Alberta Budget 2020 release: Staying the course on the path to balance

Kimberley Burfoot, AMTA Executive Director

The UCP issued their second budget Thursday, Feb. 27.

Following only four months after the 2019 release, it was expected there would not be a lot of changes to the prior budget plan.  Finance Minister and President of the Treasury Board, Travis Toews, addressed delegates with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce on Monday, March 2 about the new release.

Toews stated that even in the short time since the last budget release, the United Conservative Party (UCP) has managed to make a larger than predicted dent in the deficit through higher revenues and slightly lower expenses.

In part due to these gains, the Ministry of Infrastructure has chosen to move forward on some projects planned for 2021-23 which are stifling the growth of industry and creating bottlenecks in the transportation industry. For example, the partial twinning of Highway 40 south of Grande Prairie.  Highway 40 is a major trade corridor that doesn’t have enough capacity to keep up with development in the region, and one which the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) has worked extensively with the Ministry of Transportation to address.  Toews went on to explain other potential projects are being reviewed and the transportation sector can expect several more infrastructure announcements soon.

Toews reaffirmed the UCP position that a federally imposed carbon tax is something government will continue to fight.  The UCP’s TIER program will instead target large emitters and put the first $100M – plus 50 per cent of revenues over this amount – directly into incentivizing GHG-reducing technology with the remainder of those revenues going to deficit reduction.

Other budget line items included funding for Women Building Futures and Careers: The Next Generation also bode well for commercial transportation, enabling pathways for youth and the underemployed to get quality jobs in industry.

Also included in the budget announcement was a reference to filling gaps in the labour market, such as increasing access to training for Class 1 drivers.  The Ministry of Transportation has not released any further information at press time, so watch AMTA’s social media, website and newsletter for further information as it becomes available.