Tired of tariff talk? Here’s other top topics tackled at Tuesday’s UCP town hall

By BRENDAN MILLER on March 6, 2025.

bmiller@medicinehatnews.com

As trade war talks dominate headlines across the country, and politicians announce new retaliatory measures, many southern Albertans continue to struggle with the rising cost of living, and pressed Premier Danielle Smith to address their concerns with that, water allocations for coal mining, health-care spending and more during a recent town hall discussion in Medicine Hat.

Smith attended the joint discussion with Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright on Tuesday to explain details within the new budget that affect Medicine Hat, address cost of living and energy prices and answer a series questions, both pre-screened and live.

2025 Budget

Smith says she is not in favour of tabling a budget with a potential deficit but says the government has planned for the worst case scenario of facing increased tariffs for a one-year period.

New tax cuts aim to save Albertans up to $750 on personal income taxes (the first $60,000 earned) have also been introduced to address higher inflationary prices, which has been an issue in Alberta.

“So that puts a billion dollars back into your pockets, and it’s sort of the first step in helping mitigate the harms that might come from what we’re seeing in the U.S.” said Smith.

Through the budget the City of Medicine Hat will receive a 15 per cent increase in capital infrastructure grants through the local government fiscal framework. This translates to an increase of $1.3 million dollars from Budget 2024 to total $9.46 million.

The province is also investing $5 million that will be divided between the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital and Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge to improve ICU capacity.

“Part of the model we’re moving toward is having strong regional hospitals, one in Medicine Hat, and in Lethbridge in our south zone … so that more people can receive more service close to home, rather than having to go to Calgary and Edmonton,” says Smith.

Both Smith and Wright say they are continuing to advocate for accelerated road construction near Medicine Hat as the province plans to spend more than $6 million this year on its eight-phase project to twin Highway 3. Construction is ongoing on the stretch between Taber and Burdett.

“It’s going to be a project that will, of course, improve road safety, reduce travel times and support economic growth across the region,” Smith said. “And among other things, this critical investment will enhance the movement of people and agricultural products, strengthen our local supply chains and ensure that our producers can get their goods to market more efficiently.”

Cost of living

The premier says her government’s actions to combat rising fuel and energy prices have saved Albertans roughly two-three cents per kilowatt hour over spiked prices last year, and spoke about the potential elimination of the carbon tax.

“I’m delighted to see that everybody seems to be keen to get rid of that carbon tax. So we should be able to see that be one of the ways in which we get a reprieve,” said Smith, who is hopeful a potential carbon tax elimination will also save Albertans money on natural gas bills.

Smith also praised new targeted support programs including $15 per day childcare fees, and claims she has received positive feedback surrounding the new Alberta Disability Assistance Program Program that is expected to launch in July 2026 and will co-exist with the current Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program. Critics have come out swinging however, saying the new system cuts back on core benefits and forces disabled Albertans into a workforce not set up for them and into a “work, or else” situation.

Grassy Mountain coal mining project

Several members of the audience pressed both MLAs on their government’s decision to reopen the Grassy Mountain Coal Mine to potential prospective drilling after a coal mining project was deemed as causing “significant adverse environmental effects” by a joint review panel conducted in 2021 by the Alberta Energy Regulator and then minister of environment and climate change.

Residents are concerned about implications to local water supplies that include drought and contamination, however Wright continues to suggest that if the project is approved by the AER, the mining operation can only access water located on site, a claim disputed by those opposing the environmentally sensitive project.

“They are not allowed to take on any additional water, meaning that any water they have on site from existing services is all they can use,” Wright said, speaking directly to the audience. “They are not allowed to draw any additional waters, they will get exactly zero if they apply for it.”

Wright says the coal mining project would take up approximately 0.14 per cent of all regional water allocations in the region.

Smith says any future mining project will have to take place underground and will have to utilize new underground mining techniques that are similar to techniques used in the oil sands.

“We need to make sure that we’re not impacting habitat, not impacting water, and we’ll let the process play out,” she said.

Homelessness

Wright said the province is currently working with the city to identify a properly zoned location for a new emergency shelter that will provide support to vulnerable individuals following the closure of the Mustard Seed location in the Flats.

“We had a very productive joint province and city meeting last week and the joint location is going to take on all of the service from the Allowance Avenue location, in addition to the Eighth Street location. It will be one facility and the identified location will have very little community impact,” he said.

According to research conducted by the province, the Medicine Hat area has approximately 100 people who have been identified as chronically living without a fixed address.

“Forty who are very hard to house, kind of chronic homeless who are in and out of different institutions, hospitals, calling the ambulance,” explains Smith.

Smith says she is hopeful positive news from a new pilot housing program in Redcliff that has supported 12 individuals over a 15-month trial period will be introduced and adopted by other communities.

“That is one of the very early successes that we have had and we’re talking about how we might be able to expand and support that program further.”

Health care

Healthcare funding was another contentious issue brought forward during the discussion, as several Albertans report facing long wait times for surgeries and many have been left struggling to find family doctors.

Smith says a recent physician agreement signed by the government and Alberta Medical Association will help stabilize the health-care system and attract more doctors to rural regions of the province.

Some crowd feedback accused the premier of driving away health-care professionals. Audience members were heard yelling, “Stop lying,” and saying her government drove doctors to “leave en masse,” while Smith defended the UCP plan to rework the provincial health-care system.

“As of December, we’ve actually seen an increase in the number of doctors, so it takes a little bit of time to be able to do our negotiations, and we got to the finish line.” The physician agreement is in place until March 31, 2026.

Wright said he has been speaking with local pharmacists who are looking to hire more nurse practitioners in Medicine Hat, and is making “strides” to increase the number of health-care professionals in the region.

The province will roll out its new health-care funding model April 1. Smith also faced backlash from residents around the Alberta Health Services procurement scandal, and provided little detail aside from saying a judge from Manitoba will lead a third-party inquiry.

“All the information is being sent to the auditor general. So if there is something unusual about all four of the prices (contracts awarded) we’ll get to the bottom of it.” said Smith to a split audience of applause and criticisms.

Opposition critics have said Albertans want a public inquiry, which this is not, and that Smith is putting limitations on the judge that will lead the investigation nowhere.

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