Rachel Notley vows first budget will help absorb economic shocks

The future of Alberta's energy industry hinges on what the province does over the next few years to clean up the environment and repair its reputation on the world stage, Premier Rachel Notley told business leaders Tuesday evening.

In a major speech to the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, Notley spent much of her time reassuring the business community that her NDP government will work closely with them to protect jobs and maintain an economic climate that will help them create new ones.

The 'price of admission'

But she cautioned her audience that the province's energy industry and environmental record can no longer be seen as competing interests. A good environmental record is now "the price of admission" to the very export markets Alberta resource companies are seeking, she said.

"Getting it right on the environment is part of getting it right on the economy."

The time is "long past due" for Alberta to clean up its "environmental act," Notley said.

"If we don't get our act together on this issue, a solution is going to be imposed upon us, sooner or later, by others," she said. "By the federal government or by our markets, who will increasingly insist that the products they buy be mined and processed responsibly.

"If we want a made-in-Alberta environmental policy that works for Alberta, and keeps our capital in Alberta, then the time to act in a meaningful, realistic way, is now."

The premier noted that the chambers of commerce recently put forward a paper calling for a Canadian energy strategy, an idea endorsed by her and her fellow premiers this summer at a Council of Federations meeting.

The chambers said in a recent position paper that developing new markets for oil and gas depends on Canada's ability to build at least one new pipeline to tidewater. Notley got applause from her audience when she promised her government will work with B.C., Ontario, Quebec and the next federal government to accomplish that goal.

Notley laid out the gloomy picture that now faces the province. The benchmark price of oil was $94 a year ago, and now sits at $46. The province's gross domestic product is projected to shrink by 0.6 per cent this year. The energy industry has lost about 30,000 jobs so far this year.

Budget to act as 'shock absorber'

Her government's first budget, which will be tabled the week of Oct. 26, will act as a "shock absorber" to cushion the bumpy economic road, Notley said.

She contrasted her vision of the future with that of Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, who she said would lay off thousands of teachers and nurses in an effort to cut spending at all costs.

Maintaining a competitive business climate in the province is "not about a race to the bottom on taxes," she said, but instead depends on ensuring access to capital for Alberta businesses.

She also hinted that her government may move quickly to increase infrastructure spending in the fall budget, at a time when interest rates are low and borrowing is relatively inexpensive.

Notley will soon take her pro-business message on the road. She has speaking engagements scheduled next week in Montreal, Toronto and New York, and meetings planned with investment and banking leaders to discuss Alberta's economy.