The Business Council of Alberta, including some of the chief executives of Alberta’s largest businesses, have sent a letter to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney outlining a three-point plan for economic recovery and a stronger Alberta.
“Our foundational principle is putting people first, with decisions lead by science and evidence,” said Adam Legge, President of the Business Council of Alberta, in a statement. “In the next period, the jurisdictions that win will be those who best coordinate re-opening and re-launching initiatives through the collaboration of government, public health and industry. This letter represents the business community standing ready and willing to work together with government to make a recovery in Alberta a model of success. Business has great ability to enable an accelerated recovery in a proactive, safe and coordinated way.
“These are tough days. We have learned much about our resilience, our strengths and our vulnerabilities. There is every opportunity for Alberta to come out of this period stronger than we went into it. We have the innovation, talent, resources and food the world needs. But we’ll only reach our potential if we plan our future on purpose.”
The three points by the Council are:
1. Develop a thoughtful, safe and ethical approach to a gradual and phased-in re-opening of the Alberta economy that safeguards health, but also begins to recover lost jobs and closed businesses;
2. Re-examine Alberta’s short- and long-term fiscal model in light of reduced revenues and increased need for government support; and
3. Re-imagine Alberta’s long-term economic opportunities and competitiveness by creating a bold and inspiring economic and industrial strategy for the province for the next 20 years.
The Council also recommends that Alberta’s fiscal model should be reinvented in the post-COVID period and suggests the
creation of a 20-year economic and industrial strategy.
