“Yes” was Premier Alison Redford’s simple response when asked about twinning Highway 575 through the Hygrade Industrial area.
Redford, along with Jack Hayden, sat down with The Drumheller Mail as the pair passed through the area during the election campaign last Thursday. One subject brought forth by Mail Editor Ossie Sheddy was the widening of the short stretch of highway which as been a priority for the town for a number of years but has not been dealt with. Hayden confirmed that all the prerequisites have been met.
“We have the land set aside, we have the service roads on the sides so we can do the expansion. The sight lines on the entries and the exits have all be engineered, it is time we move forward,” said Hayden, adding now that the Passion Play has secured its parking site, it has become more of a priority.
Redford was candid in her response.
“You can pin it down to a yes, a fairly immediate yes,” said Redford.
She explained that one of the changes made when she took leadership was to ask the treasury board to look at what the capital plan process looks like.
“What it means is, we have to start looking at where we can spend money smartly for the best outcome,” she said. “It is the same as the legislation passed in the spring around results based budgeting. The way we have budgeted in the past was always to presume first that what ever the department’s budget was before, was something that would simply be built on or cut back without saying to the department, ‘what are we trying to accomplish? How can we support communities?’
“Transportation is one of those areas where I think we need to make a pretty big shift in terms of how decisions were being made and where you can spend money to get the best bang for your buck. When you are looking at that kind of a distance (of road to be twinned) and the impact it has in terms of both community sustainability and economic development, it is something we can do much more quickly and effectively.”
Hayden adds the Conservatives are committing two and a half billion dollars more in infrastructure than other political parties.
“This is the type of project that happens with that two and a half billion,” said Hayden.
The Mail also asked about the possibility of more sharing of transportation resources between public and separate school divisions on bussing. Often busses are travelling the same routes with students.
Redford said she was open to ideas to create efficiencies, but it is best to find common ground.
“It is not just the duplication, it is the amount of time kids are spending on busses,” said Redford. “Cooperation is going to work a lot better than us coming forward with a system that is going to try and force something to happen. We are seeing some good cooperation in some jurisdictions, it will happen, it will evolve and it is something we would like to talk about.”
The Premier also chatted about rural sustainability.
“We have communities where we want to attract young families to, as people get older we want to make sure they can stay in their communities so we have generations staying in communities, and that comes fundamentally with what we did with our budget,” said Redford.
“Often you will hear other political parties say the government of Alberta spends more on infrastructure per capita than any other province in Canada. Yeah we do, and that is something the Progressive Conservative government has always done. But what that has allowed is communities to have medical facilities, schools, to be able to support transportation and to make sure we have the infrastructure in place so people can chose to come to communities or stay in communities.”
She said there are a couple programs in place to help encourage, in particular doctors, to look at getting outside the major centres.
“We announced a new way to educate doctors. The two examples we have are the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta are supporting degree programs at the University of Lethbridge and another institution in the north. This will allow people to take their first three years of a medical degree outside of the main centres, because we know that’s when we lose people. We also put more money into the Rural Clerkship Program," said Redford.
The Rural Clerkship Program provides incentives for interns to go to rural communities. Hayden says 70 per cent of those who take part in the program set up practice in rural Alberta.
Redford also touted their announcement of a long-term research fund to allow communities and businesses to apply for research grants surrounding energy.
"It could be oil sands or it could also be renewable or sustainable energy. We are saying to young entrepreneurs, ‘if you have ideas, we’re going to help you support that research.’ I think this is going to make a big difference to rural communities throughout the province," said Redford.
Hayden said Drumheller is doing the right things to maintain sustainability and growth. This includes the new schools in the valley as well as the recreation facility, the Royal Tyrrell Museum and the Dinosaur Trail Golf Course. He also lists off the professional community and the vibrant arts and merchant community.
“These are the kind of things young families will come in for…and these are the things that will draw them back,” said Hayden.
