Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Alberta 14e 5e Discours du trône 12 février 1963 J. Percy Page Lieutenant-gouverneur Alberta Social Credit Party MR. SPEAKER, AND MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY: It is with pleasure that I welcome you to this Fifth Session of the Fourteenth Legislature of the Province of Alberta. As the elected representatives of the citizens of this province, it is your responsibility to translate their collective will into beneficial legislation and exercise your best judgment to resolve these problems in the field of public affairs which affect the good and welfare of our province. Among these problems are certain social, economic and financial trends which will lead to serious disabilities in the future unless effective preventative measures are taken by all levels of government. My government is pleased to report that agricultural conditions during 1962 were substantially better throughout most of the province than in 1961. Despite some drought areas in southern Alberta and some frost damage in northern communities, coarse grain yields were above average and wheat yields normal. Wheat acreage during the last twenty years has decreased by 3.6 million acres while the livestock population has increased from 1.3 million to 2.7 million head and now accounts for over 30 % of total farm cash income. Recognizing the growing importance of our livestock industry, my government proposes to establish a Veterinary College in conjunction with the University of Alberta at Edmonton, if satisfactory arrangements for the sharing of costs can be made with the Government of Canada. Your approval will be sought for certain programs which will be undertaken in co-operation with the Federal Government under the Agricultural Rehabilitation Development Act. These projects are designed to obtain more productive use of sub-marginal lands and conserve water supplies and will include rural development programs which will provide new income opportunities. A factual study of the factors involved in an over-all crop insurance plan is being carried out to determine its economic feasibility. You will be asked to approve expenditures for the construction of trunk drains in the St. Mary and Milk Rivers and Bow River Development projects and for the drainage of flooded lands in northern Alberta. Having regard to the vast potential and growing importance of the northern areas of the province, legislation will be submitted for the establishment of a Northern Alberta Development Council, whose function will be to plan, promote, co-ordinate and advise on practical measures to foster and advance northern development. In the field of education, a new act to provide for accreditation of certain schools on an optional basis will be introduced and amendments to The School Act and The Teaching Profession Act will be submitted for your consideration. You will be asked to approve increased appropriations for the Department of Education, which will include provision for the operation of the new Northern Alberta Institute of Technology at Edmonton and increased operational grants for the University of Alberta. A large scale construction program will be continued at the University, both in Edmonton and Calgary, to provide the facilities necessary to accommodate the rapidly increasing student enrolment. To further improve the province's extensive public health services, amendments will be introduced to The Health Unit Act and The Treatment Services Act. Amendments to the latter statute will enable my government, in co-operation with the medical profession, to develop and implement a program of voluntary prepaid medical services. This program will bring the cost of such services within the reach of those with limited financial resources while at the same time preserving the doctor-patient relationship necessary for a high standard of medical services. A special committee within the Department of Public Health has been established to develop a program for those citizens who require a measure of nursing care but who are not eligible for admission to auxiliary or active treatment hospitals. It is my government's intention, in this field, to coordinate private and public nursing home facilities. A 100-bed hospital-school for multiple-handicapped children will be constructed in Edmonton as the first stage of a comprehensive program to meet the growing needs in this field. A new infirmary ward and a service building will be constructed at the Provincial Training School at Red Deer. Two new 125-bed dormitories will be provided at the Deerhome Institution and an administration and reception building will be completed at the Ponoka Mental Hospital. Additional senior citizens' homes will be erected during the ensuing year at key centres where the need for such facilities has been established. Initial steps will be taken during 1963 to establish a custodial farm and rehabilitation centre for alcoholics convicted of minor offences. This will enable the facilities of the Belmont Institution to be made available for a broader field of treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholics generally. To improve the operation of our provincial penal institutions, special courses in training will be instituted for staff members and chaplain and counselling services will be provided for inmates. To assist municipalities to meet the problems of local law enforcement, a provincial body of law enforcement personnel will be recruited and trained and made available, under contract, to local authorities desirous of availing themselves of this service. The nucleus of trained personnel not under contract to local authorities will replace the present Provincial Inspection Force which will be absorbed into the new province wide organization. A complete revision of The Town and Rural Planning Act will be submitted for your approval together with amendments to other statutes affecting municipal administration. My government proposes to continue, during the ensuing year, a program of modern highway construction, including additional four-lane divided highways supplemented by a network of district and local roads. Provincial Government grants to assist in the construction of district and local roads will be continued and some 200 bridge structures will be built on district roads during the year. Amendments to the Alberta Insurance Act, The Vehicles and Highway Traffic Act and The Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnity Act will be placed before you which will increase, for financial responsibility purposes, the minimum limits of liability under automobile insurance policies for bodily injury or death of persons or damage to property in automobile accidents. The growth of a vigorous forest protection and management program will be sustained throughout the ensuing year. Continued support for the significant public interest in outdoor recreation will be supplied through further provincial park development. Grants for rural municipal park development will be made available to municipalities which have, thus far, not participated in this program. Additional steps will be taken to ensure that the rights of surface owners, affected by the development of oil and gas resources, are fully protected. To this end, the Inspection Service of the Department of Mines and Minerals will be increased and legislation will be introduced to establish local surface reclamation councils empowered to supervise the maintenance and reclamation of land used in connection with mines, quarries, oil and gas operations and pipelines. A comprehensive review of the functions of the Oil and Gas Conservation Board has been carried out and certain amendments to the Act will be submitted for your approval. Further extensions to the Alberta Government telephone system will be made during the ensuing year, including further conversions to dial operation and direct distance dialing service. To afford citizens of Alberta greater protection against excessive interest rates and carrying charges when purchasing goods and services or borrowing from finance companies under deferred repayment plans, legislation will be introduced requiring full disclosure to the purchaser or borrower of the rate and total amount of interest and other service charges involved. Having regard to public concern resulting from steadily rising levels of taxation and debt, my government proposes to invite representatives of local governments, school boards, business, agriculture and labor to join in a factual study of public expenditures and the manner in which they can be controlled and financed having regard to legitimate needs and the best interests of the people of the province as a whole. The Public Accounts for the last fiscal year and the Estimates for the ensuing year will be submitted for your scrutiny and approval. I leave you now to the business of this session confident that you will apply yourselves to your responsibilities in a manner that will ensure the best interests of all our people. I pray that Divine Providence will guide and direct your deliberations.