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Province announces massive commitments to rural Alberta

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Building up the rural Alberta economy

Alberta’s government has unveiled a plan to drive economic growth and address challenges unique to rural communities.

Rural Alberta is a driving force in the economy and the new Economic Development in Rural Alberta Plan will complement current government initiatives while supporting diversification and job opportunities in rural communities.

The five-year plan focuses on key issues in rural Alberta, including economic development-enabling infrastructure, rural business supports and entrepreneurship, support for labour force and skills development, marketing and promoting rural tourism, and rural economic development capacity building.

“Rural Albertans face unique economic barriers and challenges that require a different approach than their urban neighbours. The Economic Development in Rural Alberta Plan charts a path forward that will address these issues and build on our commitment in Budget 2022 to support sustainable growth and diversification in rural Alberta.”

Nate Horner, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation

As one of the first tangible actions under the plan, the government has committed $125,000 to each of the eight regional economic development alliances to support long-term economic prosperity in their respective regions.

“With strengths in oil and gas, agriculture and forestry, tourism and emerging technologies, Alberta’s rural and northern communities are the backbone of our province’s economy. Actions identified in this plan will benefit rural and northern Albertans for years to come, including providing additional support to Alberta’s network of regional economic development alliances to fuel further economic growth and prosperity across our province.”

Brian Jean, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development

The Announcement

Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Nate Horner and Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development Brian Jean.
Announcement begins at 2:12

Engaging with rural Albertans

The plan was created after a year of consultations. Beginning in fall 2021, Alberta’s government held targeted sessions with rural Alberta businesses and communities, in addition to Indigenous communities, to identify the specific challenges and possible solutions facing their regions.

In total, government hosted 23 virtual engagement sessions with more than 370 rural Albertans, businesses and communities, receiving 3,500 comments. At the same time, an online survey was conducted, which received an additional 919 responses.

Feedback from the sessions and the online survey helped develop the plan’s vision, guiding principles and strategic directions. These were refined and validated through a second phase of targeted engagement with the same individuals and groups in summer 2022.

“Regional economic development alliances are strategically structured to collaborate with governments to address key issues in rural Alberta. Our first step is to identify and improve economic development and enable infrastructure to support investment and growth in rural Alberta. Once we initiate this step, we can further support rural businesses, increase the labour force and market a stronger rural Alberta to Canada and the rest of the world. We look forward to moving forward with the Economic Development in Rural Alberta Plan and continued collaboration with the Government of Alberta.”

Gerald Aalbers, chair, Northeast Alberta Information HUB

“As a leading advocate for our province’s towns and villages, Alberta Municipalities is pleased to see the provincial government focus on the unique needs of Alberta’s smaller and more remote communities. We welcome efforts to grow and diversify our province’s economy, including renewed support for regional economic development alliances.”

Cathy Heron, president, Alberta Municipalities

“For well over a century the Rural Municipalities of Alberta has helped rural municipalities achieve strong, effective, local government. The Economic Development in Rural Alberta Plan supports our mission to strengthen rural Alberta and cultivate strategic and collaborative partnerships. This plan starts today and is designed for the rural Alberta of tomorrow.”

Paul McLauchlin, president, Rural Municipalities of Alberta

Quick facts

  • The plan focuses on five key strategic directions:
    • Identifying and improving economic development-enabling infrastructure to support investment and growth in rural Alberta.
    • Advancing entrepreneurship capacity and a culture of innovation across rural Alberta.
    • Enabling skills development in rural communities to enhance workforce capacity today and for the future.
    • Enhancing rural Alberta’s reputation and capacity as a diverse tourism destination.
    • Enhancing rural economic development through regional and targeted capacity building.
  • The plan will complement a number of initiatives that demonstrate the government’s commitment to building healthy and prosperous communities across rural Alberta, including:
    • Up to $390 million over four years as part of the Alberta Broadband Strategy to eliminate the digital divide for all Albertans.
    • Nearly $933 million for irrigation infrastructure in partnership with nine irrigation districts to expand and modernize Alberta’s irrigation infrastructure.
    • $78 million to fund 133 active capital maintenance and renewal projects in rural Alberta communities.
    • A $59-million investment to expand veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary, doubling the number of seats in the program to address a critical shortage of large animal veterinarians in rural Alberta.
    • $70 million for the Film and Television Tax Credit that will attract major productions to the province, diversifying the economy and creating thousands of new jobs.
    • More than $8 million through the Indigenous Opportunities Corporation to support Indigenous communities’ participation in commercially viable resource projects to support rural economic growth.

Agriculture

Degrowth: How to Make the World Poorer, Polluted and Miserable

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From StosselTV

Activists have a new goal: “DEgrowth.”

They say “growth is killing us.” They couldn’t be MORE wrong.

“Growth is not killing us. It’s saving us!” says author Johan Norberg. He explains why growth is essential to human progress, especially for poor people. “In poor countries, if you manage to grow by 4% annually over 20 years,” he points out, “that reduces poverty in that country on average by 80%.

But DEgrowth activists insist that growth means “climate chaos.” They say a smaller economy would be “sweeter.” They say “We must urgently dismantle capitalism!” It’s destructive nonsense. This video explains why.

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After 40+ years of reporting, I now understand the importance of limited government and personal freedom.

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Libertarian journalist John Stossel created Stossel TV to explain liberty and free markets to young people.

Prior to Stossel TV he hosted a show on Fox Business and co-anchored ABC’s primetime newsmagazine show, 20/20. Stossel’s economic programs have been adapted into teaching kits by a non-profit organization, “Stossel in the Classroom.” High school teachers in American public schools now use the videos to help educate their students on economics and economic freedom. They are seen by more than 12 million students every year.

Stossel has received 19 Emmy Awards and has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club.

Other honors include the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the George Foster Peabody Award.

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Agriculture

How oil and gas support food security in Canada and around the world

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General view of the ‘TD Canadian 4-H Dairy Classic Showmanship’ within the 101st edition of Royal Agricultural Winter Fair at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, on November 6, 2023. The Royal is the largest combined indoor agriculture fair and international equestrian competition in the world. Getty Images photo

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Mario Toneguzzi

‘Agriculture requires fuel, and it requires lubricants. It requires heat and electricity. Modern agriculture can’t be done without energy’

Agriculture and oil and gas are two of Canada’s biggest businesses – and they are closely linked, industry leaders say.  

From nitrogen-based fertilizer to heating and equipment fuels, oil and gas are the backbone of Canada’s farms, providing food security for Canadians and exports to nearly 200 countries around the world.  

“Canada is a country that is rich in natural resources, and we are among the best, I would even characterize as the best, in terms of the production of sustainable energy and food, not only for Canadians but for the rest of the world,” said Don Smith, chief operating officer of the United Farmers of Alberta Co-operative.  

“The two are very closely linked together… Agriculture requires fuel, and it requires lubricants. It requires heat and electricity. Modern agriculture can’t be done without energy, and it is a significant portion of operating expenses on a farm.” 

The need for stable food sources is critical to a global economy whose population is set to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050. 

The main pillars of food security are availability and affordability, said Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). 

“In Canada, availability is not so much an issue. We are a very productive country when it comes to agriculture products and food products. But food affordability has become an issue for a number of people,” said Currie, who is also on the advisory council for the advocacy group Energy for a Secure Future. 

The average price of food bought in stores increased by nearly 25 per cent over the last five years, according to Statistics Canada. 

Restricting access to oil and gas, or policies like carbon taxes that increase the cost for farmers to use these fuels, risk increasing food costs even more for Canadians and making Canadian food exports less attractive to global customers, CFA says. 

“Canada is an exporting nation when it comes to food. In order for us to be competitive we not only have to have the right trade deals in place, but we have to be competitive price wise too,” Currie said. 

Under an incredible Saskatchewan sky, a farmer walks toward his air seeder to begin the process of planting this year’s crop. Getty Images photo

Canada is the fifth-largest exporter of agri-food and seafood in the world, exporting approximately $93 billion of products in 2022, according to Agriculture Canada.  

Meanwhile, Canadians spent nearly $190 billion on food, beverage, tobacco and cannabis products in 2022, representing the third-largest household expenditure category after transportation and shelter. 

Currie said there are opportunities for renewable energy to help supplement oil and gas in agriculture, particularly in biofuels.  

“But we’re not at a point from a production standpoint or an overall infrastructure standpoint where it’s a go-to right away,” he said.  

“We need the infrastructure and we need probably a lot of incentives before we can even think about moving away from the oil and gas sector as a supplier of energy right now.” 

Worldwide demand for oil and gas in the agriculture sector continues to grow, according to CEC Research.  

Driven by Africa and Latin America, global oil use in agriculture increased to 118 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2022, up from 110 million tonnes in 1990.  

Demand for natural gas also increased — from 7.5 Mtoe in 1990 to 11 Mtoe in 2022.   

Sylvain Charlebois, senior director, in the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, said food security depends on three pillars – access, safety, and affordability.   

“Countries are food secure on different levels. Canada’s situation I think is envious to be honest. I think we’re doing very well compared to other countries, especially when it comes to safety and access,” said Charlebois. 

“If you have a food insecure population, civil unrest is more likely, tensions, and political instability in different regions become more of a possibility.” 

As a country, access to affordable energy is key as well, he said.  

“The food industry highly depends on energy sources and of course food is energy. More and more we’re seeing a convergence of the two worlds – food and energy… It forces the food sector to play a much larger role in the energy agenda of a country like Canada.” 

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