Olds & District Chamber of Commerce president Ben Stone is encouraged by funding in the federal budget aimed at spurring high-tech jobs.
He thinks Olds has worked hard to put itself in a position to benefit from that money.
However, he's worried that this budget runs another deficit.
Federal finance minister Bill Morneau introduced the budget in the House of Commons last week.
The budget calls for $1.18 billion to be spent this year on skills and innovation. Half of that had already been announced.
It features an "innovation and skills plan" to spur high-tech growth in six areas, including advanced manufacturing, agri-food, clean technology, digital industries, health/bio-sciences and clean resources.
"The various organizations and committees within Olds, including the Town of Olds itself, have done an outstanding job of putting us in a position where we can confidently apply for both funding and grants," Stone says.
"Olds is in an excellent position to benefit from the money being earmarked for development as well as education, and I'm hopeful that we're going to benefit greatly from these new initiatives."
The budget calls for a deficit of $23 billion, down from $25.1 billion in the last fiscal update. However, it's expected to hit $28.5 billion for 2017-18, including a $3-billion contingency fund, before falling to $18.8 billion in 2021-22.
That worries Stone.
"Any time a budget runs a deficit there is cause for concern," he says. "This money is going to have to be repaid, and I think it is going to be a bit of a wake-up call for those in favour of frivolous spending.
"At this point in time, the focus should be on investments that will create future returns to the economy. As they say on every major airline, ëplease put on your oxygen mask before assisting others,' and I believe that to be an excellent summation of our current situation.
"What isn't getting a lot of attention is that running a $28 billion budget is becoming ëbland.' I find this to be an interesting, if not highly concerning, phenomenon," he adds.
Stone is pleased to see there were no changes to capital gains laws.
"There was concern that the government might try and increase the amount of eligible capital gains, and I'm sure there are a number of individuals who breathed a collective sigh of relief when they heard that this wasn't the case," he says.
"There are businesses in the community that have likely seen significant appreciation in their property, depending on when they acquired the land, and a change to the capital gains tax could have been extremely costly."
"At this point in time, the focus should be on investments that will create future returns to the economy. As they say on every major airline, 'please put on your oxygen mask before assisting others,' and I believe that to be an excellent summation of our current situation."BEN STONEPRESIDENT OLDS & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
