This week's meeting began with a head table march in to the tune of She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain. President Tim Heaton called the meeting to order and introduced the head table. Michael Pierson and Manon Mitchell led us in the singing of O Canada, and Julie Visser delivered the invocation.

 

Beyond the customary thanking of the front entrance volunteers John Seigner, Larry Martin, Velma Martin and Murray Young, President Tim thanked the members of the Programs Committee for their efforts in bringing us the Superior Speakers series. This week's speaker, the Premier of Alberta, will be remembered as one of the key highlights of the series.

 

Thanks also go out to Michael Colborne, a recent recipient of an honorary Paul Harris Fellowship, for sponsoring this week's COG on behalf of the Rotary District 5360 Employment Partnership.

 

Club Secretary Kurt Kowalchuk welcomed the 131 visitors and guests who joined us to hear the Premier's presentation. He also extended birthday wishes to the five members celebrating birthdays this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Lavier Jankovic introduced our speaker, Rachel Notley, the 17^th Premier of Alberta. The Premier opened her remarks by acknowledging the role that Rotary plays in the community, and thanking us for the work we do in bringing people together.

 

She then introduced her presentation as being about the choice Albertans will make in the next provincial election. The Premier acknowledged that the New Democratic Party took office at a time when oil prices were collapsing, which led to the province's revenues taking a dramatic fall.

 

The Premier compared her government's handling of the downturn to the calls for austerity being made by the United Conservative Party. Stating that the NDP was not elected with a cost-cutting mandate, the Premier outlined her government's accomplishments.

 

Having delivered on four years of stable, "drama free" government and economic recovery, the NDP wants to ensure that this recovery enables Alberta to escape the boom and bust economy that has defined the province for several decades. It wants future growth to be sustainable and equitable. To that end, the government has overseen ground-breaking work in affordable housing, and has introduced a living minimum wage, the Alberta Child Benefit (ACB), and the Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit (AFETC).

 

The Premier highlighted the NDP's efforts to put the province's public sector on a sound financial footing; e.g., it has cut the salaries and perks of senior government officials. Alberta now has one of the strongest balance sheets in the country as a result of its efforts to bring the budget into balance in a responsible fashion. It continues to work on diversifying the provincial economy through initiatives such as the Climate Change Innovation and Technology Framework (CCITF), and a major $100 million investment in artificial intelligence that was announced the day after her presentation to the club.

 

The NDP is continuing its efforts to advance new pipeline construction and to diversify the energy sector by developing new value-added processing capabilities within the province. The Premier noted that very little has been done in this regard since the days of Peter Lougheed's government.

 

The Premier concluded her remarks by pointing to one of the province's key strengths: that its population is younger and more diverse than ever. She reminded us that the province's best days are still to come. The Premier answered questions from Dan Adams, Marc Stachiw and Steve Allan.

 

Following the question and answer session, Carmen Goss thanked our speaker.