Alberta
Province announces a new High School for Blackfalds and plans for a new Middle School in Red Deer
From the Province of Alberta
Building schools for the future
Following through on its commitment to continue building new schools, the province has announced 25 new school projects.
The Budget 2019 capital plan supports 15 new schools, including brand new high schools in Calgary, Edmonton, Leduc, Blackfalds and Langdon. Six schools are slated for replacement and four will receive modernization or additions. Together, the 25 projects will receive $397 million.
“We made a promise to Albertans that our government will continue to build new schools, and we are doing exactly that. Through our significant investment in new schools, replacements, modernizations and infrastructure upkeep, our children will continue to learn in up-to-date and safe spaces. This will result in better success in our classrooms. The future is bright for Alberta students.”
“These 25 projects confirm our government’s commitment to continue to build schools across the province. Alberta Infrastructure will continue to deliver key infrastructure projects to build prosperity for Albertans.”
Budget 2019 also includes $1.4 billion over four years to continue work on previously announced school projects across Alberta, which includes $123 million for about 250 new modular classrooms to address the most urgent needs for additional space across the province. There are more than 60 projects underway in the province. Twenty-seven are expected to be open for the 2020-21 school year, and the remaining projects are in various stages of planning and construction.
The province will also provide $527 million to school divisions for plant operations and maintenance to support the day-to-day upkeep of school facilities. Additionally, $194 million will support the capital maintenance and renewal of existing school buildings through the Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal Program.
“I am pleased that the government chose to make this announcement here in Calgary-North East. Students and families in my community will be relieved to hear that they will be getting the new high school we have needed for a long time. I’m proud that this critical funding was included in Budget 2019, as this was one of my first and most important motivations for why I wanted to represent Calgary-North East at the legislature.”
“On behalf of our students and the Calgary Board of Education, we would like to thank Minister LaGrange and Minister Panda for this important investment in school capital. We are pleased they chose to come to Calgary to make this provincial announcement and look forward to new CBE schools that will benefit students in north Calgary and in the growing community of Auburn Bay.”
The 25 capital projects are:
Community | School Authority | Project Type/Name |
---|---|---|
*Beaumont | Conseil scolaire Centre Nord (Greater North Central Francophone Education Region) | new school (K-12) |
*Blackfalds | Wolf Creek Public Schools | new high school (9-12) |
Buffalo Head Prairie | Fort Vermilion School Division | Blue Hills Community School addition & modernization |
Calgary – Auburn Bay | Calgary Board of Education | new elementary school (K-4) |
Calgary – Auburn Bay | Calgary Board of Education | new middle school (5-9) |
Calgary – north | Calgary Board of Education | new high school (10-12) |
Carstairs | Chinook’s Edge School Division | Carstairs Elementary School addition |
Cochrane | Calgary Catholic School District | new elementary/junior high school (K-9) |
Condor & Leslieville | Wild Rose School Division | David Thompson solution modernization/replacement |
*Edmonton – south east | Edmonton Public Schools | new high school (10-12) |
Edmonton – Windermere-Keswick | Edmonton Public Schools | new elementary/junior high (K-9) |
*Edmonton – Heritage Valley Town Centre | Edmonton Catholic Schools | new high school (10-12) |
Edmonton – Windermere/Keswick | Edmonton Catholic Schools | new elementary/junior high (K-9) |
*Fort Chipewyan | Northland School Division | Athabasca Delta School modernization/replacement |
*Grande Prairie | Peace Wapiti School Division | Harry Balfour School replacement |
*Langdon | Rocky View Schools | new junior/senior high school (7-12) |
*Leduc | Black Gold School Division | new high school (10-12) |
Legal | Conseil scolaire Centre Nord(Greater North Central Francophone Education Region) | new elementary/junior high school (K-9) |
Morinville | Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools | Morinville Community High School CTS modernization |
Morrin | Prairie Land School Division | Morrin School replacement |
Peace River | Conseil Scolaire du Nord-Ouest(Northwest Francophone Education Region) | École des Quatre-Vents replacement |
*Red Deer | Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools | new middle school (6-9) |
Smoky Lake | Aspen View Public Schools | H.A. Kostash replacement |
*St. Albert | St. Albert Public Schools | Bellerose Composite High School addition & modernization |
Whitecourt | Living Waters Catholic Schools | new elementary school (K-3) |
*Design funding
Alberta
Alberta government should eliminate corporate welfare to generate benefits for Albertans
From the Fraser Institute
By Spencer Gudewill and Tegan Hill
Last November, Premier Danielle Smith announced that her government will give up to $1.8 billion in subsidies to Dow Chemicals, which plans to expand a petrochemical project northeast of Edmonton. In other words, $1.8 billion in corporate welfare.
And this is just one example of corporate welfare paid for by Albertans.
According to a recent study published by the Fraser Institute, from 2007 to 2021, the latest year of available data, the Alberta government spent $31.0 billion (inflation-adjusted) on subsidies (a.k.a. corporate welfare) to select firms and businesses, purportedly to help Albertans. And this number excludes other forms of government handouts such as loan guarantees, direct investment and regulatory or tax privileges for particular firms and industries. So the total cost of corporate welfare in Alberta is likely much higher.
Why should Albertans care?
First off, there’s little evidence that corporate welfare generates widespread economic growth or jobs. In fact, evidence suggests the contrary—that subsidies result in a net loss to the economy by shifting resources to less productive sectors or locations (what economists call the “substitution effect”) and/or by keeping businesses alive that are otherwise economically unviable (i.e. “zombie companies”). This misallocation of resources leads to a less efficient, less productive and less prosperous Alberta.
And there are other costs to corporate welfare.
For example, between 2007 and 2019 (the latest year of pre-COVID data), every year on average the Alberta government spent 35 cents (out of every dollar of business income tax revenue it collected) on corporate welfare. Given that workers bear the burden of more than half of any business income tax indirectly through lower wages, if the government reduced business income taxes rather than spend money on corporate welfare, workers could benefit.
Moreover, Premier Smith failed in last month’s provincial budget to provide promised personal income tax relief and create a lower tax bracket for incomes below $60,000 to provide $760 in annual savings for Albertans (on average). But in 2019, after adjusting for inflation, the Alberta government spent $2.4 billion on corporate welfare—equivalent to $1,034 per tax filer. Clearly, instead of subsidizing select businesses, the Smith government could have kept its promise to lower personal income taxes.
Finally, there’s the Heritage Fund, which the Alberta government created almost 50 years ago to save a share of the province’s resource wealth for the future.
In her 2024 budget, Premier Smith earmarked $2.0 billion for the Heritage Fund this fiscal year—almost the exact amount spent on corporate welfare each year (on average) between 2007 and 2019. Put another way, the Alberta government could save twice as much in the Heritage Fund in 2024/25 if it ended corporate welfare, which would help Premier Smith keep her promise to build up the Heritage Fund to between $250 billion and $400 billion by 2050.
By eliminating corporate welfare, the Smith government can create fiscal room to reduce personal and business income taxes, or save more in the Heritage Fund. Any of these options will benefit Albertans far more than wasteful billion-dollar subsidies to favoured firms.
Authors:
Alberta
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