Danielle Smith the Alberta Premier dreams of a new Alberta metropolis!
Premier wants the mid-sized central city to be the next prairie giant.
The premier is scheduled to meet with Red Deer council later this month. Council expects the million-person ambition to come up, along with the city’s project-wish-list plan on its way toward that future. The high-speed rail link the premier will build-forward could be a game-changer, they reason. It would let Red Deer residents live and work there while many may commute daily to work in or out of town, giving it the economic-community boost the big city neighbors now enjoy. Smith’s dream of a million-person Red Deer works for all Albertans. She’s been public about it twice in the last few weeks. First mentioned on her radio call-in show on March 16, when she was justifying making the central city’s hospital redevelopment a priority.
“With Red Deer being a growing center — I keep challenging Red Deer to be our next million-person city — they absolutely do need to have a full-service hospital in central Alberta.”
She raises the decades old desire of Albertans a few weeks later at a United Conservative Party fundraiser in the city.
“Red Deer is growing at a rapid pace. And I have challenged your council to make Red Deer our next million-person city. Because if you have that kind of population base, through the corridor, it makes sense to bring passenger rail from Calgary to Red Deer and on to Edmonton to connect this entire corridor. And I hope that’s what you’re looking forward to in a few years’ time.”
In the premier’s televised address and throne speech last fall, her government said it will prepare to more than double Alberta’s population by 2050 to 10 million people — which with high immigration and migrations is where provincial officials have predicted the province should get to. Smith’s vision for Red Deer’s expansion is even more realistic. High-tech, high-speed rail offers so many possibilities to gain through scale and even greater, a massive reduction in the millions of tons of carbon spent into the environment on millions of car, bus, plane and transport trips through the corridor each year. Let’s analyze the spreadsheets and realize how fast Red Deer and Alberta are growing now and how easily it could reasonably reach these ambitious milestones.
Red Deer’s rapid growth calls for visionary action.
As we strive to become the best prepared to embrace being the next million-person-city, it is essential to better connect this thriving corridor with the efficiencies of freight and passenger rail links from Calgary to Red Deer, and on to Edmonton. Imagine the advantage in the possibilities of seamlessly transporting people and goods, including mission critical resources and even mail or delivery packages, throughout this entire region, quickly.
Together, we can create value, enhance growth, and unlock economic potential not only for Red Deer but also for Alberta and the world. Our commitment to mutual benefit and shared success drives us to support your realistic and sustainable development goals.
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