Herald photo by David Rossiter Lethbridge West MLA Greg Weadick hosted a provincial budget open house at the LSCO Thursday evening.

Dave Mabell
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
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Education and social support services became a focus of attention Thursday, when Lethbridge cabinet minister Greg Weadick convened a first-of-its-kind public forum.
The session, held a week before Alberta's legislature begins a fall sitting, began with an overview of the provincial budget. But many of the 30-plus residents who attended came away with ideas or proposals on other issues, not all of them involving revenues or expenditures.
"It's an opportunity to stand up and say, here are some recommendations," Weadick said, as people arrived."We're asking, what are some of the priority areas here?"
On the revenue side, former Lethbridge MP Blaine Thacker pressed Weadick to urge his Conservative colleagues to put more resource revenue into Alberta's trust funds. He cited Norway as an example of a nation that's systematically saved for the future, putting Alberta's savings funds to shame.
During other budget discussions, Weadick replied, some Albertans have proposed an extra point or two on their personal income tax, dedicated to health care programs. Others have suggested highway or bridge tolls, as in British Columbia.
Alberta remains the nation's lowest-taxed province, he added. But it could bring in an extra $12 billion a year if the government simply adopted B.C.'s tax structure.
Weadick, minister of advanced education and technology, reported his department's final budget submissions for 2012 went to the provincial treasurer earlier this week. But he said Premier Alison Redford has already signalled some items in the budget, including a $400 per month boost for Albertans receiving the AISH allowance - and pay hikes for staff in the non-profit sector who work with special-needs individuals.
"There's a real understanding that those wages have to be increased," Weadick said. Many agencies have trouble keeping staff, when government employees performing similar tasks are paid so much more.
On the education front, the Lethbridge West MLA said part of his mandate as a cabinet member - as assigned by the premier - is increasing the number of aboriginal students who enter Alberta's colleges and universities. But the loss of interest, he was told, begins far sooner.
Unless the province's First Nations children see hope for a better life, participants argued, they'll continue dropping out as young as Grade 6.
A root problem for them and many others, another speaker said, is poverty. While some Albertans live very comfortably, one Lethbridge child in five is living in a poverty-level family. That's a reality the Alberta government must recognize and respond to, participants said.
The evening's first proposals came from Tom Moffat, the New Democrats' candidate in Lethbridge East. He urged Weadick, as technology minister, to convince the Conservative government to place more emphasis on "green energy" projects in southern Alberta, along with a "smart grid" which would get that environmentally friendly power to businesses and individuals who want to support those initiatives.