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Alberta

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame “Halftime Report”

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Artistic swimming is one of only three sports that are contested only by women at the Olympic Games; followed by rhythmic gymnastics and softball.

The unified movement in time to music is the defining aspect of artistic swimming, in which athletes can participate as a duet or team, in either a technical or free routine.

Greg Korbutt, son of Alberta Sports Hall of Fame visionary Orest Korbutt, was also by on July 9 to tour the Hall for the first time. Thanks for visiting, Greg!
This newsletter is sponsored by the 106.7 Rewind Radio.

Honoured Member in Focus: Leslie Sproule

Leslie Sproule has enthusiastically devoted herself to all levels of synchronized swimming since 1966 as an athlete, coach, administrator, and board member.

Her career includes 14 years as the Head Coach of the Edmonton Auroras, 14 years as a National Team coach for Synchro Canada including two years as the High-Performance Development Coach and two years as the High-Performance Director.

She has coached many of her teams to success on the International stage at two Olympic Games, numerous World Championships, Pan American, Commonwealth Games, World Cups, Nationals, and Canada Games.

Leslie’s coaching philosophy includes developing a complete athlete in a holistic, positive training environment, and developing life skills through sports and coaching to win.

Provincial Sport Organization: Alberta Artistic Swimming

Alberta Artistic Swimming (AAS) believes that everyone in the sport has the right to enjoy the sport at whatever level or position they participate.

AAS will lead and develop people in the sport of artistic swimming in Alberta and strives to have an increased number of people – athletes, coaches and officials involved in the sport.

Alberta Artistic Swimming values integrity, collaboration, excellence, and innovation to achieve success and continually work towards Advocating for the sport of artistic swimming and sport in general to increase awareness.

Tickets now available for Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet

The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is pleased to officially announce the new date and location for the rescheduled 2020 Induction Banquet.

The Banquet, which had been postponed from its original date in May 2020, will now take place on Friday, October 22nd, 2021 at the Red Deer College (RDC) Arts Centre.

The timetable for the event is as follows:

  • 5:30 – 6:30 pm: Cocktail Reception
  • 5:30 – 6:30 pm: Silent Auction and Raffles
  • 6:45 – 8:30 pm: Awards and Presentations
  • 8:30 – 8:45 pm: Closing Remarks
  • 8:45 – 9:30 pm: Dessert/Nightcap in RDC Arts Centre Lobby

The Class of 2020 includes athletes Deidra Dionne, Chris Phillips, Kelly Sutherland, and Michael Robertson; builders Jan Ullmark, Terry Morris, Ken Babey, and Derek Douglas; Bell Memorial Award winners Nancy Southern and Ian Allison; Achievement Award winner John Currie; Pioneer Award winner Stan Wakelyn; and Legacy Award winner Dennis Kadatz.

Tickets are $50 for Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Honoured Members and their guests, or $75 for general admission.

For tickets, email [email protected], call (403) 341-8614, or visit www.albertasportshall.ca/events/2020-induction-banquet to download the ticket order form.

Are you ready to take your dates to a whole, new level?

Our new Date Night Out Monthly Charity Auction officially gets underway tomorrow.

Head to https://trellis.org/monthly-date-night-auction for this month’s auction item, and check back regularly for new, exciting date options.

Golfers wanted!

We’re looking for sponsors and golfers for the Annual Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Golf Tournament, which tees off on Tuesday, September 14 at the Innisfail Golf Course. This season, we will be partnering with the Innisfail Eagles Hockey Team.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to support the preservation of Alberta sports by playing at one of the province’s crown jewels.

Call (403) 341-8614 or email programmer@albertasportshall.ca for more information.

Leave a legacy

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
Copyright © 2021 The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
Alberta Sports Hall of Fame
#102 – 4200 Highway 2
Red Deer, AB T4N 1E3
(403) 341- 8614
[email protected]

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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