My Canada - Today and Tomorrow

Roxanna Benoit, President and CEO, Canadian Investor Relations Institute and Director, The Empire Club of Canada; Juliene Hwang, Grade 12 Student, North Toronto Collegiate Institute; Rabbi Perry Cohen, Facilitator, Teacher and Author; Andrew Coyne, Columnist, National Post; Finn Greflund, Vice-President, Toronto, TransCanada Energy Ltd.; Alister Campbell, Senior Vice-President, ING Marketing and Communications; John S. Burns, Partner, Gowling, Lafleur Henderson LLP; Robert Dechert, Partner, Gowling, Lafleur Henderson LLP and Past President, The Empire Club of Canada; Michael Coates, President and CEO, Hill & Knowlton Canada Inc.; Russell Williams, President, Rx&D Canada; Stanley Hartt, Chairman, Citigroup Global Markets Canada Inc.; and Michael Sabia, President and CEO, BCE Inc.

Introduction by Bart Mindszenthy

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the address of the sixth premier in our very special Premiers Speakers Series that continues throughout the season.

As you know, we have invited all the First Ministers to come and talk to us about their Canada--today and tomorrow. To articulate what they see as the major challenges and opportunities for our country in the next decade.

At the outset of this series, we asked Ipsos-Reid, the national polling and research firm, to check the pulse of the nation about the future.

The results show a strong and clear trend.

The number-one concern 10 years from now out of the 14 areas of concern we had tested will be services for the elderly and their specific home and health-care needs. That's followed by such issues as family health care, waste disposal, energy and a clean environment.

To see and download the full study, please visit our Web site at www.empireclub.org.

So far, we've had five premiers bring five very different kinds of messages. Each one of them has been articulate and interesting, as is the wont of premiers.

Today, we have the pleasure of welcoming the Honourable Ralph Klein, the longest-serving premier in Canada. And I have no doubt he will continue the trend of this series.

And I must note that this first-of-its-kind series has been made possible because Bell Canada shared our excitement and belief that we are making some Canadian history, and agreed to be the sole sponsor.

That's why we asked Michael Sabia, BCE's President and Chief Executive Officer and CEO of Bell Canada, if he would come to one of our luncheons.

And now I am going to ask Mr. Sabia to be good enough to introduce our guest speaker.

Michael Sabia introduced the Hon. Ralph Klein.

Ralph Klein

Thank you Michael for that very kind introduction. I was pleased to learn that Michael Sabia of Bell Canada would be introducing me this afternoon. You should know that Bell Canada is the Government of Alberta's private-sector partner in building "Alberta Supernet"--a high-speed, high-capacity broadband network linking all government offices, schools, health-care facilities, libraries, and over 400 cities, towns and smaller communities.

It is an exciting project to make Alberta the most connected jurisdiction in North America, and we are proud to have Montreal-based Bell as our partner.

It is always a pleasure to visit Toronto and the Empire Club, Canada's oldest and largest speakers' forum, and I thank you for hosting this event. As always, I commend the Empire Club for its ongoing commitment to dialogue about important issues and, in particular, for the opportunity it has offered many of Canada's premiers to speak about the common challenges we face.

Because even though it's a big country, you find a lot of the same challenges wherever you go. From B.C. to Nova Scotia, and from Newfoundland to Yukon, and yes, from Ontario to Alberta, all jurisdictions are struggling with issues like health care, access to post-secondary education, and the problems facing our large cities.

No one has all the answers to these issues. All we can do is try to work together, learn from each other, and support each other as we try to resolve them.

And before I go any further, I would also like to take this opportunity to personally thank the people of Ontario for their strong, continuing support of Western Canada, and especially Alberta.

It was here in Ontario that the "Hay West" program started a few years ago, when western farmers faced drought and feed shortages, and Ontario farmers stepped in to help.

That hand of friendship was extended once again when the BSE or "mad cow" crisis struck. I'll never forget being here in Toronto for the Rolling Stones concert during the SARS scare, when so many Ontarians came up to tell me how much they love Alberta beef. The people of this province stood by Albertans during a very tough time, and for that, I thank you.

Today, obviously, my focus will be on Alberta, a place of tremendous pride for its citizens. That "pride of place" for Albertans is even more evident in 2005--Alberta's centennial year.

Over its 100 years, Alberta has grown from being a small corner of the Northwest Territories into a proud and prosperous province. It's a true Canadian success story.

That story was written by the homesteaders of a century ago, many of whom came from Ontario. It was written by the Alberta families who suffered so much during the Great Depression, and who lost loved ones in the two Great Wars of the last century; by the farmers and ranchers who broke the land in the South, and the miners and foresters of the North; by the merchants who built the small towns and the business people in the office towers of our large cities.

Like Ontario, Alberta is a million stories, told one at a time.

Today, I'd like to tell you about how Alberta is changing, and about the next chapter in the Alberta story, a chapter I call "the next Alberta."

I often think that Alberta is misunderstood by other Canadians; and that the province's prosperity is envied instead of celebrated for the benefits it brings to every member of this country.

There are a lot of myths about Alberta out there, some of which I hope to clear up today. I'll begin with some fiscal myths.

Most of you are familiar with the steps Alberta took in the 1990s to eliminate deficits. Actually, it started with just one major step; we made deficits illegal.

Then we worked hard to get them off our books.

With that done, we set out to honour our government's pledge to keep Alberta's taxes the lowest in the country. In fact, it was said that former Ontario premier Mike Harris and I were in a "race to the bottom" to see which province could lower its taxes the most.

When you consider the overall tax burden now, I'd say Alberta won, but Ontario put up a good fight and if Premier McGuinty wants to take up the challenge again, I'm up for it.

Then, with our deficits eliminated and our taxes on the way down, our government focused on what Albertans said was their next priority--tackling a provincial debt that stood at nearly $23 billion in 1993, and that's with revenues of only $14 billion.

As you may know, when Alberta's budget is tabled this spring, we will finish that job, right down to the last penny. Alberta will be debt-free.

The money we spent getting rid of the debt was money we could have spent on other things if we'd just made minimum payments and strung them out over 25 years. But Albertans were firm and they gave our government clear marching orders. They said: "Pay it off as fast as you can. Get it behind us so the next generation of Albertans isn't burdened with the debt we ran up." And so we did.

And let me put to rest the myth that paying off the debt was easy, and that any province could have done it if they'd had Alberta's oil and gas revenues. I know there are some people in Canada who think energy revenues make up 50 or 60 per cent or more of Alberta's income. They think the streets are paved with oil and it solves all our problems.

The fact is that revenue from oil and gas in Alberta makes up less than 29 per cent of provincial revenues. That's still significant, and yes, it did help us tackle the debt, but it's not the whole story.

A larger factor was tax revenues that kept going up, even as tax rates were going down. Indeed, in an expanding economy, the province's low taxes created amazing new revenues, far more than what Alberta gets from oil and gas today.

It was that expanding economy--as much as it was energy revenues--that put Alberta ahead of schedule for debt repayment, and I'm proud of that.

The next Alberta will continue to rely on the economic and fiscal policies that have served the province so well: no deficits, no debt, low taxes, economic stability, and the constant elimination of red tape and regulation, which together have attracted tremendous private-sector investment.

This private-sector investment has created jobs in every sector you can name, and in every part of our province, and those jobs are being filled not just by Albertans, but by people from every part of Canada.

And let me share with you another reminder of how the province's prosperity, which is envied by some, is shared by all. Canada's equalization program is the most comprehensive and generous in the world, and Alberta is a proud net contributor to Canada. The people of Ontario know what I'm talking about, because you too are significant net contributors.

Last year, through things like the GST, personal and corporate taxes and fuel taxes, Albertans contributed $25.6 billion of total tax revenue to Ottawa. Of that, it received back about $16 billion in federal services. That means, of course, that $9 billion in taxes collected in Alberta were distributed to so-called have-not provinces.

In the past 20 years, the province's total net contribution to the federal government was $63 billion. That is money generated in Alberta, but sent to Ottawa for federal programs, including equalization, so that all Canadians have "reasonably comparable public services."

You know, Canadians like to talk about our health-care system--despite its shortcomings--as an example to the world. But in my opinion, this nation's equalization system--the way we share wealth among all citizens--is equally amazing. And Alberta is proud to be a part of that system.

Albertans recognize that a strong economy and the prosperity it creates aren't ends in themselves. They are simply the means to create the kind of life we want. "The next Alberta" isn't just about the economy. In fact, it's not really about the economy at all; it's about people.

The whole point of putting Alberta's fiscal house in order and paying off the debt was to make the province a better place for people, especially for children. We want our kids to have a better start, and a better life, than we had. That's what every parent wants.

That's why my government's number-one goal is to make sure that the Alberta our children and grandchildren inherit is just as good, or even better, than the Alberta we have today.

And what is the Alberta of today? The image many people have of today's Alberta is one of two major cities surrounded by a whole lot of cowboys, roughnecks, horses, pick-up trucks and pump jacks. Those things are a big part of Alberta, to be sure, and we're proud of our western heritage. But there's much more to the province, and it's changing all the time.

For starters, Alberta is growing, and growing faster than many people realize. In 1995, the population of Alberta was 2.7 million. Today, it is 3.2 million; that's the fastest-growing population in Canada.

Each year, a population nearly the size of the city of Niagara Falls moves to Alberta, seeking jobs, education and opportunity. And let me tell you, we welcome those people with open arms--and all the skills and energy and dreams they bring with them.

But with growth comes growth pressures. As the Mayor of Calgary likes to say, when people come to Alberta, they bring their kids and their cars with them, but not their schools, and hospitals and interchanges. Nonetheless, let me assure you the entire province is working hard to respond to the challenge of growth; it's a nice problem to have.

In addition to population growth, Alberta is also experiencing urbanization. While the province still has a strong rural backbone, some 80 per cent of Albertans now live in urban areas. The population is increasingly cosmopolitan, and it's one of the youngest, most skilled, and most highly educated in Canada.

Alberta's economy is also changing. Agriculture and energy are still the economic foundations for the province, but they're not the same industries they were even a decade ago.

In energy, for example, the days are long gone when Alberta just shipped oil and gas down the pipeline. The province is now a major source of feedstock for thriving petrochemical industries across Canada, including here in Ontario.

The potential of future developments in this area is tremendous with the prospect of a northern gas pipeline from the McKenzie delta in the Northwest Territories coming down through the Alberta hub to serve all of North America.

Then there are the oil sands, which are already a million-barrel-per-day operation, with reserves second only to those of Saudi Arabia. We have 175 billion barrels in proven reserves and it's estimated that 315 billion barrels of oil are potentially recoverable in the oil sands.

Since 1996, oil sands production has almost doubled, and it's expected to double again by 2010. Some $67 billion in capital investment has been announced from 1996 going forward to 2012. Many of those investment dollars will come from here in Ontario and other parts of Canada outside Alberta. Fully, 31 per cent of employment benefits will flow to Ontario.

The oil sands represent a unique opportunity for Canada to play a greater role as an energy supplier to the U.S. Alberta will work hard to ensure that the full potential of this opportunity is realized.

In fact, in late March Alberta is opening an office in Washington D.C., in part to promote Alberta as a key partner in the U.S. continental energy strategy.

More importantly, the oil sands represent a secure energy future for this entire nation. With turmoil and rapidly depleting energy reserves in other parts of the world, the oil sands are a massive, reliable, and secure energy source for all Canadians.

But Alberta's economy is no longer a one-trick pony, and "the next Alberta" is about much more than this traditional economic pillar.

Over the last decade or so, a new image of Alberta has emerged. It's an image of high-tech innovation, medical breakthroughs, small-business prosperity, and diversity of opportunity. As a province, Alberta has come a long way from the days 100 years ago, when the federal government attracted settlers by advertising free homesteads of 160 acres for a $10 entry fee.

To keep the momentum going, we need to keep diversifying. The government is looking at ways to further foster the development of knowledge-based industries by improving access to venture capital and equity capital.

And we are creating competitive tax strategies that support research and development, improve global market access, and attract new investment. Translated, those three goals mean jobs, jobs, jobs.

One of the most critical elements to continued economic diversification is developing a skilled, educated and flexible work force. This means investing in knowledge and lifelong learning.

My government has made strengthening Alberta's post-secondary education system its top priority for this centennial year. This investment will benefit Albertans--and all Canadians--for years and years to come.

One of the areas we'll be focusing on is apprenticeships. Even though Alberta accounts for only 10 per cent of Canada's population, the province trains 20 per cent of the nation's apprentices. And that's still not enough. We will need to do more to make sure Alberta has the learning opportunities it needs to help create a work force that will sustain economic growth and prosperity.

Another area my government will be focusing on is health care. Like all provinces, Alberta needs to balance the current and growing health-care demand with what we know will be tremendous pressures.

Believe me, ladies and gentlemen, if money was the answer to health reform, we would have solved the problem a long time ago.

The answer, I believe, is the "third way" I talked about in Calgary yesterday. It's a middle ground between a public system that is all things to all people, and an American-style system where how much money you have determines how much treatment you get, or whether you get any treatment at all.

Alberta is going to pioneer a "third way" of delivering health care where all Albertans will get the care they need, when they need it, in a way that won't bankrupt the system.

I raise these examples to illustrate my earlier point about ends and means. Having the ability to build strong social programs like post-secondary education and health care is what a strong economy is all about. That's why Alberta took the steps it did to put its fiscal house in order, so that the "people programs" that matter will be there for the next generation of Albertans.

I want to say a few words about the role this next generation of Albertans will play in Canada.

The Province of Ontario, like Quebec, has always been among the strongest in Confederation. After all, you had a 38-year head start, while provinces like mine that are relative "latecomers" to the Canadian family have always had to elbow our way to the table. And that's fine; we've got big elbows.

But it's no secret that Alberta has often found itself at odds with Ottawa. I want to point out, though, that Alberta's disputes have always been with the federal government--never with our fellow Canadians. The overwhelming majority of Albertans--and I count myself very much among them--are committed Canadians.

The people of my province are proud to be Canadian and they want to do their part to preserve and strengthen this nation. And I believe there is a bigger role for Alberta to play now than it has played in the past.

Alberta has a lot to offer Canada--a lot more than great beef, oil, and the rocky mountains. As Alberta prospers, so does all of Canada. And make no mistake: "the next Alberta" is part of the Canadian mainstream, and is proud to contribute to this nation's success at home and abroad.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude by saying that Alberta has come of age economically, socially, and culturally.

But Canada is a big country, which is both a strength and a weakness. Our size, scope, and open spaces are an important part of our identity as Canadians. But in a big country, stereotypes can also develop. Sometimes we think we know each other when we don't.

When Alberta announced last summer that it was on the verge of paying off its debt, I think it contributed to the myth that Alberta is a rich place consumed only with the bottom line. My purpose today--and in Ottawa tomorrow and Montreal on Friday--is to dispel that myth.

The next Alberta--the real Alberta--is a place that has gone from being a remote, sparsely-populated territory to becoming a powerful province that wants to be a stronger partner in a stronger Canada.

It's a place that took an abundance of natural resources and human capital, and bound them together to bring about unique prosperity.

It's a place where that prosperity is used to improve lives, both within the province and across the country.

And it's a province that's celebrating its centennial year, so I invite you to come and see the next Alberta for yourselves.

Thank you.

The appreciation of the meeting was expressed by Robert Dechert, Partner, Gowling, Lafleur Henderson LLP and Past President, The Empire Club of Canada.