Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Alberta 23e 1re Discours du trône 31 août 1993 T. Gordon Towers Lieutenant-gouverneur Alberta Progressive Conservative Party Mr. Speaker, Members of the Legislative Assembly, and fellow Albertans: It is my privilege and pleasure to welcome each of you to the first sitting of the 23rd Alberta Legislature. On June 15, 1993, our fellow Albertans gathered in the schools and the community and church halls of this great province to exercise a precious and fundamental right: the right to vote in a free and fair election for men and women to represent them in this Assembly. As we assemble today, we should remember that this and all the other rights and freedoms we have in a parliamentary democracy have been won by the labours and lives of many over the centuries and that there are still millions of people all over the world who cannot enjoy these rights and freedoms. I congratulate each member elected to this House. Serving as an elected member of a Legislature continues a proud and honourable tradition and carries tremendous responsibilities. For when you walked through those doors this afternoon, you entered into the pages of a living history book. Hon. members, this is your chapter to write. The legacy of hope, dreams, and years of work of your predecessors and the people they served now passes to you. A Change for Albertans In 1905 the winds of change were sweeping across the prairie when Alberta's first Legislature took office. In short order our first Premier, Alexander Rutherford, captured the essence of this province when he declared: We live . . . in one of the grandest provinces in the Canadian Confederation. We believe there is a great future before our province, and that it will be a still grander province in the very near future . . . We are a hopeful people. We have no pessimists in Alberta. A pessimist could not succeed. Premier Rutherford was right. In less than a century Albertans took on the daunting challenge of the frontier. They capitalized on our enormous natural advantages - the land, the resources - and some of the hardiest settlers and entrepreneurs in history to build all that we enjoy today. Hon. members, the great winds of change are sweeping through Alberta again. The election of 1993 produced 49 new MLAs, virtually the greatest number of first-time members in our history. That means a fresh new perspective and a strong commitment to change. My government recognizes that these are extremely challenging times to be an MLA. Widespread discontent among voters has fueled a cynicism about governments all over the world. Changing times require a fundamental change in the way government conducts the people's business. Positive change is what this government stands for, and positive change is what it will deliver. In Alberta we have recognized that government must be by the people as well as for and of the people. Albertans want open government, and they want a bigger say in the business of government than a periodic trip to the polling booth. That is exactly what this government has been doing over the last few months, and that is exactly what it will continue to do. We all know that changing times demand new approaches and new ways of doing things. We know we cannot meet the challenges of today and tomorrow with yesterday's thinking and last week's ideas. Successful businesses know that if they stay the same, they are left behind. In 1993 my government has caught up to Albertans in their thinking. My government has a plan, and the heart of that plan is providing open, accessible, responsive, and affordable government. As we open this 23rd Legislature, the government is mindful of the four fundamental commitments it made in the recent election, commitments that the people of Alberta endorsed on June 15. My government's first commitment is to balance our provincial budget within four years and to take the steps necessary to ensure that my government will live within its means. The second commitment is to create an environment that will allow the private sector to create 110,000 new jobs for Albertans over the next four years. The third commitment is to reorganize, deregulate, and streamline government to reflect Albertans' desire for a government as frugal and creative as they have to be in these times of fiscal challenge. And this government's fourth commitment is to listen to the people it is privileged to serve, to consult with them, and to be as open, compassionate, and fair as possible in reflecting their wishes, their hopes, and their dreams. As issues come and go over the next four years, my government will never forget that its plan and its mandate are based on these four pillars. They will guide the government through all its deliberations and actions, even as specific concerns change on a daily basis. This government is going through change as well. This afternoon we will hear how it is charting Alberta's changing frontier to keep those four promises and, in doing so, meet the new realities of the 1990s and beyond. Putting Our Financial House in Order In 1993 governments all over the world are facing serious economic challenges. People are demanding the maximum value for not only what they buy but for what they pay in taxes. Whether on a personal, municipal, provincial, or federal level all of us must try to stretch not only every dollar but every penny. Such is the challenge facing my government. In the recent election Albertans gave a loud and clear message of support for this government's commitment to put our financial house in order. Albertans want good government at a cost they can afford. This means doing three things: • balancing the budget within four years, • paying down the provincial debt in a planned and orderly way, and • ensuring that the government will live within its means. A perceived lack of fiscal responsibility is perhaps the greatest reason for the cynicism that people feel towards governments today, but my government is changing that perception in this province, and not because it is expedient or fashionable. This government is initiating fundamental change in the way it manages the public purse because there is no other choice. It is that simple. Putting our financial house in order is critical to maintaining the strong economy that Albertans need, want, and expect. The government will do so with innovation, fairness, and compassion to both the public and employees in the public service. Albertans will be familiar with the financial component of my government's plan for change. It is reflected in the budget presented in May and will be detailed further in the budget to be tabled in this House very shortly. The provincial budget will be frugal and fair. It will keep the government on course to do what it promised Albertans it would do and what Albertans elected it to do on June 15. Under this year's financial plan • this government will continue the process of eliminating the deficit in a fair and orderly manner, following clear year-by-year ceilings that are backed up by the Deficit Elimination Act to keep it on track, • the government will achieve its deficit reduction objective in this fiscal year, • it will save more than $130 million by reorganizing and streamlining government for greater efficiency, and • there will be no tax increases, no new taxes, and no sales tax. This plan continues a number of important changes in the way the government of Alberta is conducting the people's business. In my government's first few months in office it started introducing the kind of change Albertans are demanding. Recognizing that Albertans want greater involvement in decision-making and a smaller, more efficient government, my government brought in a number of major and meaningful changes. • It opened the books and began providing Albertans with quarterly financial updates. • It struck a Financial Review Commission and began acting on the resulting recommendations. • It opened up the decision-making process with a new, streamlined committee system that incorporates public participation at the start of our policy-making. • It began streamlining and cutting spending in government by reducing the size of cabinet, the salaries of ministers, and the size of ministerial staff; consolidating several government departments; reducing the number of deputy ministers; downsizing the public service through a highly successful voluntary severance program; eliminating the MLA pension plan; reducing the number of government vehicles; and many other measures. This government will stay on course through several other critical initiatives. • It will continue to act on the specific recommendations of the Alberta Financial Review Commission to improve the way it manages, administers, and reports on its finances. • In budgeting and accounting the new approach will focus on performance and results. This includes a review of the role and future of the Alberta heritage savings trust fund. • Shortly the Government Reorganization Secretariat will present its first review on the future of a number of government agencies, boards, and commissions. • Each department, agency, and organization receiving government funds will be called on to develop a three-year business plan. • The government will eliminate programs that do not meet priority needs. • It will continue with the budget roundtables that it started last March in Red Deer. By putting Alberta's financial house in order through theses measures, we do some profoundly important things. We give people more hope. We give them reason to be confident that our province will enjoy a strong economy, good jobs, and a quality of life that makes us all proud to be Albertans. We hand our children and grandchildren a clear title instead of a huge unpaid bill. And in doing all of these things, we give government back to ourselves the people, to whom it belongs. The Economy and Job Creation - Promoting the Alberta Advantage Government is changing the way it does business when it comes to the economy. This government has made a major shift in its economic development policy. It believes the role of government is to create a climate conducive to investment and job creation and then to invite people from Canada and around the world to do business here. Unlike some others, my government will not try to buy prosperity through higher taxes. Instead, it will build on Alberta's existing advantage of low taxes and its free enterprise spirit to develop the most competitive economy in North America. The government will strengthen the Alberta Advantage and sell it aggressively around the globe. Of all the challenges facing us, generating new employment is the most important because Albertans need good jobs for themselves and their children. We are looking to the private sector to provide those jobs. The government will build on Alberta's strengths: agriculture, energy, forestry, tourism, small business, and our high-technology infrastructure. As well, it will encourage the development of emerging industries such as environmental services and information technologies. This strategy strikes a balance between attracting new business and investment to Alberta and encouraging growth of existing Alberta businesses. This new approach to economic development is based on consultation and the common sense and experience of Albertans. Through extensive public consultation processes, including Toward 2000 Together, my government talked with thousands of Albertans in developing its new economic strategy, which is outlined in the document Seizing Opportunity. The core of this strategy is tax and regulatory reform. This government is going to cut the red tape that chokes investment and prevents small business from getting down to work. It is going to ensure Alberta's tax climate remains competitive. The plan for regulatory reform has two phases. Phase 1 calls for every government department to have a deregulation action plan completed this year. The plans will recommend revisions, reductions, or outright elimination of unnecessary rules and regulations. At the same time Albertans will be asked for their suggestions. Phase 2 will be a public review of those deregulation plans and suggestions. Following the public review, my government will implement these new deregulation initiatives within the Year, and from now on new regulations will include a sunset clause requiring them to be reviewed or terminated after a certain time. Regulatory reform cannot be done in isolation from other governments. This government will continue negotiations with the federal government to reduce federal/provincial overlap and duplication. In particular, it will strive to harmonize federal/provincial environmental laws. The government realizes that economic development and environmental protection must be linked and intends to be a leader for all of Canada in that regard. On tax reform my government knows that Alberta now enjoys the lowest tax rates in Canada and is the only province without a sales tax. However, our tax strategy must be focused on competitiveness. My government will establish a tax reform Commission to review all aspects of Alberta's tax system in full consultation with the public. The commission will be asked to ewer one question: what can we do to improve Alberta's competitive tax advantage? The commission will report by the end of 1993. Changes will be incorporated into the 1994-95 budget. There is no point in building the most competitive tax and regulatory climate in Canada unless we tell people about it. Therefore, another key part of the government's strategy will be to promote the Alberta Advantage aggressively throughout Canada and the world. Already this government has begun to refocus Alberta's international trade offices on the bread-and-butter issues of investment, trade, tourism, and immigration. It is placing trade agents in new markets such as India and Siberia and seeks to increase Alberta's exposure in Mexico. Our Premier will make it part of his job to sell Alberta as one of the best places in the world to visit and do business. My government will continue to press for greater trade freedom. It has begun negotiations to reduce interprovincial trade barriers. These negotiations should be complete within two years. It has negotiated a continental barley market and will continue to press for changes to the method of payment to encourage value-added diversification in agriculture. Other highlights of my government's strategy include • as much as possible, getting out of direct business subsidies, • deregulating and simplifying accounting for the petroleum and related industries, and • introducing bond pilot projects and considering a risk insurance fund for local development. The government's approach to economic development represents an important change in the way of doing business in this province. It makes sense in today's global economy. It takes into account the needs of small business. It is based on what Albertans have said will work. Maintaining Our Commitment to People and Public Consultation My government must change the way it does business when it comes to providing health care, education, and social services. These three areas, together with debt servicing, comprise 88 percent of our annual budget. If these areas are allowed to grow as they have in the past, they will consume 100 percent of the province's revenues by 1998, assuming a flat revenue scenario. There would be no money for other essential services such as policing and transportation, no money for agriculture, tourism, labour, and other programs. Obviously, this must change. Our current system is too expensive, and we all know that more money is not the answer. Albertans pay enough for these programs already. The answer is not to let the quality of Alberta's social programs deteriorate. That would undermine our efforts to stimulate the economy. You build a strong economy with healthy, well-educated, and well-trained people. The answer is to continue providing quality services while living within our means. To do it, the government has to be imaginative. It has to look at everything. It has to take risks and try new things. There is a vital need for more efficient and effective ways of providing Albertans with services they truly need. All of our provincial public-sector organizations have to do as my government has: start at the top with cuts in administration. Albertans have told their government to rethink the way it provides education, to continue the restructuring of our health care system, to continue with welfare reforms that focus on putting people to work instead of encouraging chronic dependence, and to think in terns not of doing less but of doing better. Government cannot and should not face these challenges alone. It will work with Albertans. Government must have public support for the fundamental changes required in the way it does business, and the only way to win that support is to involve Albertans in public policy-making from the very start. This government will keep its promise to listen, consult, and be open with Albertans at all times. In recent months, my government has opened up the decision-making process with a new, streamlined committee system. It has made public consultation an integral part of its policy-making. Since taking office in December, my government has completed several public consultations, including Toward 2000 Together, Tourism 2000, and Creating Tomorrow. It established the Financial Review Commission in February. It held a budget roundtable in March. This government's economic strategy, its budget, and all of the changes it has made in the last eight months reflect those consultations. A few days ago my government held the first of several roundtable discussions on health care. It will continue holding budget roundtables, and it will hold roundtable discussions on education and postsecondary education to develop new directions and strategies. The resulting recommendations will be part of the implementation of the government's four-year plan. The government's review of the role and future of the Alberta heritage savings trust fund will be made public. In a few weeks my government will hold another series of public consultations with seniors on the programs and policies affecting them. The public will be involved in regulatory and taxation reform. Just as our fiscal plan and economic strategy are based on what Albertans have said will work, so must the new approaches to health care, education, and social services be based on what Albertans say. In working with its citizens, my government will welcome and encourage the participation of Albertans. My government's role is not to dictate but to facilitate the discovery of made-in-Alberta solutions. Working together, Albertans will find better, more affordable ways of getting the job done. We must and we will get the job done well. Our Legislative Profile In presenting the legislative agenda, this government has stayed true to the philosophy that government should get out of rather than into the lives of Albertans. People in this province know that more government and more laws mean more expense, red tape, and confusion and less freedom. In bringing in new legislation, my government will be guided by its commitment to fundamental change. That means it will do things differently. As part of its crusade for innovation, greater efficiency, and smaller government, this government is presenting Albertans with a legislative program for this session that is more streamlined, concentrated, and to the point than in former years. To this end, it will introduce a minimal number of new Bills. The legislative priority will be to honour a commitment to do what no other government has done in the history of this province. My government will deal with freedom of information and the protection of privacy. Open and responsible government means accessibility, and accessibility demands a free flow of information from government to the people it serves. At the same time, the Bill will safeguard the privacy of individual Albertans by prohibiting public access to details of their personal lives. My government will proceed with amendments to the School Act and introduce the government organization Act, the Alberta registries Act, the required appropriation Bills, and a small number of other Bills. As with all my government's initiatives, legislation will be prepared and assessed in consultation with Albertans. This commitment to consult Albertans extends to the processes of our Legislature. Having received public consultation through the Parliamentary Reform Committee, the government will propose constructive changes to Standing Orders to streamline and facilitate the business of this House, including considering shorter but more concentrated weeks in session. As the first step in my government's plans for meaningful parliamentary reform, it is introducing, for the first time in the history of the Alberta Legislature elections by secret ballot for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House and Deputy Chairman of the Legislature committees. The legislative agenda reflects the same approach this government takes in every aspect of conducting the people's business. My government has the courage to initiate meaningful change. It will be honest. It will be straightforward. It will be efficient. It will do what is in the best interests of Albertans. This government takes pride in being a government for all Albertans, be they from Calgary, Edmonton, our other cities and towns, or our rural communities. It is prepared to do its utmost to retain their confidence. Reaping the Benefits of Change Fellow Albertans, on the eve of a new millennium our prospects are tremendous, our province's financial outlook is positive, and we have much to be grateful for in 1993. In a turbulent, exciting, and sometimes daunting work, Albertans are setting an example for Canadians with humanity, honesty, courage, and fiscal responsibility. Other governments are just beginning to talk about the kind of change that this government has been delivering for the last eight months. There is a secret or magic to these efforts. My government is a government for the people. It works with Albertans. It reflects the agenda set for the province. The government of Alberta will deliver on each of its four fundamental commitments: • a balanced budget, • a climate for meaningful job creation in the private sector, • a reorganized, deregulated, and streamlined government, and • open consultation with Albertans. Those commitments represent the wishes of the people my government is so privileged to represent. The government understands fully that following these plans will be strong medicine for all of us, but it will stand by them, and all that my government asks is that Albertans stand by these commitments alongside the men and women in this House. Let us not abandon our course, for any feeble attempts to avoid the challenge will be labour lost. This government is confident that Albertans have the strength and the courage to make the tough decisions, for when it comes to the quality of our lives and our future, there is no place for the kind of self-interest that has surfaced across this country in the past. This is our moment to help shape the history of our province and the future of our children and grandchildren. I call on all of the members of this House and every Albertan that they represent to help shape it together in the spirit of pioneering and change that has guided and inspired Alberta since 1905. Our province was built by people who were willing to struggle against formidable odds. They saw the opportunities that existed and they saw their place in the future. Our pioneers understood that as time passed, they would have to abandon many of the old ways of doing things and keep doing what worked while looking constantly for new ways of doing things better. For above all, as our first Premier said, Albertans are optimists. As great optimists we look on change not as threatening and uncertain but as an exciting challenge to improve our society while staying true to all that we hold dear as human beings. This is the real challenge facing Albertans today, for what we must fear is not change but the inability and the unwillingness to change. Now it is our turn to build a better Alberta. And now I leave you to the business of this session, confident that as elected representatives you will in every way fulfill your responsibilities to Albertans. I pray that the blessing of God may rest on your deliberations. God bless Alberta. God bless Canada. God save the Queen.