Take the money and run Rural Ramblings
Jason Kenney has unveiled the plan or, I hope, just part of it, for Alberta’s economic recovery. Before I plunge in, I’m going to say that I’m completely non-partisan, I don’t belong to or support any political party. Each one has one or more policies that have merit and no doubt more than one individual that are professional and capable.
Honestly, I am less than impressed by the plan. I wonder how long it took to conceive? Bringing forward corporate tax cuts, when it was dubious in the first round, as companies took the money and ran to the U.S. laying off people on the way looks like blatant favoritism to big business and the one per cent that lead or should I say control us. We had promises of 50,000 jobs before COVID-19 hit but it didn’t happen. I read a CBC article that said Alberta has lost 250,000 more jobs, 50,000, maybe, is a drop in the bucket.
May’s unemployment figures for Alberta show 15.5 per cent. I shudder to think what June’s seasonally adjusted numbers may be. Locally, the Coal Valley Mine is being mothballed with over 400 people laid off for who knows how long. I’m not against oil and gas, I’ve worked on oil and gas facilities, however, demand is declining, even without COVID19 it was struggling. If giants like Chesapeake have to file for bankruptcy how many more will follow?
There is no doubt in my mind that oil and gas is still going to be a major part of our energy requirements for a long time yet but I believe the we’re on the reverse side of the demand curve and smart, agile companies that can adopt and adapt will survive, others, I’m not so sure. Getting investment in any oil and gas project going forward is likely to be a very hard sell
Infrastructure spending is good, but I have doubts about schools and hospitals both systems are in crisis because of COVID-19 and to be honest I think they were in crisis before that. How do we know we’re going to need more schools and hospitals when everything we do may have to change? Maybe let the dust settle a bit. If the government wants to spend on health then long-term care homes and senior care at home can certainly use it before all the deaths get forgotten and swept under the carpet.
So, what else could be done? Well, the roads need fixing. Then maybe we could try and catch up with a lot of our trading nations and at least twin the railway lines. Then, talking of lines why not bury the power lines? Reduce power outages and the risk of fires from downed lines. With more people working from home and running businesses the Internet is crucial yet, in many areas including my own, people are under served and over charged. Get a better service going. I see Scotland is considering a jobs guarantee for 16-25-year-olds with training. On education, why not make post secondary education courses free for all and concentrate on online delivery, invest in retraining and training for the economy of the future. These are just a few ideas that could help. Government, all government need to think and act out of the box. And, no more task forces please. We don’t have the time to kick the can down the road.