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Alberta

Join us for our 2023 Induction Ceremony

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Our 2023 Induction Ceremony will be on Friday, May 26th at the Red Deer Polytechnic Cenovus Centre. Cocktails and appetizers will begin at 5:30 pm, with the ceremony starting at 6:30 pm. The class of 2023 is as follows:

Athletes

Andrew Buckley-Football

Mike Johnson-Baseball

Helen Upperton-Bobsleigh

Builders

Cara Currie Hall-Multisport

Allan Ferchuk-Multisport

Greg Peterson-Football

Lyn Radford-Multisport

Teams

Old Grizzlys 1991-1994-Hockey

Awards

Wilf Brooks-Achievement –Hockey

Mark Stephen-Bell Memorial – Radio Broadcaster

Dr. Marcus Dunsworth-Pioneer- Multisport

Tickets are $80 or $50 for Honoured Members. You can purchase your tickets by clicking here.

If you have any questions or need help purchasing tickets, please call 403-341-8614.

Honoured Member Cody Snyder to be Inducted into the Bull Riding Hall of Fame

Honoured Member Cody Snyder will be the first Canadian inducted into the Bull Riding Hall of Fame.

Cody started riding junior steers in rodeo competitions when he was eight years old, and at twelve, he finally rode his first bull. By the age of fifteen, Cody was the Canadian Amateur Bull Riding Champion. Through 1980 and 1981, Cody gained the experience he needed to lead the Canadian Professional Rodeo Bull Riding standings in 1982. He was nineteen years old. He was inducted into our Hall in 2002 as a Rodeo Athlete.

Learn more about this story by following the link below.

Cody Snyder Article
This newsletter is sponsored by the RBC Foundation.

 Honoured Member Highlight – Allan Coulter

Volleyball Athlete – Inducted in 1997

Allan Coulter was a member of Canada’s National Men’s Volleyball Team from 1979 to 1992.  He competed in over 700 international volleyball matches and was selected as Team Captain from 1988 – 1992.  He competed in both the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics.  He was described as the ‘quickest hitting middle blocker’ Canada has ever had.  Allan continued to compete with the Calgary ‘Canuck Volleyball Stuff’ and became the spokesman, leader and role model for Canada’s National Team Program.

Honoured Member Profile

Provincial Sport Organization: Volleyball Alberta

Their primary goal is to promote and develop volleyball at all levels throughout Alberta.  Volleyball Alberta services the needs of its membership which consists of athletes, coaches, officials, and anyone interested in the sport of volleyball in the province.

Artifact in Focus!

F. E. Osborne Memorial Trophy: Tuxis Junior League Champions, Operated by Calgary Tuxis Coucil, Annual Competition. 1949-1957.

Honoured Member Dr. David Legg Teaches Adaptive Sports to Elementary Students

The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame partnered with Calgary Adaptive Hub and Honoured Member Dr. David Legg to teach students about adaptive sports.

Professor at the Mount Royal University department of Health and Physical Education, David is an engaging lecturer and supports his students in finding practical experience working with individuals with disabilities in adapted sport. He has devoted his life as a volunteer in sport for athletes with a disability at the provincial, national and international level. He was inducted in 2022 as a Paralympic/Multisport Builder.

Honoured Member Profile
Thank You Northern Alberta Curling Championship Society!

We want to give a huge shout-out to the Northern Alberta Curling Championship Society for sponsoring a new interactive for the Hall. The new curling rink is a great addition to our space.

If you or your organization would like to sponsor a new interactive for the Hall, please email us at [email protected] or call 403-341-8614.

Donate Now

The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame needs your support to continue the ongoing preservation of Alberta’s sports history and the development of museum exhibits. We are grateful and appreciative of the generosity of our supporters and friends. We would be happy to assist you in choosing how your personal legacy will be fulfilled and the many options available. Here is some information on donating shares to ASHFM and the benefits to you as a donor.

Donate

The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame provides a family-friendly, interactive experience. You will be surprised by what you discover inside! Have fun, laugh, play and discover Alberta sports heroes together. The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is an interactive, hands-on celebration of Alberta's sporting history. Our over 7,000 square feet of exhibit space includes a multisport area with virtual baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer; an adaptive sports area, including a 200 meter wheelchair challenge; a Treadwall climbing wall; the Orest Korbutt Theatre; the Hall of Fame Gallery; an art gallery displaying works by provincial artists, and much more. Our venue boasts a collection of over 17,000 artefacts of Alberta sports history and showcases many of these items in a number of displays. The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame also offers an education program, group activities, and a unique environment to rent for your birthday party, special event, corporate reception or meetings.

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Alberta

Low oil prices could have big consequences for Alberta’s finances

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From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill

Amid the tariff war, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil—a common benchmark—recently dropped below US$60 per barrel. Given every $1 drop in oil prices is an estimated $750 million hit to provincial revenues, if oil prices remain low for long, there could be big implications for Alberta’s budget.

The Smith government already projects a $5.2 billion budget deficit in 2025/26 with continued deficits over the following two years. This year’s deficit is based on oil prices averaging US$68.00 per barrel. While the budget does include a $4 billion “contingency” for unforeseen events, given the economic and fiscal impact of Trump’s tariffs, it could quickly be eaten up.

Budget deficits come with costs for Albertans, who will already pay a projected $600 each in provincial government debt interest in 2025/26. That’s money that could have gone towards health care and education, or even tax relief.

Unfortunately, this is all part of the resource revenue rollercoaster that’s are all too familiar to Albertans.

Resource revenue (including oil and gas royalties) is inherently volatile. In the last 10 years alone, it has been as high as $25.2 billion in 2022/23 and as low as $2.8 billion in 2015/16. The provincial government typically enjoys budget surpluses—and increases government spending—when oil prices and resource revenue is relatively high, but is thrown into deficits when resource revenues inevitably fall.

Fortunately, the Smith government can mitigate this volatility.

The key is limiting the level of resource revenue included in the budget to a set stable amount. Any resource revenue above that stable amount is automatically saved in a rainy-day fund to be withdrawn to maintain that stable amount in the budget during years of relatively low resource revenue. The logic is simple: save during the good times so you can weather the storm during bad times.

Indeed, if the Smith government had created a rainy-day account in 2023, for example, it could have already built up a sizeable fund to help stabilize the budget when resource revenue declines. While the Smith government has deposited some money in the Heritage Fund in recent years, it has not created a dedicated rainy-day account or introduced a similar mechanism to help stabilize provincial finances.

Limiting the amount of resource revenue in the budget, particularly during times of relatively high resource revenue, also tempers demand for higher spending, which is only fiscally sustainable with permanently high resource revenues. In other words, if the government creates a rainy-day account, spending would become more closely align with stable ongoing levels of revenue.

And it’s not too late. To end the boom-bust cycle and finally help stabilize provincial finances, the Smith government should create a rainy-day account.

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Alberta

Governments in Alberta should spur homebuilding amid population explosion

Published on

From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill and Austin Thompson

In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.

Alberta has long been viewed as an oasis in Canada’s overheated housing market—a refuge for Canadians priced out of high-cost centres such as Vancouver and Toronto. But the oasis is starting to dry up. House prices and rents in the province have spiked by about one-third since the start of the pandemic. According to a recent Maru poll, more than 70 per cent of Calgarians and Edmontonians doubt they will ever be able to afford a home in their city. Which raises the question: how much longer can this go on?

Alberta’s housing affordability problem reflects a simple reality—not enough homes have been built to accommodate the province’s growing population. The result? More Albertans competing for the same homes and rental units, pushing prices higher.

Population growth has always been volatile in Alberta, but the recent surge, fuelled by record levels of immigration, is unprecedented. Alberta has set new population growth records every year since 2022, culminating in the largest-ever increase of 186,704 new residents in 2024—nearly 70 per cent more than the largest pre-pandemic increase in 2013.

Homebuilding has increased, but not enough to keep pace with the rise in population. In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.

Moreover, from 1972 to 2019, Alberta added 2.1 new residents (on average) for every housing unit started compared to 3.9 new residents for every housing unit started in 2024. Put differently, today nearly twice as many new residents are potentially competing for each new home compared to historical norms.

While Alberta attracts more Canadians from other provinces than any other province, federal immigration and residency policies drive Alberta’s population growth. So while the provincial government has little control over its population growth, provincial and municipal governments can affect the pace of homebuilding.

For example, recent provincial amendments to the city charters in Calgary and Edmonton have helped standardize building codes, which should minimize cost and complexity for builders who operate across different jurisdictions. Municipal zoning reforms in CalgaryEdmonton and Red Deer have made it easier to build higher-density housing, and Lethbridge and Medicine Hat may soon follow suit. These changes should make it easier and faster to build homes, helping Alberta maintain some of the least restrictive building rules and quickest approval timelines in Canada.

There is, however, room for improvement. Policymakers at both the provincial and municipal level should streamline rules for building, reduce regulatory uncertainty and development costs, and shorten timelines for permit approvals. Calgary, for instance, imposes fees on developers to fund a wide array of public infrastructure—including roads, sewers, libraries, even buses—while Edmonton currently only imposes fees to fund the construction of new firehalls.

It’s difficult to say how long Alberta’s housing affordability woes will endure, but the situation is unlikely to improve unless homebuilding increases, spurred by government policies that facilitate more development.

Tegan Hill

Director, Alberta Policy, Fraser Institute

Austin Thompson

Senior Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute
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