Jim Prentice, the leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, called this upcoming election after he presented the PCās Proposed Budget. A provincial budget explains the governmentās financial plans for the year that runs from April to March. With a population of over 4.1 million people, Alberta is Canadaās fastest growing province. This puts a lot of pressure on the government to accommodate with new schools, health facilities, and roads where they werenāt needed before. But when oil prices crashed earlier this year, that, combined with increased spending, put Alberta into an approximate 5 billion deficit.
Below youāll find some links to the proposed platforms of each of the six political parties in Alberta, but if youāre interested in the reading my take on some the big issues in your province (Health Care, Education, and Oil) you can click to read more.Ā
Not a whole lot of people like me when Iām angry. But thereās no denying that when Iām angry, I make a difference. Being angry about the policies that affect you is the first step to changing them. After all, when the Hulk smashes something it stays smashed.
In the PCās Proposed budget, individuals making more that $50 000.00 a year will have to pay a health-care levy thatās proportional to your income, and caps at $1000.00. For a country that prizes itself on affordable health care, this has alarmed quite a few voters. Every other party has been vocal against this proposed annual premium. (Check out Thorās Vote Compass breakdown if youāre curious as to exactly where parties stand on this issue).
The Wildrose party, while against the levy, has stated that they plan to ādecentralizeā the health care system in Alberta. The Liberal Party prioritizes lower wait times, reduced medical administrative costs, and increased investment in mental health and addictions intervention. The NDP party also plans to shorten emergency room waiting times by creating 2000 public long term care beds over four years.
The long short of it is that the PC and Wildrose parties lean towards privatized forms of health care, which puts more cost on individuals on case by case basis, whereas the NDP, Liberal, Green and Alberta Party are more interested in investing in public health care, which is paid by increased income and corporate taxes.
EDUCATION:
One of the major points of contention in regards to education is the fact that the PC party has no plans to reduce class sizes and to hire more teachers. The PC budget would also require cutting non-teaching staff from schools. While the Alberta Party and the Wildrose Party are somewhat against this proposal, the NDP, Liberal, and Green party are strongly against it and have actively worked class size reduction and increased hiring of teachers into their platforms.
For you post-secondary students, you might be interested in learning each parties views regarding university and college tuition. Only the Alberta Party has proposed limited tuition increases, whereas the Liberal Party, Wildrose Party, and PC party have said that increases to tuition will only be in relation to the rate of inflation. The NDP and Green Party have said that they would implement a true freeze to tuition.
Of all the parties, only the Liberal Party has highlighted their plan to increase arts funding. From their platform: āFor every dollar invested in the arts, an estimated $12 of economic activity is created.ā With an overwhelming deficit, a lot of parties may overlook the value of arts and culture funding. With any issue thatās personally important to you, make sure to let your government know what it is you value and what it is youāre willing to get angry over. Sometimes hulking out makes a difference.
OIL:
The Oil Industry is Albertaās biggest industry, and the provinceās economy depends a lot on how successful that industry is. Since oil prices dropped, over 30 000 individuals in Alberta have been at risk to lose their jobs. Oil companies, to nobodyās surprise, make a lot of money, and parties have often disagreed as to how much of that money should be paid back to the province. Ā The PC, Wildrose, Liberal, and Alberta Parties have all said that they likely would not increase oil and gas company royalties, whereas the NDP and Green Parties have both advocated for increased royalties for these big companies.
The thing is, because oil and gas companies have done so much for the Alberta Economy, many parties (notably, the PC, Wildrose, and Alberta Party) are willing to overlook the environmental damage caused by those companies. The NDP, Liberal, and Green parties, in contrast, have been vocal about the environmental damage caused the the oil and gas industry. The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline - which would enable fuel to travel down to the United States - has been actively lobbied for by the PC government. The Liberal, Wildrose, and Alberta Party have all stated that they would continue to lobby for the construction of this pipeline, whereas the NDP and Green party have positioned themselves actively against it.
For more information on where parties stand on different issues, be sure to check out the vote compass here.
