Wildrose Alliance optimistic for future

Times Reporter

 

Danielle Smith and Jason Hale were in Strathmore to read and do crafts with children at the Strathmore Municipal Library before heading to a meet and greet at the Strathmore golf club on Nov. 8. 

Smith is the leader of the Wildrose Alliance Party and Hale is the representative for the Strathmore-Brooks constituency.

Smith said things have been going great and was happy to announce the finalized release of their 132-page book of policies, which she said could be found online and downloaded. 

“We’re also well on our way to having a full roster of candidates in the next election as well. Jason has been our nominated candidate for a few months now, since May, and we have, I believe, just over 62 candidates that have been chosen,” said Smith.

“What I’m seeing is people are pretty unhappy, and they want to be able to have a chance to vote in new representatives. We’re going to be making sure everyone has an opportunity to vote for Wildrose.”

The goal is to have the entire roster of candidates in place by Jan. 31, giving Albertans a chance to see the team coming forward in the next election.

Smith thinks this will be the first time in a long time where there will be a real contest in every constituency, and said Wildrose plans to give the Tories a run for their money. 

Alberta Premier Allison Redford had promised fixed election dates when she ran for the PC leadership, and Smith is hoping for an election in February or March of 2012. 

“I think Ms. Redford needs a mandate if she is actually going to proceed with some of the promises that she’s made. I think people want to be able to have an opportunity to tell this government what they think of the performance that they have seen over the last four years,” said Smith. 

Redford came up from behind and beat out Gary Mar who had been in the lead to be Alberta’s PC leader. Smith said Redford is an unknown quantity and said people are already beginning to see in the first four weeks, and six broken promises, that she herself isn’t sure what type of leader she would like to be. 

“She seems to be promising to increase spending at the same time as she’s going to balance the budget and have enough left over for savings. I think people are looking at that saying the dollars don’t quite add up. We think it’s very important for Alberta to run a balanced budget, it’s one of the reasons why I chose to run for elected office,”

Smith said Alberta should be the easiest jurisdiction to run a balanced budget in with its $7 billion to $8 billion per year in resource revenues coming in.

The deficits are some of the highest in Alberta’s history, and there doesn’t seem to really be any plan, which Smith thinks is going to be one of the biggest issues going into the next election. 

“Do you trust the current governing party to get us back into the black, or do we need new leadership to be able to get us there. I think the people are going to increasingly determine that they need new leadership,” said Smith.

Wildrose Alliance has produced their own alternative budget on how they would get the budget back in balance for the past two years. They will create a third if Alberta remains in deficit for another year. 

“There’s lots of low-hanging fruit in that regard, just limiting your spending increases, stretching out the capital plan an extra year or two so that we can actually afford it, and cutting wasteful spending,” said Smith on how to get Alberta back in the black. 

“Things like the $2 billion carbon capture and storage fund, or $300 million for renovation of MLA offices, or $340 million for the museum in Edmonton. Some of these things might be nice to have, but when you’re running a three to four billion dollar deficit you have to make some of those choices to delay the low priority projects.”

The Keystone XL pipeline is another hot button issue, which has been facing mixed reviews in both the U.S and Canada. The pipeline will see oil carried from Alberta tar sands to Texas. 

“It’s absolutely essential that the Keystone pipeline be built, and it’s very disappointing that the province has been missing in action on this file for the bulk of the last number of years,” said Smith.

She said the project should have been approved two years ago, and that it is costing Albertans daily to have it delayed. 

Smith said her energy advisors calculate it is costing Alberta producers and Alberta Treasury $50 million in lost revenue per day because it is being sold at a discounted rate.  

She said if the pipeline is built then there will be access to the Gulf Coast, allowing Alberta to export its product internationally and get the world price. 

There are three key decision makers; President Obama, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and the Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman.  Smith feels there is a lot of misinformation about the extent to which the development of the resources here impact the environment. Smith said to her it is very clear the environmental critics just want to shut down Alberta’s oil sands 

“The President made a commitment that he wanted to wean the U.S. off of Middle East oil within 10 years of being elected,” said Smith. 

“He’s now four years in so he’s only got six years to go and the only way he can do that is by having a stronger relationship with his neighbour Canada, and with his neighbour Alberta, and that’s a case our Alberta government has to make.”

She said it’s a double win situation for both sides. The U.S. can get the products they need from a safe and secure provider, benefiting the industry here while creating jobs. 

Hale has been an elected member of the Wildrose Alliance since May. At first many had concerns about his lack of a strong history in politics.

“We’re having lots of meetings and getting out and visiting with lots of people and they’re looking for change. They want someone with new ideas and a clear conscience going in to speak up for their needs and hear their concerns,” said Hale.

Hale said listening to the people would be the main thing he would do for his constituents. 

“That’s my whole objective of getting involved is to speak for the people of the constituency and what they want.”