I was dismayed when I saw the Conservative bumper sticker on a truck in our neighbourhood that read, “Rachel Notley is Destroying Alberta.” That seems to be the Conservative mantra as the party is trying to recover from its sound defeat.
What part of Alberta is being destroyed by the NDP? After winning the leadership by a decisive margin because of decades of poor Conservative government and when our economy was in a steep downturn by yet another oil bust, the NDP has steered the economic ship with a steady hand and focus on the immediate needs of Albertans.
We did not see cuts in health care and education both of which are already on bare bones budgets. Our civil servants were not asked for wage rollbacks as previous governments had done. Instead, the NDP looked for fat in the CEO and management ranks and found it. These high and out of balance salaries will be curtailed and special perks like golf memberships will be eliminated. Rachel Notley consulted with the oil companies, did not increase their royalty payments and has become a successful candidate for the construction of pipelines while working toward a greener approach for the industry.
The provincial budget showed a serious attempt to invest in our crumbling infrastructure neglected during the Conservatives’ four-decade reign. It addressed our high energy bills by planning to stabilize electricity prices. The NDP budget also aims to make public education less expensive by cutting the ever-increasing school fees by one-quarter and implementing a tuition freeze for post-secondary education.
Do these kinds of budget priorities sound like the current government is destroying our province? I suggest that the Conservatives stay away from such sweeping and uninformed remarks and advertising and restructure their political ideology which has dragged us through too many boom and bust cycles by making tax cuts and balanced budgets their main goals.
Barbara Kohn
