Helping Albertans with financial relief

By Leela Sharon Aheer Chestermere-Strathmore MLA

Hello Chestermere-Strathmore readers. It’s been heartening to see Alberta’s economy beginning to recover. The resilience of Albertans always amazes me, but even in the midst of that good news, Albertans are struggling to heat their homes and feed their families, so we listened, and here are some of the solutions we are bringing forward. A relief package that will help us all get through these next few months. Know that this is only possible because of your hard work and strong numbers coming because of our natural resources and a solid fiscal position. Thank you all for contributing to our communities and caring for each other. 

Measures include:

 • Seniors and families with dependent children under 18 will get $100 installments for six months for each child and senior. Only families with incomes below $180,000 per year are eligible.

 • PDD, AISH, and income support recipients will also get cash installments.

 • The government will suspend the provincial fuel tax for at least the next six months. Right now, there is a discounted tax of 4.5 cents per litre on gasoline and diesel. Thereafter, the province will adjust the provincial gas tax depending on the oil price, as in the existing relief program.

 • The government will re-index provincial tax brackets to inflation. The move makes it less likely that a worker would be penalized on their taxes when receiving a slight bump in pay.

 • The government will re-index for inflation AISH, PDD, income support, the senior’s benefit, and the Alberta Child and Family benefit starting in January 2023.

 • An increased rebate on electricity bills for consumers that total $200 per household. 

Thank you for your input over the last couple of months. I am so grateful for the many conversations that help me to support you as your representative. As you know, I will not be running in the next election, so as always, it is a privilege to serve you. In the following few articles, I will share all of our accomplishments with you, so you can see what we have done together. I will also share upcoming projects and things in the works as we head into the election cycle so your new representative can continue the work we have started.  

As always, we love to hear from you. 

(Leela Sharon Aheer is the MLA Elect for Chestermere-Strathmore)