It has been a little more than a year since the last provincial election. Since that time the provincial government under Premier Redford has struggled on numerous fronts, breaking a host of promises and taking our province back into debt.
As the government continues to struggle, one of the most common questions I get from concerned constituents is, “What can you do to protect Albertans from a runaway government?”
I am proud to report that, working with my Official Opposition colleagues, we have been able to achieve more than any opposition in the past 40 years.
For instance:
• Protecting Seniors: We convinced the government to abandon its embarrassing one-bath-per-week policy for seniors in long-term care. We also pressured the government to end the practice of trucking in precooked “meals” for 73 seniors’ facilities across the province, and backtrack on a plan to strip veterans of discounted hospital parking.
• Proposing Alternatives: Rather than simply oppose the government, we proposed an alternative to every major initiative. This includes our Financial Recovery Plan, which outlines a way to return Alberta to a cash surplus by 2014, as well as our 10-year Debt-Free Capital Plan, which removes the politics from infrastructure funding by providing a publicly available priority list.
• Protecting Landowners’ Rights: We forced the government to finally repeal Bill 50, which stripped the rights of landowners and put them in the hands of cabinet.
However, this remains a partial victory as the electricity transmission lines approved under Bill 50 are still being pushed ahead without an independent needs assessment.
In addition, we have exposed numerous examples of government waste, even forcing some government officials and appointees to repay taxpayers money spent inappropriately.
Sadly, the government of Alberta continues to routinely reject our Official Opposition’s call for balanced budgets, as well as common sense amendments that are supported by a majority of Albertans, like campaign finance reform.
I suspect this will not change so long as Premier Redford remains in office.
However, I can tell you another thing that will not change: Our Official Opposition will continue to hold this government to account every single day until the next election. At that time, I put my faith in Albertans to make the right choice for our province moving forward.
