March 8, 2013
Dear Editor,
On the Premier’s birthday, the PC government gave one dud of a gift to Albertans.
On March 7, Premier Alison Redford officially ended Alberta’s debt-free status and sentenced taxpayers to hundreds of millions of dollars in financing charges. This year alone, the PC government will rack up $3.5 billion in debt and vaporize $2 billion in savings to run a total $5.5 billion deficit. By the next election in 2016, the PC debt will amount to $17 billion.
This bottomless pit of debt the PCs are digging will leave Albertans paying debt financing charges. This year alone, Albertans will pay $238 million in interest on debt. This is $238 million that will be taken out of taxpayers’ pockets, and not put into health or education, but instead put into the hands of big banks.
The Premier proudly declared this would be a ‘once in a generation’ budget. She’s right! It took a generation to pay off former Premier Don Getty’s debt. It will take a generation to pay off Redford’s debt!
The Premier’s mismanagement of Alberta’s finances comes at a time when the economy is booming. Oil and gas activity is booming, corporate and personal income tax revenues have never been higher. Despite the economic success that is the envy of every other province in Canada, the 41-year-old PC government has managed to squander our resources and declare a debt-sentence on every Albertan.
The Premier and the PCs refuse to believe there is a spending problem in this province. Alberta Health Services has been caught inappropriately expensing over $100 million on things like butlers, video games, car phones and $500 a night hotel rooms. Executive salaries and undeserved bonuses for failing to meet targets have never been higher. Budget 2013 will do nothing to address the mismanagement of health care, nor will it help reduce wasteful spending to ensure funding gets to the front lines where it is needed.
Even worse, the PC’s gave their MLAs an undeserved eight per cent raise as their first order of business in the fall sitting.
A day after the 2013 Budget release, the Wildrose Official Opposition came out with our Financial Recovery Plan, which would eliminate the operating deficit immediately and the real cash deficit by 2014. Our plan starts at the top and would immediately reduce MLA pay, end corporate welfare, freeze wages and target the bloated bureaucracy for savings.
Budget 2013 sets Alberta down a path of indebtedness, hundreds of millions in punitive financing fees, and continuing economic mismanagement and incompetence. What Alberta needs is bold leadership with the moral fortitude to pay our bills, stay out of debt, and provide the high quality of services Albertans deserve.
Pat Stier MLA Livingstone Macleod Constituency
As he's been drawing an MLA salary for nearly a full year, I'd like to ask Pat Stier to tell us 3 things he's done for Livingstone Macleod.
ReplyDeleteIn some ridings including this one it’s been many years since their member of the Legislature has been in the opposition party rather than the governing party.
DeleteFor democracy to be fair it must be more than just a heavy handed majority rules mentality to be an effective manner of governing for all of its citizens.
A quote from author James Bovard from his book Lost Rights, The Destruction of American Liberty, best describes how democracy is not as cut and dried as some would have you think.
“Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.”
Bovard perfectly describes what an official opposition party’s responsibility is in a democratic society. The opposition acts as the sheep’s advocate by ensuring we have proper checks and balances within the process. An effective Opposition party also exposes details and possible motives of any proposed Legislation that is put before the house that may include tabling amendments to Legislation and Bills.
While the Legislature is in session questions are asked during a designated time called Question Period. During this time questions are posed by members of the Legislature to the Ministers and the Premier with regards to the ongoing operations of the government (checks and balances). Question period serves an important function by holding those in power accountable for the ministries they are responsible for.
An effective opposition challenges the government by asking questions that are sometimes uncomfortable for them to answer. The common misunderstanding is that the Opposition is “lashing out” or “attacking” the government by asking these important questions. Essentially by having an unchallenged government you end up with two wolves having a sheep for dinner, with you the tax payers being the sheep.
An Official Opposition member is allowed and encouraged to express the views and opinions of their constituents without fear of party sanctions or retribution for not following predetermined party lines.
Alberta’s Opposition has been largely ineffective in past years due to the low number of seats held by their parties. Essentially it meant that all those who did not support the governing party in Alberta were relegated to being the sheep James Bovard was referring to.
The roll of the Official Opposition is to hold this government accountable and make sure we have something other than lamb chops for dinner. In order to have democracy as it was intended a voice other than that of the majority must be heard, otherwise it is not democracy at all.
The Alberta Opposition
ReplyDeleteThe Opposition is made up of mla's that are not part of the governing party. The role of the Opposition is to criticize government activity, propose improvements, and present itself to the public as an alternative to the party in office.
Alberta currently has three opposition parties. The Wildrose Party has the most opposition seats in the Assembly. It is called the Official Opposition. The Alberta Liberal Party and Alberta New Democratic Party also sit in opposition.
~source
http://alberta.ca/aboutgovernment.cfm
this is taken from the current Alberta Government website and the opposition is doing what the opposition is supposed to do no matter what party they belong to. The opposition is to stand up and hold government accountable which they are all doing now more so than any of the opposition parties were doing before the wildrose came along. Two Questions did the current Tory Government Keep the Police training center alive after a promise was made and contracts signed with Fort Macleod? Did the current Tory Government pay out Fort McLeod around 10 million dollars of our precious tax dollars as hush money to make the ordeal go away? Did the current Tory government kill the
Little Bow Continuing Care centre in Carmangay without notice and on short notice. Uprooting lives of vulnerable seniors and a caring community in the process? What is the current Tory government doing in regard to the West Castle area as well as the Old Man river watershed areas? The opposition no matter what their party colors is doing what opposition parties do oppose and hold governments accountable to us their employer(the taxpayer). Or has everyone forgot that little tidbit of information in all the government patronage appointments and buyouts? oh one more thing since the opposition are not part of the Tory governing party(hence the name opposition) they are fulfilling their job description looking out for you and the rest of us by holding accountable the government of the day accountable. that is all they are required to do and that is all they are able to do especially with a majority government that can push whatever agenda they want and are currently doing by putting all us Albertans now and for future generations into debt which in my eyes is unacceptable in any way shape or form. I for one am out of debt and pay cash for what I buy if I don not have the cash than I budget and plan for what is needed. I am very happy and free knowing I do not have that massive chain of debt around my neck. Unfortunately not everyone is in the same debt free boat I am on. Our modern day me me me society wants everything yesterday and therefore debt is viewed as an acceptable way of life and therefore are happy with the massive chain around their neck of debt as every day another link is added until the chain is too heavy to bear and people and countries go bankrupt.