Rachel Notley and the Alberta government are already making plans for the $30 million from Ottawa announced Thursday. Notley says she will use some that money towards cleaning up orphaned wells around the province, but more details on that will be coming next week.
Alberta Energy says there were roughly 1,400 abandoned wells in the province last year. Experts estimate it will cost $500 million to address them all, but Notley says it won’t be an overnight process.
“But what we do need to do is make sure that we slowly move towards a higher level of reclamation, a higher level of investment in that important task of securing these wells and making sure that our land and our water supply are safe.”
Notley says the federal budget announced Thursday is largely in line with what she and her government were expecting. She is quick to highlight a few positives, including attention given to First Nations issues. She also welcome $7 billion in childcare funding, which she says might help them in scaling up some pilot projects they’ve been running.
Saskatchewan’s provincial budget was also revealed Thursday, and Notley has made sure to get a few digs in on her neighbours. The budget there will see the PST rise to six percent and the end of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company, which Alberta’s premier made sure to tie to her opposition’s plans.
“In Saskatchewan was, in essence, I think the Wildrose plan that they tried so hard to refuse to ever lay out to people. “You see significant tax increases and at the same time significant cuts to important services for families, all so they can balance the budget three years before we do.”
Notley has stayed firm that her government would not introduce a PST during this term.