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Mr. Speaker, it is truly an honour to rise in the Assembly today and present Budget 2025.
As I do, I am keenly aware that we are in a particularly interesting time in our history. By that I mean we are also in a time of change -- here in Alberta, in Canada, certainly south of the border, and, indeed, around the world.
But, Mr. Speaker, you’ll notice that I did not say that these times are unprecedented.
“Unprecedented”, by definition, is something that has never been known or experienced before.
And any Albertan who has a few years under their belt knows that our province is no stranger to change or challenge, be it:
The adversity of Mother Nature: from the “dust bowl” drought of the 1930s to the Jasper wildfire of last year.
The whimsy of economic forces, from the market crashes of 1929 and 2008 to name two, booms and busts of the oil cycle that can sometimes happen over a period of mere weeks or last for years.
Damaging federal policies, from Trudeau the Elder’s National Energy Program in the 1970s to Trudeau Junior’s production cap, impact assessment act, and tanker bans today.
Or the potential tariffs from the US administration, a phenomenon that is both new and old.
Alberta has never hesitated to rise to any challenge, to fight for what’s fair or fight against whatever might threaten our quality of life.
And Mr. Speaker, we will never hesitate.
So, as we once again see change and challenges, know that experience has prepared us for whatever may come our way.
In April 1973 during Question Period, the then Minister of Mines and Minerals responded to questions about potential tariffs on our products by President Richard Nixon.
Later that day Premier Peter Lougheed responded to concerns over tariffs by saying that Canada should develop our own domestic oil supply to meet the needs of Canadians. He asked in this very chamber whether the “utilization of crude oil sources from Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia” by parts of Canada was security of supply.
How very familiar.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t use the word unprecedented because that is not the situation we are in now. Fifty-two years ago, Peter Lougheed was addressing many of the issues that we face now, with many of the same questions we find ourselves asking as Albertans and Canadians today.
These are not new problems. But we are in times that will require us to strive to new levels of courage and tenacity.
That brings us to the theme of Budget 2025: “Meeting the Challenge”.
Meeting the challenge means being clear-eyed about what’s right in front of us and being ready to address it. It means doing the right things to ensure we remain steadfast in the face of headwinds.
It means keeping the ground we’ve worked so hard to gain, while also doing what we can to maintain our advantages so we can continue building on them for future generations.
Mr. Speaker, Budget 2025 is meeting the challenges facing Alberta with responsible decisions to fund the priorities of today.
It’s meeting the challenge of the cost of living.
Population growth and geopolitical uncertainty are not the only challenges we face. The cost of living is an ever-present burden that individuals and families across Alberta and Canada are struggling to bear.
One year ago, I stood in this Chamber and said that we would bring in the tax cut we promised in the 2023 election in two phases, beginning in 2026 with a 9 per cent tax bracket on the first 60,000 of income and then fully implementing the 8 per cent bracket in 2027.
As the Premier stated on the day she announced the tax cut, it’s your money. You earned it, not the government.
Fifty years ago, in Budget 1975, the government of the time lowered personal income taxes on Albertans due to, and I quote, “a time of substantial increases in the cost of living.”
The average savings for each Alberta taxpayer at the time was approximately $140, and for an average family the savings was approximately $98.
Mr. Speaker, this is a government that is proud of being there for our fellow Albertans when they need it. Our balance sheet is stronger than that of many Alberta families.
I am very proud to announce that Budget 2025 will fully implement the tax cut this year, two years ahead of schedule. And I can assure Albertans that the savings will far exceed those realized in 1975, saving individuals up to 750 dollars a year and families up to 1500 dollars a year.
Mr. Speaker, Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge of the cost of living by helping families move towards a brighter future and adding more to each and every one of their pay cheques.
We have allocated a significant amount in contingency for natural disasters and unanticipated cost pressures that may arise throughout the year. This year we have significantly increased that amount to potentially address the uncertainty around tariffs, and the uncertainty around public bargaining settlements.
We hope that our American friends and neighbours will understand the value of our trading relationship. They enjoy tremendous benefits from our energy exports, paying a lower price than from other markets and allowing them to fuel their vehicles and heat their homes.
But we cannot depend on it. That is why we have allocated additional contingency dollars to the contingency this year, to address any potential impacts of tariffs from the United States if they are applied, whether that happens next week, next month or a year from now.
Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge of uncertainties in trade and security by focusing on diplomacy and supporting the economy.
Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge of a rapidly growing population with continued investments in education and health care.
Before I speak in more detail about this year’s budget, I am proud to share how our government’s continued hard work has created a solid foundation – ensuring we are well-positioned to maintain the Alberta advantage, come what may.
Now, and throughout our history, resiliency and optimism have been in our DNA and are two reasons why we always overcome our challenges.
Through our government’s efforts, we have created the most business-friendly environment in North America, we have lowered corporate taxes to be competitive, while bringing in more revenue than under the previous rate, attracted international investment from around the world, supported small businesses, start-ups, scale-ups and attracted continually high levels of venture capital, while improving and maintaining the highest level of productivity in Canada.
But we’re not done.
We are continuing to cut red tape, working to save Alberta businesses even more than the $2.75 billion they’ve saved since 2019. We are maintaining Canada’s most competitive tax regime, for residents and businesses alike. As the province with the fewest exemptions under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, we are the national leader in ending barriers to interprovincial trade.
We are also supporting and growing our energy industry because we know the world will look to us for their energy needs for decades to come.
As the rest of Canada now realizes that the most powerful asset we have as a nation is the world’s most innovative energy sector, it is perhaps a moment in history where we can grow our economy as a province, a nation, and a continent to new heights.
Key to that audacious goal will be growing our skilled workforce to ensure we have the labour force industry needs for the future. Building our trades workforce, training more nurses and other health care workers, empowering thinkers to harness the power of artificial intelligence and quantum computing, and so many more.
We are seeing growth in every corner of our province, particularly as we work to diversify our economy.
There are major investments outside of traditional oil and gas happening in this province -- in fact, investment by industries outside of oil and gas extraction is forecast to reach $54 billion by 2027.
That includes Dow Chemical and Linde’s investment of $13.6 billion just outside Edmonton, and companies like De Havilland, which plans to construct a new aircraft manufacturing facility near Calgary.
Dairy Innovation West has broken ground on a new $70 million milk concentration plant near Blackfalds, and Mondi Group has acquired the Hinton pulp mill with the intention of constructing a more than $500-million expansion.
We often talk about the Alberta Advantage. It was first coined in August 1993 in this very Chamber.
The Throne Speech from that year stated that the government “will not try to buy prosperity through higher taxes. Instead, it will build on Alberta's existing advantage of low taxes and its free enterprise spirit to develop the most competitive economy in North America. The government will strengthen the Alberta Advantage and sell it aggressively around the globe.”
Again, we look to the example of those who came before us, strengthening us as we stand in the face of adversity.
All this to say that the Alberta Advantage is alive and well – and recognized by not only the many businesses and investors who choose us, but also by the many individuals and families from across the country and the globe who are choosing to relocate to our province.
We are expecting that Alberta’s economy will continue to grow this year, even in the face of a volatile landscape of Canada-US trade relations and lower global demand.
We welcome newcomers with open arms, but we are also seeing the pressures such growth can bring. After our population accelerated at one of the fastest rates on the planet in 2023 and 2024, Alberta’s public services are feeling a strain.
Our housing market facing record levels of demand, rose to the challenge with almost 48,000 units in 2024, exceeding all other provinces on a per capita basis. We expect that our homebuilders will continue to build throughout this year, but there will still be growth that we must meet. Many who come to this province take time to join the workforce and enter the tax rolls, all while utilizing our world-class schools, and health care system.
In this budget process we were faced with difficult choices. We are being buffeted by forces that exceed our ability to influence or predict. We rely on our fiscal framework to guide budget decisions, and closely evaluate our revenue throughout the year. Once a deficit is reported in the year-end financial statements, the government has three years to return to a balanced budget.
As affordability, economic, trade and growth pressures affect our province and our government, we found ourselves in a situation that requires us to address those pressures.
Budget 2025, if passed, will have a deficit of $5.2 billion. It contains the largest-ever expenditure levels in our health care system, meeting the challenge of population growth and ensuring Albertans have access to health care where and when they need it.
Our education system, facing record enrolment growth, has an increase of funding that will bring total funding above $10 billion. By 2027-28 education funding is expected to increase to over $11 billion.
These increases mean that our schools will be able to hire more than 4,000 education staff, including teachers, educational assistants, bus drivers and other support staff.
Our capital investment in new school infrastructure totals 2.6 billion dollars over three years and will create the classrooms and facilities for 90,000 students over the next four years, and 200,000 in total over the next seven.
Our total capital budget is 26.1 billion dollars over the next three years, an increase of 1.1 billion dollars from Budget 2024, supporting more than 26,000 direct jobs through 2027-28.
Budget 2025 also allocated more than 3.6 billion dollars over three years to expand our health care facilities. This includes funding for continuing care, under the new agency Assisted Living Alberta, and $207 million for funding in compassionate care facilities that will provide care for adults and youth suffering from mental health or addiction issues who are a danger to themselves or others. Budget 2025 also includes funding for expansions to the Misericordia and Grey Nuns hospitals in Edmonton.
Budget 2025 is meeting the challenges facing Alberta with responsible decisions to fund the priorities of today.
In a time of tremendous uncertainty, geopolitical challenges from around the world, whether they be directly across our border or in other hemispheres, immense population growth, and continued dereliction of leadership from Ottawa, Alberta will meet the challenge.
For decades, the United States has been our largest trading partner. Uncountable billions of dollars have crossed our shared border.
Last year, we exported over $100 billion to the United States, the vast majority of those exports were products from our energy sector.
I mentioned that we are the province with fewest barriers to interprovincial trade. Those impediments to the free flow of goods are at the forefront of the national conversation at this moment in time.
Budget 2025 is an investment in economic supports, but also an investment that builds on our past strengths. We stand on the shoulders of giants, hopefully we can finally rectify the mistakes of the past and meet the challenge of the moment, and other provinces can permit the free flow of goods from coast to coast to coast.
Alberta’s government is continuing to build the workforce we need today and for the future to grow and diversify our economy. Included in this budget are investments in Norquest College to expand their skills training capabilities, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology for a new Advanced Skills Centre, redevelopments of the Campus Centre at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology,
and a major investment in the Biological Sciences Centre at the University of Alberta and a multidisciplinary hub at the University of Calgary.
Rural communities are vital to Alberta’s success. Targeted investments in Budget 2025 will support their growth and prosperity. The University of Lethbridge is continuing to receive funding to expand their rural medical teaching school, and Budget 2025 contains funding to attract and retain health care providers in rural Alberta. The budget is also providing additional funding for health care facilities from Beaverlodge to Cardston.
Mr. Speaker, you may have noticed that for Budget 2025 we are looking for inspiration from the past. That does not mean we are not looking forward. But as we plan for a prosperous future, we cannot ignore our history.
I return to a speech made in this Chamber in 1976, where in the introduction of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Act Premier Lougheed stated that “the reliance for services by the provincial government and hence the citizens upon revenues from non-renewable resources is a factor that needs to be frequently underlined.”
Nearly five decades later, that reliance is more evident than ever.
Resource revenue is the Achilles Heel of the province. We will not be able to rely on that revenue indefinitely. That is why our government has taken the audacious and bold step of releasing a plan to grow the Heritage Savings Trust Fund to 250 billion by 2050.
At that time, we will be able to replace at least ten billion dollars of our resource revenue with investment income from the fund while continuing to grow the fund, ensuring that future generations will be able to continue to provide the services and infrastructure needed to ensure the highest standard of living.
We are meeting the challenge of securing Alberta’s long- term prosperity.
Mr. Speaker, opportunity can arise from challenges – tough choices we are making today will lead to new opportunities of tomorrow.
Like our predecessors have shown us, the work we do now will ensure future generations of Albertans continue to enjoy the Alberta advantage.
We are in a difficult time. We are facing challenges that have tested the mettle of some of our greatest leaders. But the choices we make today can create a future that is prosperous and maintains the benefits and values we enjoy today.
We are meeting the challenge, and after 120 years as a province, this budget maintains the promise of Alberta; that of a province that is strong and free.
Thank you.