Courtesy Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce

By Chantal Wagner

Positives and negatives in provincial budget says local chamber

Feb 26, 2021 | 2:03 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce says there is a mix of positive and negative news in this budget, but overall they’re happy to see some alignments with local chamber policies.

President Marcus Campbell says that includes investment attraction in industrial zones and continued work with twinning Highway 3.

He says there was also a mention of the mental health aspect for small to medium businesses in the budget.

As well as positive reinforcement with some of the policies the chamber has been working on with the agriculture and irrigation industries.

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However, Campbell says there are some concerns.

“We worry about the local impacts to Medicine Hat College because they’re a huge part of our community. Skills development and training is a huge part of what the college offers so we’re concerned about those cuts. Also didn’t see anything mentioned on air ambulance and HALO so that is a concern for us as well, so we will continue to advocate on behalf of that.”

“The GDP ratio is always a concern for us,” Campbell added. “I think they’re focusing on a 30 percent GDP ratio, we would like to see that more in the 26 percent range.”

Though there is a significant amount of debt in the budget announcement, Campbell says it looks like the government is committed to the long-lasting support of the business community.

According to a release from the chamber, there is $5.9 billion in financial relief and supports to businesses in Alberta so far. Budget 2021 includes a COVID-19 contingency provision of $1.25 billion in the next fiscal year.