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Speaking Notes

Doubling the Heritage Fund


April 10, 2015
Check Against Delivery

Thank you for joining me this morning here in beautiful Fish Creek
Provincial Park.

We are here today because Alberta is at a turning point.

The plunge in oil prices has created a shock across the world
and for Alberta alone, this presents a $7 billion problem.

This province is facing major challenges and we need a plan to


face these challenges both immediately and in the long term
tough choices need to be made.

We need to get off the oil rollercoaster.

Over the past couple of days I have been talking to Albertans


about breaking the boom and bust cycle once and for all and
ending our dependency on resource revenue.

Ive been talking about protecting the jobs of Albertans and the
importance of maintaining our competitive tax advantage to drive
investment in our province.

These are actions identified in the immediate term and long-term


that we have put forward the plan that Albertans will have to
judge on May 5th on election day.

Im excited for the future and I came back to politics because I


want to help restore this partys fundamental values: fiscal
responsibility; saving for the future and protecting the public
services that matter most.

40 years ago, Premier Lougheed challenged us to live these


values and he knew we had to think about what we would leave
behind for future generations.

When he was a young man, he worked for a time in Tulsa,


Oklahoma, and saw a town where oil resources were spent and
the economy was in decline.

He vowed that should never happen to Alberta.

Some may think that our resources are infinite... that our energy
reserves are endless and we could never end up like the town
that Premier Lougheed remembered.

The truth is that they arent - and their abundance isnt the only
factor we need to consider.

Fluctuating commodity prices have had drastic effects across our


province.

I was in Grande Cache on Wednesday a place and history that


I know very well.

..Grande Cache has lived the boom and bust cycle.

..The people there know the impacts on family and community.

..Here in Calgary, people know it too.

In fact, this is one Alberta tradition we must break.

We must learn the lessons of the past and break the boom and
bust cycle once and for all.

The recent international price war over oil has put Alberta at a
critical turning point.

We need to rebuild the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund to


make sure that our province is saving and investing to build
lasting financial security for the future.

Albertans have already seen the benefits of our former Premiers


foresight in many ways it has been invested in research and
innovation, parks and cultural spaces.

It has helped to diversity our economy, as it did with


petrochemical projects.

The Heritage Fund has helped inspire innovation in health just


as it did when it inspired the original Alberta Childrens Hospital
that provided care for so many Calgarians over the years.

Facilities like the Walter C. Mackenzie Health Services Centre


and the University of Alberta Clinical Research Centre in
Edmonton are the results of this fund that benefit Albertans each
and every day.

The merits of investing in the Heritage Fund are everywhere.

Just take a look around you right now - Fish Creek Provincial Park
- is part of the legacy too.

We are standing here today in this beautiful part of Calgary


because of responsible fiscal planning because they planned
for our future and invested in it.

But the savings stopped. Oil revenues were not invested as they
once were.

We strayed from the common sense values that make this


province strong.

Spend within your means.

Save for the future.

Think about what you leave behind for future generations.

We will reinstate those values. The plan we have presented does


just that.

We will save more of our oil revenue for future generations, and
provide a legacy of security for your children and mine.

Starting in 2019/20, 25 % of all energy revenues will be saved in


the Heritage Fund.

Once we pay off debt, even more will be invested, up to 50%.

The Heritage Fund will grow again and will be restored to its
original purpose to save revenues from Albertas energy
resources to benefit current and future Albertans.

This is a key part of our immediate and long-term plan, and we


will be taking it to every household in Alberta.

In fact, the full plan is up on our website as of this morning.

All Albertans have the opportunity to read it, and to see for
themselves what we are proposing for the future of our province.

These are challenging times. They require decisive leadership.

This is the challenge for all those who want to lead our province.

They must tell the truth to the Alberta people about how they will
address our $7 billion shortfall and secure a stable future.

They need to tell Albertans whether they will save for the future.

They must tell the truth and tell it early so Albertans can judge
the options they have in this election.

That is what this election is going to be about. We are asking the


people of Alberta to choose Albertas future.

Its going to be very exciting.

I am so proud of Alberta.

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And I am proud of the revitalized PC team we offer today. The


quality that the women and men who represent our party is strong
and that can give Albertans confidence that we will solve
Albertas challenges.

Thank you, and thanks to our hardworking candidates who are


here today: Jeff Wilson, the candidate for Calgary-Shaw, Dave
Rodney, candidate for Calgary-Lougheed and Richard Gotfried
who is running in here in beautiful Fish Creek.

Thank you.

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