Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Gary Mar says developing electricity, water and education are inroads to creating diversity in rural communities.
Mar held a teleconference with rural media in Alberta to discuss some of his ideas for the future if he is elected leader of the Conservative party.
“Dealing with issues of electricity and water are part of it, you cannot develop any industry without access to affordable reliable energy and in many cases you can’t develop industry without access to water. So those two things will be part of moving forward on economic strategies benefiting diversification of economic opportunities in rural Alberta,” he said.
He said the other major component to strong rural communities is education.
“The second piece I feel is quite important is making sure rural Albertans have access to educational opportunities,” said Mar. “I feel strongly that geography should not be a barrier to getting educational opportunity after high school. As an example, if you want someone to be a doctor in Drumheller, then train someone in Drumheller to be a doctor, or a nurse, or a pharmacist. We should support those opportunities for colleges to be able to provide outstanding educational opportunities that allow people to stay in their communities, because statistically once kids leave a community to get a degree in Calgary or Edmonton, a lot stay there.”
Groups in Drumheller have been working on expanding post secondary institution education in the valley. In February Hope Health College was registered as a non-profit institution for the purpose of promoting higher education. In June, it lost its appeal for start-up funding through the Rural Alberta Development Fund, and has decided to go to the private sector for funding.
Max Campus, College of News Media and Design, was up and operating in Drumheller, however in July it announced it would be suspending its course instruction, and is developing a modified operational plan.
While Mar did not specifically mention either program, he said he would look at ways to support rural post secondary education.
“If people have ideas, I would be more than willing to look at it. In our rural communities I have seen lots of great things happen,” he said.
“If there are particular types of policy issues we can work on I am certainly open to looking at them.”
Mar addressed a number of issues facing communities including land rights. Many Albertans are irked by policy moves including the Land Stewardship Act (Bill 36), which critics see as an attack on property rights.
“My plan is we will put Bill 36 on hold until we have a full dialogue to resolve what I view to be legitimate and unresolved issues. I will review Bill 36 based on what we learned. My government will reassess the need and the timing for north-south transmission lines, and I will certainly remove the discretionary power of cabinet that are under Bill 50,” said Mar.
“And in all cases a fair process and a fair compensation for landowners will be guaranteed whenever government decisions affect private property.”
There are six candidates in the race for leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservative party including Doug Griffiths, Doug Horner, Gary Mar, Ted Morton, Rick Orman and Alison Redford. The first ballot will be on September 17. If no candidate has more than 50 per cent of the vote a second ballot will be held on October 1 with the three leading candidates.
