We can be Alberta’s Energy Central

The Medicine Hat employment situation continues to stabilize with Statistics Canada reporting in its latest city-specific job numbers there are nearly 4,000 more Hatters employed in April 2017 than at the same time in 2016.

While this improved job trend continues for our city, there remains room for further growth for our region and province.

As the provincial government takes further steps to transition away from coal following the decision by the federal government in 2012 to close coalburning electricity plants by 2030, the door is now wide open for the development of the plethora of renewable energy projects dotting the southeastern Alberta landscape.

It also provides an opportunity to utilize the region’s natural gas resources.

By 2030, the goal is to meet 30 per cent of the province’s energy needs through renewable energy production. But just as important for our region, the remaining 70 per cent of production is expected to be produced by natural gas generation.

Southeastern Alberta and the surrounding area has an abundance of natural gas, sun and wind resources which bodes well for our region when it comes to employment and economic development. We can be Alberta’s Energy Central. But the history and traditions of southeastern Alberta are steeped in the agricultural sector — a past on which many families built their future.

So it is with no shortage of pride when I heard Alberta Beef Producers chair Bob Lowe during an MLA reception in Edmonton heap praise on this government’s handling of the bovine tuberculosis outbreak that affected many southeastern Alberta ranchers — a sentiment echoed by a number of producers themselves.

I’d like to thank Agriculture and Forestry Minister Oneil Carlier for his dedicated efforts to ensure southeastern Alberta ranchers were supported during the height of the crisis ... efforts that have also seen many now rebuilding their herds.

I would also like to thank Environment and Parks Minister Shannon Phillips as well as Seniors and Housing Minister Lori Sigurdson, who visited our city in the last month.

Those latest ministerial visits bring the total since May 2015 to nearly 30 visits to Medicine Hat and area by 17 different ministers plus the premier.

Hatters deserve no less from their provincial government, though, one would be hard pressed to recall when such a benchmark was last met.

The funding announcement by Minister Phillips while she was in the city will contribute significantly to allowing the Veinerville lift station to be moved and is of particular benefit to rural water users in Cypress County east of the city.

While it will ensure a safe and reliable source for the hamlet perched on the bluffs above the city, it also offers the potential to vastly expanding access to potable water for no shortage of county residents to points east of Veinerville.

There will be challenges ahead for our city and province which should temper anyone from being overly optimistic. However, there is enough potential for an economic recovery that the motivations of those who are overly pessimistic should be questioned.

(Bob Wanner is MLA (NDP) for the Medicine Hat constituency.)