Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Alberta 14e 4e Discours du trône 15 février 1962 J. Percy Page Lieutenant-gouverneur Alberta Social Credit Party MR. SPEAKER AND MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY: To each of you I extend a sincere welcome to this Fourth Session of the Fourteenth Legislature of the Province of Alberta. You are meeting to transact the public business of our province at a time when serious national and international issues are causing many of our people grave concern. We must be mindful of the fact that our future progress and wellbeing inevitably will be affected by these national and international circumstances and therefore you must take cognizance of their implications in arriving at decisions in the field of your provincial responsibilities. Our people will welcome your leadership to ensure the maximum effort of which we are capable to enhance our nation's influence in all constructive efforts to resolve the causes of international tensions and to advance the cause of world peace. My Government views with much concern those social and economic trends within our own nation which are resulting in the rapid acceleration of debt and Taxation and in excessively high price levels which adversely affect domestic living standards and Canada's competitive position in world markets. Every effort will be made to restrain and reverse these trends at provincial level and to aid our people in preserving the maximum measure of social and economic stability. During the past year a substantial area of Alberta was seriously affected by the general drought conditions which prevailed throughout the prairie provinces. Notwithstanding serious crop losses in the southeastern areas, over-all agricultural production remained at a reasonably high level and adequate supplies of feed and seed are available to meet all provincial requirements. My Government, in co-operation with the Government of Canada, is providing assistance in the movement of grain and fodder to the drought areas and in augmenting vital water supplies diminished by drought conditions. A number of recommendations designed to improve and extend agricultural services will be placed before you during the session. These will include a pilot plant for experimental work in the processing, grading and packaging of vegetables produced on irrigated land, the expansion of the performance testing program within the livestock industry, a branch veterinary laboratory to serve the southern part of the province, and measures to improve the control of livestock diseases. Additional trunk drains in the St. Mary and Milk Rivers Development Project and in the West Block of the Bow River Development will be constructed during the ensuing year together with a preliminary program to survey flooding problems on streams in the northern part of the province. You will be asked to provide funds to enable my Government to participate under the Federal Government's Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Act in a number of projects which will be of benefit to our people. Amendments to The Public Lands Act will be submitted to ratify the recent agreement with the Government of Canada to permit school lands to be administered similarly to other public lands in the province. A survey and study of lake and forest areas, reserved for public use, will be continued to meet growing recreational needs. The modern forest service developed by my Government in recent years will be further extended and improved to ensure the maximum conservation of our forest resources. To encourage the continued exploration and development of our oil and gas resources, amendments to appropriate statutes will be proposed in keeping with recommendations arising from the comprehensive study of existing legislation and regulations pertaining to the exploration and development and marketing of oil and gas resources as announced at the last regular session of the legislature. The fourth phase of My Government's Five-Year Development Program, to be undertaken during the ensuing year, will provide facilities for the treatment and education of physically-handicapped children. This program will be designed in its initial stages to provide for the most urgent present needs in this important field and to be capable of progressive expansion to meet future requirements. Amendments to various statutes to extend and further improve public health services throughout the province will be submitted for your consideration. A new statute will be introduced providing for the establishment of a University of Alberta Hospital Foundation authorized to receive and hold in trust donations and bequests of private or corporate funds to be used to augment teaching and clinical research over and above that which can be financed from the public treasury. In the field of education you will be asked to approve increased appropriations for the province wide Foundation Program of School Finance, established at the last session, and to consider amendments to The School Act, including changes and revisions designed to further improve the operation of this program. Amendments to The School Buildings Assistance Act and The Teachers' Retirement Fund Act also will be submitted for your consideration. You will be asked to provide funds to complete the construction of homes for senior citizens in Edmonton and Calgary and to provide additional homes in other areas of the province as the need for increased accommodation arises. In the field of finance, an amendment will be requested to The Alberta Municipal Finance Corporation Act authorizing the corporation to increase its borrowings during the ensuing year sufficiently to provide the essential capital requirements of Alberta municipalities, schools and hospitals. Amendments to The Rural Telephone Revolving Fund Act designed to further assist in the extension of rural telephone services, will be presented for your approval. My Government will recommend to you a continuation of its program of modern highway construction, including additional four-lane divided highways supplemented by an extended network of district and local roads, for which substantial provincial grants will be provided. Your approval will be sought for the construction during the ensuing year of essential public works, including an Institute of Technology at Edmonton, an Education Building and new Library on the University of Alberta campus at Edmonton, and a new Library on the University campus at Calgary. As far as possible construction will be programmed on a 12-month basis in order to provide the maximum measure of employment during the winter months. Legislation will be introduced providing for the appointment and outlining the duties of a special committee to coordinate Alberta's part in the national centennial celebrations in 1967. My Government is co-operating with the Government of Canada and the Calgary Olympic Association in an effort to have the Winter Olympics held in Alberta at Banff in 1968. A bill for the establishment of a Racing Commission with power to govern and control horse racing in the province will be submitted for your approval. You will be asked to consider an amendment to The Alberta Insurance Act that will increase, for financial responsibility purposes, the minimum limits of liability under automobile insurance policies for loss or damage resulting from bodily injury to or death of persons or resulting from damage to property in automobile accidents. Appropriations will be requested to cover the increased activities of the Emergency Measures Organization program in keeping with the province's responsibility to take all reasonable steps to ensure the welfare of our people in the event of any emergency. The Public Accounts for the last fiscal year together with the Estimates for the ensuing year will be submitted for your approval. I leave you now to the business of this session with full confidence that you will discharge your duties and responsibilities in such a manner as to ensure the best interests and wellbeing of all our people. I pray that Divine Providence will guide and bless you in your deliberations.