February 5, 2002

Dozens of strategies emerge as Summit concludes

Red Deer... Interconnecting strategies for shaping the future of the province concluded two days of brainstorming at the Alberta Future Summit 2002. Delegates to the summit reported back with a broad range of ideas on vision and values.

The 258 delegates broke into one of seven theme groups to find concrete strategies to pave a path toward the visions. The seven theme areas were: Economy, Learning, Communities, Fiscal Responsibility, Governance, Health and Wellness and Environment. The themes emerged from the Future Summit public consultation held this past fall.

Dozens of strategies were discussed and will be compiled to develop a report and recommendations that will be presented to the Alberta Government by the end of April 2002.

Some of the strategies discussed included:

• Individuals must focus on personal wellness issues as a priority

• Focus on prevention rather than caring for the sick

• Better communication between government and its citizens

• Provide greater diversity in learning models to reach a broader range of learning skills

• Smooth expenditures over commodity price cycles

• Establish a state of the environment document

• Partnerships in research and technology with commercial development

• Balanced individual, government, industry and voluntary responsibility

“More than 250 Albertans came together for these two days because they wanted to make a difference and that commitment really showed,” said Greg Melchin, Minister of Alberta Revenue and co-chair of the summit. “They brought their different perspectives for this province, but found common ground to build upon and to draft the strategic directions that will help Alberta continue as a leader in this country, and indeed throughout the world.”

“There were a lot of lively and thoughtful discussions, since there were many differing opinions and ideas on how to reach the visions,” said Doug Mitchell, chair of the Alberta Economic Development Authority and summit co-chair. “But I feel the work the delegates have done in the past two days really got down to the core to help us draft a map for the future. Now we can get down to the work of preparing the report and recommendations to present to government.”

The Future Summit’s External Advisory Committee will work with the co-chairs in developing the report to government. A member of the advisory committee and an MLA acted as moderators in each of the theme groups over the two days.

In his keynote address at the opening of the summit, Premier Klein committed that government will act on the recommendations formed by the delegates.

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More information about the Future Summit is available on the Internet at www.futuresummit.com or by calling Alberta Connects toll-free at 310-4455.

For more information, contact:

Gordon Vincent Communications Alberta Future Summit 2002 (780) 719-7279