Foothills politicians shared insights and predictions for what could be a tumultuous year ahead during an event in High River this week.
Conservative Foothills MP John Barlow, UCP MLA for Livingstone-Macleod Chelsae Petrovic and High River councillor Brenda Walsh spoke and answered questions during an “Eye on Politics” event hosted by the High River & District Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 20.
The event took place the day Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the United States. Although Trump stopped short of immediately implementing tariffs against Canadian goods, he signalled those tariffs are still on the table and could start on Feb. 1.
Barlow gave Alberta Premier Danielle Smith credit for her negotiation tactics against the tariffs.
“I think she did an incredible job to get Trump to back off,” he said.
Speaking in Smith’s hometown, Barlow championed Canada’s natural resource and agriculture sectors and talked about opening new foreign and domestic markets.
“The world needs what Canada produces, and that’s energy and agriculture,” Barlow said.
Better relationships are needed between the federal, provincial and territorial governments to reduce inter-provincial trade barriers at home, he said.
“Our most important trade agreement on the planet is the one that we don’t have, and that’s a true Canadian free trade agreement,” he said.
He also gave his prediction about what will happen this spring when the House of Commons is back in session.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament until March 24 and said he will step down once a new leader of the Liberal party is named.
Without support from the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, the Liberal government won’t last past March and there will be a May election, Barlow predicted.
"That would be my guess on what’s going to happen,” Barlow said.
Petrovic said she is proud of Smith for her stand to protect Alberta oil and gas from retaliatory tariffs.
“The fact that (Smith) was willing to stand up and put our jobs and our economy and our trades first and foremost, I think is absolutely commendable,” Petrovic said.
She said Alberta has a strong trade partnership with many U.S. states.
“If Alberta were a stand-alone country, we'd be their number one trading partner for a lot of those states,” she said.
Petrovic also talked about the impact of taxes and wages on affordability.
She said she hopes to see a promised UCP tax cut materialize in this year’s provincial budget that will be tabled in February.
“Hopefully, in this next budget, we’re going to be able to decrease our taxes as one of our campaign promises,” she said.
Asked about minimum wage, she said it’s a balancing act between making life affordable for people working in those jobs and for the small businesses that pay those wages.
“We understand that there is a very large picture that needs to be associated not just with the people receiving the minimum wage, but the people who need to pay out these wages,” she said.
Alberta's minimum wage was last increased in 2018 and, at $15 per hour, is tied with Saskatchewan for lowest in Canada.
Walsh, a small business owner, talked about hurdles from inflation, labour shortages and other challenges facing the business community.
