Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s tough talk on oil and gas and the B.C. roadblocks to pipelines impressed the Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce president, but he remains about the rising minimum wage.
“It’s good to see the provincial government standing up for Alberta with respect to B.C. and the games governments are playing with pipeline’s,” said Robin Bobocel, chamber president.
“I think the Premier is sending the right signals and I like that they’re going after the sector as opposed to the wine ban, which penalizes another group that really isn’t involved.”
Notley threatened to reduce the amount of oil going to B.C. as part of the Throne Speech on Thursday in the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton.
The spat between the two provinces over pipelines began when the B.C. NDP government said it would look at rules limiting any increase in the import of diluted bitumen. Alberta retaliated by instituting a ban on the import of B.C. wine. That ban was eventually lifted.
“I think it’s the right tactic,” said Bobocel. “We have the lever available to us and I think we need to show B.C. that we’re not afraid to pull that lever if we need to.”
Red Deer City Manager Craig Curtis framed the Throne Speech as coming from a place of economic recovery. Bobocel agreed that the language was upbeat.
“Albertans need to be more upbeat,” said Bobocel, referencing a speech from economist Todd Hirsch gave in Red Deer earlier this week. “If we start talking more upbeat, the economy will tend to follow that.”
While the Throne speech painted a “rosy” picture of the economic situation in Alberta, Bobocel said things aren’t as rosy in Central Alberta as the “speech would have people believe.”
“We’re still struggling,” said Bobocel. “High taxes, the carbon levy, changes to the labour code and minimum wage increases. That’s all putting downward pressure on businesses and in particular small businesses. That’s not going to change any time soon.”
One of the specific initiative mentioned in the Throne Speech was that the minimum wage in Alberta will increase to $15 later this year. Bobocel the increase could force owners to reduce staff or staff hours or increase prices.
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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