Province	Législature	Session	Type de discours	Date du discours	Locuteur	Fonction du locuteur	Parti politique
Alberta	24e 	4e  	Discours du budget	24 février 2000	M. Stockwell Day	Trésorier provincial	PC


Mr. Day: Mr. Speaker, Budget 2000 is the result of the thoughtful input of every government MLA seated here today, and it's input based on government MLAs following the instructions of our Premier, who above anyone else reminds us in a regular way that we need to listen to our bosses, our bosses being the people of Alberta. This budget is a budget from the people of Alberta. It's also the first budget to be tabled this century by any provincial or federal government. It's a first in that way, and we are told that it's also a first in terms of a number of things that are being accomplished or will be accomplished simultaneously with this budget. 

This budget in a brief term will be reducing debt significantly, reducing taxes, increasing spending on priority areas like health, education, and people services. It will be freeing 132,000 low-income Albertans from having to pay any provincial income tax. It will be eliminating bracket creep, the first government to do that. It will be increasing by a quarter of a billion dollars the value of the heritage savings trust fund. It will be putting in place a half a billion dollar fund to encourage science and energy research and development in the province. Overall, Mr. Speaker, I think that's not a bad way to launch into the 21st century.

Now, we are told that we have been able to accomplish this, some people would suggest, by luck or windfall revenues. I want to address that momentarily and bring our attention back to 1985-1986 when of all the corporate revenue that we took in as a government, approximately 60 percent came from the oil and gas sector. As we close out the books for 1998, we see that all of the revenue which we took in from the oil and gas sector made up approximately 10 percent of corporate taxes.

There has been a huge broadening of the base of the economy here in Alberta. There has been a huge diversification. It has not been luck. It has not been goodwill. It has been hard work, Mr. Speaker. Our Premier has led this particular initiative, and the government policies based on caring but limited government, leading to unlimited opportunity, have caused Alberta to be the most people-friendly place, we believe, in which people can pursue their hopes and their dreams.

Mr. Speaker, Stephen Leacock once said that he believed in luck and that he also found that the harder he worked, the luckier he got. We've been working hard on the priorities of Albertans, and the results are here. 

We would also like to bring attention to some changes - I call it an evolution of sorts - in the entire budget process. There's been an evolving transformation. Budget days used to be and still are in some jurisdictions and with some governments the result, the culmination, of a year of secret meetings. Then budget day would arrive and there would be a revelation, a revealing of shocks and surprises and hopefully good announcements. The expectation from government was that citizens would be thankful that we had planned their lives for the next year and also consider that we would be eminently wiser and would have been able to figure all of these things out. That has taken on a different change under the direction of Ralph Klein, Mr. Speaker.

We work very closely and MLAs work very closely with our partners throughout the year. Budget day is no longer an announcement. Those announcements used to be especially scary at election time, Mr. Speaker. I won't suggest this government necessarily, but governments generally would use an election year budget, if this were to be seen as one - but every year is an election year in Alberta - would use those times to announce all kinds of goodies, sugarplums that had not yet even danced in the heads of the taxpayers, and it was presented in a way to make the government sweet enough to re-elect.

Mr. Speaker, under the direction of Ralph Klein we clearly operate with an understanding that we do not buy votes. We work hard to earn them. We work hard throughout the year with our partners - municipalities, regional health authorities, school boards, people in the business community - to develop the kinds of things that need to be done and need to be said and need to be directed. We take those priorities, build them into a budget, a budget that now has three-year business plans. We project three years into the future. We don't want to see surprises. There's always the inevitable that happens, but we have three-year business plans, which we then monitor on the short term every 90 days. Every quarter we report on the progress of spending and on revenues coming in.

Budget day should not be a day of surprises. It should be a day in which government accounts for where they think the revenues will be going and where they think the expenditures will be going in the year ahead, and that's what this is all about, working closely with our partners, Mr. Speaker.

As we look at other things that need to be done, as we move to a discussion on the spending areas of this budget - and there is spending in this budget very clearly - I would like to suggest that we may want to think of adjusting the language that we use when we talk about spending. We hear from critics from time to time, and it's good and positive to have critics there. It helps us to be even better and to respond. Sometimes the way some critics present spending is as if nothing is being spent at all in priority areas. It's as if everything is bleak and horrifying, and unknowing Albertans, vulnerable Albertans, are sometimes taken advantage of by the criticism. I think that just as we demand honesty in advertising, we need to demand honesty in criticizing. And when we look at spending, I would suggest that we put things in a better context. If we look at the areas of spending and if we're talking about spending increases, then we say to our citizens: what we're talking about is not more spending but even more spending. Even more spending. That puts it in context, Mr. Speaker.

As we look at that and consider the language of how we address this, sometimes I wonder if our critics fully understand from whence the money comes. There's a thought from time to time, as I hear some individuals, that there's a great vault in this building and in that vault are untold millions and billions of dollars and all that is required is that we go down to the basement and dig some money out of the vault and just pass it around or that there are bags of loonies on my desk or on somebody else's desk and that we toss those around.

Mr. Speaker, we need to have a clear picture of where the money comes from. The money comes from the people of Alberta. It's their money, it's their budget, and it's their security. That's what we're talking about. And every two weeks, as hardworking Albertans look at their paychecks, what happens is that we as government come up to them, albeit in an understanding way, and say: "We're from the government, and we're here to help you. We're here to help you carry that heavy load in your wallet and your purse. We're here to take some of your money from you." We say that every two weeks. In most cases Albertans recognize that some taxes need to be paid and that money has to come from them. But all the money comes from the people.

We need to remember that if we ask for even more spending, what we're saying to Albertans every two weeks is: "We need to take even more money from you. You're going to have to work even harder. From somewhere you're going to have to come up with more dollars." That's what we need to keep in mind as we talk about even more spending, and we are spending even more in some areas. We have tremendous growth in this province and tremendous pressures that come with that growth.

We are spending even more in the area of health. There are growth pressures that are coming from all sides in that particular area. With this budget we are not backing off the fact that we're seeing approximately just over a 9 percent increase in spending on health. That will increase to 21 percent over the three-year business plan. A 21 percent increase. Even more spending on health. We will be moving at the end of that three-year plan to the $6 billion mark in spending. That's a lot of money, Mr. Speaker.

It means very definite things will happen this year and in the next two years following this year. It means that 2,400 nurses and frontline workers will be hired. It means that 90 more doctors will be hired. It means that even more procedures will be done. Shorter waiting lines is the goal of some of that spending. Mr. Speaker, 5,950 heart procedures. That's an increase of some 600 heart procedures. And 1,430 dialysis procedures. That's an increase of about 140. We'll see 161 bone marrow transplants. These are real things happening to real people that we can provide for. A 10 percent increase in the number of liver transplants that will be done. A 16 percent increase in the number of heart transplants that will be done. Add to all of this, Mr. Speaker, untold numbers, thousands of joint replacements and then everything else that happens in the medical care system, hundreds of millions of dollars into infrastructure to build the hospitals, to do the renovations, to take care of the lodges, to do the extended care units and you can see how it's very easy to arrive at a spending of $17 million a day to operate this health care system. We think Albertans are worth that, and we're committing those dollars to that.
As we do that, we look back, though, with some caution, because we see that 22 percent of our budget was based on health care spending in 1980. We move to 1990: 26 percent of our budget on health care spending. As we finish out this three-year business plan, 33 percent of our budget will be spent on health care. I recently met with a minister of finance from another province. In their province they are looking at 40 percent of all the taxpayers' money being spent on health care.

Any government that cares as much about the principles of the Canada Health Act as we do must look to ways of seeing efficient services delivered in innovative ways so that we can keep the growing costs of health care to a manageable limit. This is not just an Alberta situation, Mr. Speaker. This is right across the country. I can tell you that many governments are afraid to even address the issue. This is a new century. We need to be bold and caring at the same time, and this government is addressing the issues. The reason other governments are sometimes paralyzed with fear to address the spending issues around health is because of the accusations that often are heaped upon you when you say that you are trying to do something to improve the system.

It almost saddens me to comment that some people would even reflect that this government is actually trying to destroy health care, in fact to destroy Canada. We hear incredible things. I would ask people as we enter this debate to think of us as legislators, if it's possible, as human beings, because we are, and when we're in the debate, to look at us as legislators. We have children. We have grandchildren. We have aging parents who are facing the increased cost of advanced care in their sunset years. Do people really think anybody in their right mind would want to destroy the health care system that is there for their children, for their grandchildren, and for their grandparents? Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that it's time to put away the political scalpels and to drop the name- calling and accusations and engage in positive, co-operative discussions on how services can be provided in a way that takes the cost increases away from every health care system in this country.

Here's what we're talking about, Mr. Speaker. We're talking about looking at approaches and solutions that will bring shorter lineups, better care, no cost to the consumer, and all within the Canada Health Act. We're talking about improving the health and life of Albertans. Anybody with solutions that don't meet those criteria need not apply, and we will guarantee that in legislation.

Mr. Speaker, we are doing even more in the area of learning and education. We have a huge increase in students in this province. We are looking at increases this year in education, in terms of a percentage increase in our spending, of 9 percent and stretching that to over 19 percent over the three-year period.

What does that mean in real terms? It means 2,200 new teachers and aides in the classroom. It means more money going to programs that will achieve higher levels of achievement: $66 million going to programs directly focused on achievement and progress and learning, $60 million for computers in the classroom this year. Sixty million dollars. That is very significant. We are concerned, Mr. Speaker, and we want to see our children moving into the global economy equipped to handle whatever they face.

It also means, as we broaden this out to the postsecondary area, that we'll be seeing a 9.2 percent increase in postsecondary spending, moving up to 16 percent. We will see 23,000 new spaces created in the postsecondary system. We will see assistance going to students who are faced with the weight of loans in order for them to be educated. This year we'll see a 22 percent increase in assistance to students. Mr. Speaker, by the end of the three-year plan we will see a 50 percent increase in assistance to students. We know that about half of the postsecondary student population in this province in fact do not access provincial student loans, but that means that half of the students do, and we're going to be there for them. We're going to be there as they move into the 21st century, and we don't apologize for that. We are excited about that.

Around the province people continue to move here in great numbers. We know that that puts huge pressure on infrastructure in our towns and in our cities. We had over 50,000 people again this year move into this province. Just think of it, Mr. Speaker, 50,000 people. That's like another city of Red Deer just coming right up out of the ground every year. It's a wonderful thought, but that brings with it some extra cost to government. We have said to our municipalities that with the growth rate that we are experiencing, a population growth rate that is twice what Ontario is growing, we are going to assist the municipalities to address those needs to the tune of $725 million this year in this budget. That's on top of the $1.1 billion that is presently being expended on infrastructure, and that's not just roads. That is water systems, that is schools, that is hospitals, and that is seniors' lodges, all of the areas of infrastructure which presently are dealing with the positive results of the Alberta advantage.

In agriculture we have seen across western Canada this year the results of several years in a row of low commodity prices and on a regional basis devastating weather conditions. We have seen our friends and neighbors and relatives in Saskatchewan and Manitoba going hat in hand to the federal government, asking for assistance, something that will help them with that. Mr. Speaker, we can't stand by and wait for the federal government to dither about this particular problem. We are stepping to the plate. In last year's budget and this year's we are expanding the abilities of the farm income disaster program to handle those pressures and disasters beyond the control of our farmers. These are global items that are beyond their control. As we negotiate at the world trade level, trying to bring down this whole issue of subsidies around the world and of tariffs on the agricultural side, as we work to do that, we will not - we will not - see our family farms moved to extinction. We will be there for them.

Murray McLaughlan sang a song, a tribute to farmers, some years ago. He said: thanks for the meal; here's a song that is real from a boy from the city to you. You know, that's a nice song, Mr. Speaker. That's a nice song, and I will resist the request to break into song at this particular moment, but I can tell you something. A song will not put diesel fuel into that tractor. A song will not buy the seed that needs to go into next year's crop. A song will not buy the silage that's needed over the year to feed the cattle and see them through the winter. We're doing far more than that, and we can say to our farm community a similar thing. We can say thanks for the meal; here's some help that is real from all over the province to you.

Mr. Speaker, our seniors, especially those on low and fixed incomes, have faced several years of slowly rising inflation and other costs. We feel it's time, that the Alberta advantage and the bold plans that we have for this century have given us the fiscal capacity to be able to address the need of low-income seniors, so we are announcing an increase in low- income seniors' benefits of 10 percent, which will assist our low-income and fixed-income seniors as they move through the years ahead. Those seniors have worked hard. They've served well. They continue to be generous. We will be there for them. We will also see an increase of 16 percent in a special program just dealing with special needs for seniors. That is important, and we are there for them.

As we look from one end of the age spectrum to the other, in terms of children's services there's the Alberta Children's Forum that took place this year, chaired by Colleen Klein. Through that forum and that process we have seen and been brought forward insights and recommendations on how to deal with some of the items that are being faced by children and families today. We know, Mr. Speaker, that as a Conservative government we cannot invade the area of family. We cannot intrude in that area, and we don't want to do things that would increase dependency. We want to foster independency. With the recommendations that are coming from this forum, there will be a 6 percent increase in our funding for Children's Services. That will extend to 16 percent over three years. Children are our future. We're going to be there for them.

Mr. Speaker, we have through the year addressed a number of other areas. On the question of the Canada pension plan people continue to ask us what we are doing in that particular area. I want to remind people and update them that Alberta has come forward with suggestions on how that plan could be improved, that if they were adopted across the country, the plan would be improved for all Canadians.

But we can't wait while these plans, these items that we have researched and that we believe have some real possibilities for improvement sit on a federal shelf and gather dust, so we have asked the other provinces and the federal government to join with us in a working committee, which we now have in place for six months, to explore the Alberta approach to pension plans and to proper funding and to open up opportunities especially for young people who are working and investing in that plan and to guarantee the seniors who are already in the plan that their benefits will be there. We're working with the federal government and the other provinces, but it's a two-track system, Mr. Speaker. At the end of that six months we'll evaluate whether there is progress and ability to move ahead, and we will continue at the request of citizens to look at the feasibility of an Alberta plan.

We are not saying, Mr. Speaker, that we are pulling out of the Canada pension plan. We are not making that comment. This is not a threat. It is saying that we are responsible for the pension dollars that our citizens invest. We want to make sure they're properly invested in the best way. We'll be there for them. We're exploring those possibilities.

As we look at the area of investment, we're excited that we can report that we have just completed adding $230 million, almost a quarter of a billion dollars, to the heritage savings trust fund. We have increased that fund. We will not allow inflation to erode it, and we will be there.

Interestingly, Mr. Speaker, that fund this year will earn in income for Albertans approximately the same amount of money we will take in from oil royalties. So here is this fund, that has been built up over the years from oil and gas royalties, now producing, the fund is producing, interest at the same rate that royalties are being produced in an annual way out of the ground. I think that's a firm platform of security for us in the 21st century.

We will continue to do even more to address debt and debt pay-down. We have just posted, as we move to the end of this budget year in which we are now, a record down payment on that particular debt, the remaining debt, $1.6 billion being put down on that debt. This will be the first time in 12 years that the interest costs of our debt will be less than $1 billion. We're moving in the right direction, Mr. Speaker.

The reason we focus on that is because we know that debt costs; it does not pay. As we move to debt reduction, we lower the interest cost and we lower the cost to the bankers, as it were, Mr. Speaker, the creditors around the world. As we move to paying that down, we will create savings that we can then apply to health and education and other areas.

In 1994 our debt servicing costs were $1.7 billion. This year as we move to under a billion dollars, that means we have three-quarters of a billion dollars of unborrowed money that we can be investing in health, education, agriculture, and the areas of people services. That is the track that we have been on. It's proven to be viable.

We do get questioned from time to time, Mr. Speaker, in terms of our ability to continue to pay down debt, and that brings into discussion the whole area of how we forecast. How do we know what revenues are going to be coming in a given year? What will we put to debt, and what will we put into our various areas of program spending?

We are forecasting this year, in and after consultation with leading experts and analysts around the world, that the price of oil for the budget year, which will begin April 1 and extend to March 31, 2001, will average $19 a barrel. In a day when we're looking at close to $30 a barrel, I know some would say: you're budgeting too low; you should have that higher.

Mr. Speaker, we do our forecasting based on consultation with the analytical experts in the province, in the country, and internationally, and we were all together in our budgeting last year when we said that oil would be $13.50. This day one year ago we need to remember that oil was $ 12.61, and when we said $13.50 last year and put it in the budget, we were accused of being too optimistic. As you can see, we were low. Now we are saying, as closely as we can after consultation, that we see $19 oil; we see natural gas at a Canadian dollar price of $2.50. Those items, again, are developed in consultation with the industry.

The way we make sure that we will have cushions in place - because, as we know, Alberta more than any other province has fluctuating income streams. Income goes up and down more radically than any other province. When we have a good year like this year, we forget a year like 1998, not long ago. In 1998 the amount of revenue we took in from our oil and gas royalties was 1 and a half billion dollars less than we had taken in the year before, in 1997, and the economy did not shudder to a stop. We did not come screeching to a halt because of the expansion that we have in the economy, but people forget that.

We will not base our budgeting on the mountaintop peaks of the price of oil. We will budget carefully on what we think it will be. To protect us from a fluctuation as prices plunge downward or as they rocket skyward, every year we estimate what all of our revenues will be, we take 3 and a half percent of that estimate, and we set that money aside in case we have a fluctuation.

We do get criticized from time to time because of the fluctuating revenues, and can't we forecast closer? The whole world was wrong last year at $13.50. Maybe the whole world will be wrong this year, and we join most other experts in that $19 to $20 range.

I can tell you that our toughest critics, Mr. Speaker, are the credit rating agencies. Those people review every province's budget and the budget of every state and every sovereign territory, Standard and Poor's international credit rating agency being one. In their review of our budgeting, in the words of their own evaluation, they commend us for how we budget: the prudent fiscal management - this was in their latest review - and the fact that we take into account the variability of the income stream. They not only gave us credit for that; they gave us the best credit rating in the country for how we handle the dollars of the people of Alberta.

There are other dollars out there, Mr. Speaker, that we take as a government. It's in the whole area of fees and charges. Earlier this year there was a court decision in Ontario which looked at a particular fee that was being charged because the protest was being made that the fee being charged was in excess of the service being delivered. In the process of the court's determining that, they said to the Ontario government and they said to all governments: you can do one of two things. They didn't say that you have to get rid of the fee. They didn't say that you have to lower it. They said: you could protect the fee; you could bring it into legislation and protect it, or you can lower it. 

So far every other government has rushed to protect those fees that were determined to be too high. Premier Ralph Klein said: "Why are we rushing to protect the government? Why don't we rush to protect the people?" That's what we're doing with our fees and charges review. 
So, Mr. Speaker, we did a review, an analysis, a huge review of all the fees and charges that are being assessed in various government departments. We found out that in the majority of cases most of those fees and charges in fact do not cover the cost of the service or only approximately cover the cost, but there was an area in which those fees and charges were considerably higher than the cost of delivering the service. We did not and we are not going to protect those high fees. We are going to lower them.

It is in the whole area of what it takes to register related to estates and wills, related to house purchases, land and property registration, and business incorporation, all of those areas, Mr. Speaker. We are announcing that effective midnight tonight we will be reducing approximately 100 fees, and in that process we will be leaving $60 million in the pockets of Albertans. That's caring about taxpayers. 

Mr. Speaker, to give people an idea of which areas will be affected, for young home buyers, for instance, looking at a $150,000 home with a $ 140,000 mortgage, if you can get such a deal, before midnight tonight the fee, the charge that the government was allocating to those people to register that was some $365. We are lowering that by two-thirds, to $133. That's a significant saving for young home buyers.

We are also looking at the area of processing those probate letters related to wills and estates, something apparently we will all face at some time in our lives. For a modest estate value of $150,000, there has been an assessment of $600 to register the letters of probate with that. Six hundred dollars. We're lowering that to $300, Mr. Speaker. 

In the area of business incorporation, it has cost $150 simply to incorporate. In a day when more and more people are becoming self- employed, when more and more people are becoming self-employed contractors and registering as such, we are lowering that fee from $150 to $50. We care about people, Mr. Speaker. We are going to see that this continues to be a vibrant economy here in Alberta.

Mr. Speaker, the area of taxes is one in which I believe we see revealed the heart and nature of people when we get into a discussion on taxes. We are so pleased and excited that because of our fiscal situation we are able to accelerate and move up by an entire year a brand-new tax plan for Canada and definitely one that will be registered here in Alberta. When we asked Albertans about this, I believe Albertans revealed their heart and their nature when they responded in the area of taxes, because the first thing they said was that any tax changes had to be of immediate assistance to low-income families. We will make adjustments in this new tax system, which begins only 10 months from now, that will relieve some 132,000 low-income, hardworking Albertans from having to pay any income tax at all.

That was the first response from the heart of Albertans, who said: this should be the first thing that you do. Then we saw the heart and nature of Albertans when they said that the system needs to be fair. They pointed out to us that we were taxing in an inequitable way the earnings of either a one income earning family or a two income earning family, and they said: don't punish or reward; leave that choice to families. By moving the spousal exemption from $6,020 to $11,620, a 90 percent increase, we equalized that playing field, Mr. Speaker, and we make family choices. Family choices, not government choices.

Then people went on to say - Albertans revealed their heart and nature by saying that a tax system needs to be honest. One of the areas in which taxes have not been honest - and this is at all levels of government - is this whole area of bracket creep, whereby exemptions have not been indexed to inflation. As people's salaries have been inflated, for years those exemption levels have not moved up also. Government has quietly reached around with a hand into the back pockets of people and slipped those extra dollars out and made as if they took nothing. In fact, it has cost Albertans, it has cost Canadians millions of dollars. 

We looked around in this area of bracket creep. We said: how do we fix it? We looked in the mirror. We realized that we were the creeps. We are going to fix it, Mr. Speaker. We are tying these exemptions to inflation. We will be the first province to put an end to bracket creep. 

The final thing that Albertans said about a tax system, again I think revealing their own hearts, Mr. Speaker, is that a tax system needs to be understandable. It was a famous person who said: the hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax system. That person was Albert Einstein. If he couldn't figure it out, I sure can't and most of the people I know can't. So we are simplifying the system. That is why as of January 1, 2001, we will be the first jurisdiction in Canada where people can take all of their deductions and refunds on the federal side, all of their deductions and refunds on the provincial side, and claim all of those. There will be a single amount left, a net income, and to that net income a single rate of 11 percent will be applied. Openness and understandability in the tax system.

Mr. Speaker, the results of everything that we've been doing for the last few years mean continued growth here in Alberta. We are projecting growth of between 4.5 and 4.8 percent in the economy this coming year. That is very aggressive, very significant growth. That means 48,000 new jobs, most of which will be in the private sector: high-paying, high-tech, value-added jobs, long-term opportunities for Albertans. That's the type of growth that we will continue to see in this province as a result of the steps that we have taken.

Mr. Speaker, we haven't got it all right. We haven't got it all figured out. We still make mistakes, and as we do and as we are informed of those, we will move to correct them. You've heard about a 9 percent increase to health and 9 percent to education and 21 percent over three years. The overall increase from last year to this year in this budget that we are tabling today is slightly over 2 percent. That's not bad management considering all that we have faced and the continual pressures that we face in an annual, monthly, and daily way.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that we are moving to a new era as we move boldly into this 21st century. I believe that we have a platform of security that has been built because of certain policies. It's policies that will cause an economy to grow or to retract. If it's small "l" liberal - and this is not partisan; I'm talking liberal philosophically. We have enough history, as we go back through the 20th century, to know that small "l" liberal philosophy which talks about government moving to heal all the ills of the world, which talks about the growth of government institutions and government programming in every area of life - we know and we found out in an experiential way in Canada that that leads to increasing deficit, eventual increasing debt, to debt loads that eventually crush the air of incentive out of the lungs of private and free citizens.

It's time to reverse that thinking. We have reversed that thinking for a number of years. A small "c" conservative approach philosophically, Mr. Speaker, is an approach that recognizes limited but caring government, an approach that has faith in communities, families, and individuals, that moves to true freedom. When we talk about 132,000 low-income people no longer paying provincial income tax, that's a whole new definition of freedom. That type of freedom will be enjoyed by all of our citizens as we move this way. 

Mr. Speaker, I believe we are now moving to a new era where once almost unthought-of dreams are within our grasp. We have seen the rate at which we have paid down debt. I don't want to optimistically raise hopes, but we have seen the aggressive rate at which we have paid down debt. We have seen that we have been able to reduce taxes continually year to year, incrementally some years but exceedingly more in the year ahead. We have seen the heritage savings trust fund increase in value. We can see other revenue streams where investment is happening now coming into this province.

If we maintain prudent fiscal management, the day is coming soon - will it be 2005, in time for our birthday? I don't know, Mr. Speaker - when Albertans will be the first to be able to consider if we should even have provincial income taxes. They used to laugh at us in Alberta when we had those kinds of dreams. You know what's been happening every year under the Klein government? Every year we say that things can be accomplished. Every year many people say: you will never accomplish it. Every year it gets accomplished.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that the history of the 20th century for Alberta has been an epic of challenge and triumph. I believe it's that kind of boldness that moves us into the 21st century, and I'm absolutely convinced, understanding the heart and nature of Albertans and understanding the energy that comes from their heart and soul, that if we continue to harness that, if we continue to allow that to thrive and move ahead, if we understand and allow that to be unleashed, then combined with the providence of God and an understanding of divine and human nature, the dreams we have for ourselves, for our children, for our grandchildren are attainable. That's where we're going, Mr. Speaker.

Good afternoon.