In the hours following the release of the Alberta budget, there was one word on the mind of Lethbridge mayor Blaine Hyggen: disappointing.
“Some of the projects that were specifically identified for Lethbridge, I’ll be very honest, I thought I was missing a page because it was just a few things. I looked at some of the other communities and what they were given for the budget, ” Hyggen said.
“I was a little disappointed, I’ll put it that way.”
The mayor’s main concern is health-related — there’s no funding for a catheterization lab at Chinook Regional Hospital.
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“Just last year council had me write a letter to the provincial government, we’ve been advocating for that ever since and so I thought it was a no-brainer that we were going to get that,” Hyggen said. “It’s a health thing, it’s going to help Medicine Hat, surrounding areas, Lethbridge and take the taxation off Calgary, meaning less transfers there.”
“I believe it is still on the list for next budget. I’m still seeking verification on that,” Lethbridge-East MLA and deputy Premier Nathan Neudorf said. “That’s the one thing that isn’t here that I’ve been advocating for, but my greatest challenge is it wasn’t on (Alberta Health Services’) priority list and it wasn’t on the list at all before the summer of 2022 and that was only nine months before this budget,” Neudorf said.
What the Lethbridge area is getting includes $11.2 million dollars over three years for the hospital’s renal dialysis program expansion and $5 million this year for irrigation planning.
But critics say it falls short of expectations.
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“The MLA for Lethbridge-East is also the infrastructure minister and the deputy Premier, but I was shocked, frankly surprised that he got nothing for our city,” Lethbridge-West MLA and NDP finance critic Shannon Phillips said.
Neudorf disagreed.
“I’m a little bit puzzled by it to be perfectly honest,” Neudorf said. “I have a list of all the asks that the city of Lethbridge has made over the past four years and virtually every single one has been funded from Exhibition Park to the airport, (University of Lethbridge) deferred maintenance, broadband, Highway 3 twinning.”
“The investments are there, both capital and programming, and I’m very pleased with this budget and the balance it’s achieved.”
On Wednesday, the province also announced a new kindergarten to grade six catholic school on the city’s westside.
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According to Holy Spirit Catholic School Division officials, it will hold around 450 students.
“Absolutely thrilled with the announcement of a westside catholic elementary school,” said board of trustees chair Carmen Momourquette. “We have been, for years now, dealing with a space crunch.”
The Conseil Scolaire Francosud’s École La Vérendrye is getting funding for its gym project. Money is also allocated for planning the Lethbridge School Division’s modernization of Galbraith Elementary School.