Alberta politicians have squared off over funding for the proposed 600-acre Lakeview Business District in St. Albert, an Edmonton suburban community, as political parties prepare for the provincial election on May 29.
In an ironic twist, the former NDP premier is being accused of promoting “corporate welfare.
On March 15, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley spoke to the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce, announcing a commitment to fund part of the servicing of the Lakeview Business District if elected.
The Lakeview Business District is a currently non-serviced portion of land, which is partially owned by the city. According to city data, St. Albert has the lowest amount of industrial space in the region, sitting at 0.6 per cent vacancy.
But by March 17, an Alberta minister called the NDP proposal to partner with the City of St. Albert to fund the servicing of a new business district "a lot like corporate welfare."
Alberta's Minister of Northern Development Brian Jean responded to a question from NDP MLA Marie Renaud in the legislature, criticizing the recently proposed opposition plan.
"I did listen to that announcement. and I thank the member for the question. I was kind of surprised because it sounds a lot like corporate welfare based on the announcement," Jean said.
By March 17, Morinville-St. Albert MLA Dale Nally weighed in and said he was working with his United Conservative Party (UCP) colleagues to secure funding for Lakeview.
Nally, who is finishing up his first term as MLA for the riding, said in a statement the business district is important for St. Albert.
"As Minister Jean said, there are ways that the province can support this development and our government is committed to clearing roadblocks and finding ways to help see the project to completion," Nally said in a statement.
Nally said he has "no doubt" it will be the UCP government that supports the construction of Lakeview Business District.
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron said the competing announcements were welcome news and noted the next step is to start the work on Lakeview, which is slated to become an industrial area in the city.
“It's our number one priority,” the mayor said.
“We get calls all the time looking for people that want to set up in St. Albert and we are out of land.”
The mayor said they don’t have a final number on the cost of the project; however she estimates it could be anywhere from $60 million to $80 million. A lot of the costs are recoverable through offsite levies, Heron noted, which is a way developers pay back some of the costs for the services once the land is developed.
“The actual cost of the public is maybe $30 million,” Heron said.
If the funding for the district comes through this year, Heron said she could see shovels in the ground by next year, and building going up by 2026.
