential to the continued prosperity of our province.
My constituents are also concerned about our health care system. Improving our health care system is a top priority for almost every one of them. They know that we are increasing health care spending at a rate that is entirely unsustainable for young Albertans – especially given our aging population. And they also know that despite all this spending, waiting times to undergo important medical procedures continue to increase.
Albertans deserve better. We need a health care reform strategy that is centered around the needs of patients, rather than the whims of a large, centralized bureaucracy in Edmonton.
Meaningful health care reform is extremely difficult at the best of times, but it is made infinitely more challenging by our current provincial government's lack of a coherent plan.
I am of the view that a competent and responsive provincial government would articulate a clear plan for health care that voters understand. Such a government would first consult with provincial stakeholders including doctors, nurses, home care workers, patients and others in developing its plan. This has not been done.
After developing the plan, an effective government would communicate the specific health care goals they intend to achieve and why these goals are necessary. It would show how they intend to achieve these objectives and what timelines and milestones to expect along the way. The current government has also failed to do this.
An effective health care reform strategy would give Albertans a personal stake in health care reform. Just as Albertans were willing to pull together in support of eliminating our debt in the 90's, I believe Albertans would be willing to do the same to save our public health care system today...but only if they are first consulted with, and the overall health reform strategy is explained clearly to everyone up front.
We can reform our health care system into one that is accessible and patient-centered without compromising universal accessibility. Dozens of western European countries have successfully tackled health care reform without abandoning their commitment to a public system. With Albertan's entrepreneurial spirit there is no reason we can't do the same.
In order to achieve this result, any Alberta health care reform strategy should set principled-based guidelines around which an acceptable plan can be developed. As a starting point, I would include the following principles:
The system must be sustainable for ourselves and future generations over the short and long term;
The system must measurably improve the quality of our health care including shorter wait times for medical procedures, improved patient outcomes, and increased access to family doctors and specialists;
The system must allow each individual the maximum amount of choice relating to personal health decisions; and,
The system must ensure the best health care professionals and facilities remain available to every individual regardless of ability to pay.
It's time to start building a health care system that we can all be proud of.
Mr. Speaker, my constituency is the fastest growing - and among the youngest in the province. We value the education of our children so very much.
In my view, ensuring all of Alberta's children receive a world class education is one of the most important roles our provincial government can play in building our province. In partnership with the important core values taught by parents, education provides a launching point for a healthy and contributing citizen. To deny a child a proper education is to greatly increase the risk of losing that child to ignorance, poverty and even crime.
The provincial government spends more per capita than any other province on education. The problem is that tens of millions of those dollars are wasted on what is a massive centralized bureaucracy in Edmonton. For example, in my view we spend millions on unnecessary standardized testing for Grade 3 students. We spend millions more finding ways to burden our classroom teachers with additional paperwork, recordkeeping and other make-work projects. Personally, I want our teachers spending their time teaching rather than filling out forms!
It is my view that the provincial government should work on moving millions of dollars in funding away from centralized bureaucracies and towards frontline teachers and staff in our children's schools. This means flowing more funding directly to individual schools, where principals, teachers, and parents know best where it is needed.
Mr. Speaker, a distinguishing and important feature of Alberta's education system is that it provides parents with a greater range of educational choices than do the systems of other jurisdictions in North America.
Although strong public schools are critical to our education system, charter schools, private schools and home-schooling provide educational opportunities and teaching methods that are sometimes unavailable in our public system. In fact, our public school boards have responded to competition from charter, home and private schooling by rolling out a diverse range of excellent core and optional courses that are second-to-none in North America which is why Anita and I send our oldest, and plan to send our younger 3 when they are old enough, to a public school in our community.
Our public schools have proven themselves able to compete with the best that charter, home and private schools have to offer. Continuing to foster this culture of educational innovation and competition will pay dividends for our teachers, parents and children for decades to come.
Mr. Speaker, one of these educational innovations that I think we should explore as a province involves student-centered learning.
As internet and computer technologies continue their exponential advances, it is becoming clear that current teaching models need to be altered. For over a hundred years, the traditional classroom model of a teacher lecturing students from in front of a chalkboard served as the best way to teach large numbers of students simultaneously.
However, this traditional model also has limitations. It often results in gifted students having their potential restricted by peers who may not learn as quickly. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some students who fail to grasp key concepts are moved on to higher grades and more complicated subject matter regardless of whether or not they are ready. This can result in frustration, the domination of a teacher's time by a few struggling students, perpetual poor grades, and even behavioral problems.
I believe Alberta has the opportunity to lead the world in the way we deliver education to our children. Using emerging technologies to complement the work of our teachers will fundamentally alter for the better the way we educate our children.
Imagine an education system where the classroom is entirely centered around the learning needs of each individual student. Imagine a learning model where a student can take the time needed and select pedagogies specific to his or her learning capacities to master a specific competency before moving on to new material. Gifted students would be given the tools to excel and reach their full potential. Students who need more time and practice to master the basics would receive such before moving on. In short, our children would be able to learn at the right pace and in the right way for them, rather than participating in the traditional one-size-fits-all approach.
Big changes such as these are difficult; however, I am convinced that Alberta's teachers and parents are up for the challenge.
Mr. Speaker – we can only build the public health and education systems Albertans want if we have the money and provincial wealth necessary to pay for it.
During the 1990s, Alberta established itself as one of the best places in the world to do business. We limited government spending growth, paid off the debt, lowered taxes, and provided tax incentives to attract new business and industries.
The people of our province proudly referred to this as the 'the Alberta Advantage.'
Although Alberta still possesses some of these same features, our edge has slipped dramatically over the last decade.
Our personal and corporate tax advantage has decreased and will soon be surpassed by several provinces. And our provincial government has no plan to regain it.
Only a few short years after declaring Alberta debt-free, the provincial government has taken on billions in new and unnecessary debt with no commitment to paying it off over the short term.
And as mentioned previously, Tens of billions of dollars in investment in Alberta's energy sector has fled to neighboring jurisdictions due in large part to the new royalty framework.
Provincial government spending has been growing out of control for some time. Over the past several years we have spent far more per capita than any other province in Canada. Government spending increases have been more than double the rate of provincial inflation plus population growth. By refusing to control spending to sustainable yearly increases, the provincial government now finds itself in the position of both taking on massive amounts of debt while facing the prospect of cutting the promised programs that Albertans have come to rely on.
The current government's failure to plan was a plan to fail.
Despite the recent damage done to our financial reputation and well being, it is not too late to turn things around.
An obvious first step would be to reverse the damaging royalty hike imposed by the current government on our conventional oil and gas entrepreneurs. However, we must also develop and implement a long term financial plan to become more economically competitive with jurisdictions around the world.
In short, it is time to restore the Alberta Advantage.
The first component in a long term financial plan for our province is to stop the financial bleeding. The current provincial government is spending beyond its means. It is accruing debt for future generations to pay.
In my view, piling up billions in debt on the backs of future generations to dull the pain of a self-inflicted spending hangover, is the height of irresponsibility. So too is expanding the size of government entitlement programs to the point where the only way to adequately fund such is to raise taxes or increase debt on future generations. Over the past several decades we have relied on non-renewable resource wealth to lower taxation rates while increasing spending on infrastructure and social programs. Continuing this course is unsustainable. We must diversify our economy and decrease our reliance on non-renewable resource revenues.
How do we do this?
In a global economy, entrepreneurs, businesses and ideas flow to where the best opportunities for success exist.
The best minds don't necessarily work where they graduate; skilled workers are highly mobile and will go wherever the best opportunities arise. A technological breakthrough is often not commercialized where created; when contemplating where best to develop a new technology or product, entrepreneurs and corporate executives generally seek out jurisdictions where levels of taxation and burdensome regulations are low. Historically, governments who gamble taxpayer money on 'investing' in the next big idea or industry, generally end up with the bill and nothing to show for it at the end of the day.
If Alberta wants to successfully diversify its economy, we must make our province more fiscally attractive to the brightest people, best entrepreneurs and most successful businesses.
I want to see an Alberta where my children and grandchildren will have jobs in industries that people are just now starting to dream about. We need to start planning today to make this a reality. A long term financial plan for Alberta will be needed to accomplish this goal. I believe any such plan should include the following three components:
First - Limit yearly government spending increases to the rate of inflation plus population growth.
Second - As economic growth increases and government revenues begin to outstrip newly restricted spending levels, invest the majority of resultant budget surpluses in Alberta's Heritage Fund.
And third - As annual earnings from the Heritage Fund increase, thereby replacing our reliance on non-renewable resource revenues, gradually begin lowering personal and corporate income taxes.
This kind of sustainable fiscal planning will accomplish the goal of diversifying our economy and will leave our children with even greater opportunities than we enjoy today.
Mr. Speaker, it's time for Alberta to lead again. It is time to restore the Alberta Advantage. We can and we must do better. We owe it to generations of Albertans past, present, and future to do so. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Video
Rob's response to the throne speech (Part 1). Hansard video February 18, 2010.
Rob's response to the throne speech (Part 2). Hansard video February 18, 2010.
