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“We Albertans are not an island. It is frustrating, after five years of economic decline and stagnation — just as we were ready to see significant growth in 2020 — to see this global downturn from the coronavirus,” Kenney said Friday.

Finance Minister Travis Toews said last week that the government was prepared to adjust its forecasts if the effects of coronavirus continued to cut into revenues.

“We don’t know how long this will go on, but it does appear, based on all evidence right now, that there is a significant global economic downturn beginning right now. We certainly hope it will be brief, the virus is contained, and starts to diminish in terms of the number of people affected,” said Kenney.

The UCP won’t be making any major changes right away, but will be reassessing the fiscal plan midway through the year, he said.

“If we need to modify the course, it would likely be in a few month’s time.”

Kenney also touched on the latest unemployment numbers in Alberta after Statistics Canada reported that the province added 11,000 jobs in January “mostly among youth.” The unemployment rate stayed relatively steady at 7.2 per cent.

“There are still way too many Albertans out of work, and we are not going to celebrate until we see a massive turnaround in terms of our economy,” said Kenney.

Kenney made the comments at an event with Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda to tout a cluster of government-funded projects at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Academy in Morinville, about 30 km north of Edmonton.