Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson and Wildrose leader Danielle Smith held tele-town hall conference calls on March 25 and 26 to discuss Alberta Budget 2013 with residents.
The Progressive Conservative’s budget was released on March 7 and includes borrowing $4.3 billion and a $451 million “operational deficit.”
Anderson said the conference calls were productive and covered a range of topics including the marked increase in the school requisition portion of property taxes for some communities and saving for Alberta’s future.
“We had a lot of feedback from front-line workers, doctors, nurses and teachers, and they agree that cuts need to be made.
“However, they feel the same way we do, the cuts need to be made to middle management and the bureaucracy of the government and AHS (Alberta Health Services).”
The Wildrose Financial Recovery Plan, which was proposed and turned down in Legislative Assembly March 18, includes a $2.6-billion deficit this year, followed by a $15-million surplus in 2014 and a $1.9-billion surplus in 2015. (See related story below).
The Wildrose would cut management positions, changing the existing manager to worker ratio from the current level of one manager for every five front-line workers to one manager for every 10 workers.
This move is estimated to save $144 million in 2013 and $360 million each year for the next four years.
“We would hold the line on front-line spending, which means we wouldn’t cut any positions or salaries,” said Anderson.
According to Anderson, about 85 per cent of the 65,000 residents who took part in the March 25 tele-town hall said they were against the PC’s decision to go back into debt.
“A lot of folks live within their means and are puzzled why a government that makes so much money can’t do the same,” he said.
The Wildrose Financial Plan also includes eliminating grants to for-profit companies to save $230 million.
“These are huge companies and they don’t need taxpayers’ support for initiatives no matter how good those initiatives are,” said Anderson.
Anderson said the “corrupt practice” of deciding which infrastructure projects go forward based on politics must stop.
“It is a simple solution to make a transparent, prioritized list that includes the most-needed projects at the top and cross them off as you complete them,” he said.
“There are many ways a government can be dangerous. In some countries they use violence and thank goodness we don’t experience that here, but they can also use ‘soft power,’ which is using money to scare and manipulate and that is what the PCs are doing.”
A number of residents involved in the conference call were concerned about school requisition portions of property taxes increasing, as much as 90 per cent in some communities.
“People are upset and wondering how they are going to afford this,” said Anderson.
Residents of Airdrie will see a 22 per cent school requisition increase, while those who call Chestermere home will see this portion of property taxes increase by 53 per cent. (See related column on page 12).
“The PCs promised no new taxes and people feel they have been lied to because they have,” said Anderson.
Alberta’s associate Minister of Finance said the Wildrose plan would be a disaster.
“The Wildrose party just doesn’t get it. Their phoney budget is pure magic. Danielle Smith and her party pulled numbers out of thin air and they simply don’t add up,” said Kyle Fawcett, MLA for Calgary-Klein.
He said the government’s budget continues to build the province, while cuts proposed by the Wildrose would actually impact front-line workers.
With files from Don Patterson, Great West Newspapers
