All three West Yellowhead candidates running in Alberta's 29th general election appeared in Jasper April 27 for an all candidates forum. Below are their closing remarks, transcribed verbatim.
Correction: The original article misquoted Stuart Taylor. He and his party have promised to eliminate 3,200 upper level government management positions. The Fitzhugh regrets the error.
Stuart Taylor - Wildrose
“The only party in the legislature that’s taken a stand in defense of taxpayers and the defense of the Alberta advantage is the Wildrose who will balance the budget in 2017 without raising taxes and without cutting frontline services. How? We’ll eliminate 3,200 upper level loaded government management positions.
"The government of Alberta has a manager-staff ratio of one to five, the current private industry norm is one to 20. We’ll end corporate welfare. We’ll eliminate sole source contracts that have enriched so many friends that are PCs, guarantee open bidding processes in all government contracts. We’ll end March-madness, the bureaucratic spending spree that wastes millions when government agencies empty bank accounts at the end of the year fearing their budget will be trimmed.
"The Wildrose will terminate the PC practice of politicized infrastructure spending, never again will the PC party run around at election time and say ‘Vote for me I’ll build you a—you fill in the blank.’ By requiring full public disclosure of infrastructure priority lists, including costs and the reasons for the timing of each project, we can dramatically improve efficiency. Money will be saved by extending current infrastructure programs from five to six years for low priority projects, we will roll back the 30 per cent pay PC cabinet ministers gave themselves, and the eight per cent pay hike MLAs pocketed.
"We’ll ban MLAs from being elected under one party and then crossing to another without first facing a by-election. We’ll establish true fixed election dates. Healthcare's in a mess. Wildrose will redirect savings from extravagant AHS executive pay, perks, severance towards cutting waiting times. We’ll expand patient based funding. Funding should go with the patient to the service providers and non-profits to enter the field.
"In education, Wildrose will ensure that the new school projects and modern organizations are aligned with the priorities determined by the school boards not the minister. Further, Wildrose supports local boards utilizing their own resources, including their reserves. I’m running for the legislature because I sincerely believe Albertans deserve better government. If you agree, I invite you to vote Wildrose.”
Eric Rosendahl - NDP
“The PCs and Wildrose want to cut your family’s healthcare and education. The Wildrose also, according to their leader, stated they’re willing to allow people to go elsewhere to get hip and knee surgeries done to lessen wait times. Is that not a push for two-tiered healthcare?
"PCs failed to earn Alberta’s full and fair value for their oil and gas by maintaining one of the world’s lowest oil royalty rate structures, even when prices are high. They squandered Alberta’s annual natural resources wealth, failed to achieve greater value added processing in Alberta and have focused only on more exporting pipelines for unprocessed bitumen, sending our jobs down the pipeline to Texas.
"Alberta falls below the national average when it comes to spending on public services. As a proportion of our overall economy no province spends less than we do at just over 10 per cent. What is the real culprit? We say irresponsible tax and royalty giveaways. Paltry tax and corporate profits, flat tax giveaways to the wealthy and penny on the dollar oil royalties make it impossible to pay for the basic services or even save for the future.
"We as Albertans can do better and we deserve better. As part of the NDP we believe that Albertan students also deserve to have the best job opportunities in the summer, that’s why the NDP will help open the doors for young Albertans by restoring the STEP program and undoing the damage caused by the PCs reckless cuts.
"The NDP will also work with the Alberta indigenous people to build a relationship of trust and ensure respectful consultation. We will implement the 2007 United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. Challenged on all this, Mr. Prentice is telling you and all your family to look in the mirror because his government’s bad choices are your fault.
"Alberta can do better than this, it’s time for change. We need a government in Alberta that cares about jobs, that works to build a better economy, that serves the needs of you and your family. On May 5th I’m asking for your support to vote Eric Rosendahl, NDP.”
Robin Campbell - Progressive Conservative
“Let me start out by saying I love my job. I’ve done it for seven years and I’ve met a lot of great people across this riding, I’ve learned a lot about the province of Alberta. It’s a big province with lots of complicated issues, but you know what, there’s no place I’d rather be than the province of Alberta and there’s no place I’d rather be than the riding of West Yellowhead. I’ve worked with all the town councils.
"I have a good working relationship in Jasper, Edson, Hinton, Grande Cache. I have a good relationship with the school boards. I have a good relationship with non-profits. I’ve worked hard to advocate on their behalf. I’ve worked hard to advocate on the behalf of all of West Yellowhead. I’ve said I’d do things and I’ve delivered.
"And if you notice in this campaign I haven’t made any promises to anybody. I haven’t said to anybody vote for me I’ll build you a school. I haven’t said vote for me I’ll build you a highway. I said vote for me because over the last seven years I’ve stood up for the people of West Yellowhead and I’ve done everything I can to help all of our communities to continue to grow and to continue to prosper and that’s what your MLA has to do.
"You can talk about party politics and what the party is going to do, but at the end of the day what is your MLA going to do for you? Is your MLA prepared to stand up to the party and to the government and do what’s best for your people in West Yellowhead? And I’ve done that. And because I’ve done that I now hold the highest position in the government next to the premier as the minister of finance and the president of the treasury board.
"I got there because I stood up for our riding, I told people the way it was. I don’t hold carrots out. I’m very respectful, I’m very polite and I don’t think there is any challenge we can’t fix. And when I’ve met with town councils and I’ve met with school boards and we had issues I’ve always been very positive. I’ve always said let's look at some different options, let's think outside the box, let's see what we can do to get what needs to be done. And because of that, we have a new hospital in Edson, we have a new school in Jasper, we’re going to have a new school in Grande Cache and in Edson. We have affordable housing in all our communities, we have good road structure, we’re bringing in a regional airport that is going to particularly grow tourism in Alberta and in Jasper as we move forward.
"So on May 5th when you go and put your ‘X’ on the ballot box, think about what the job of the MLA is and think about who has done a good job for you over the last seven years. On May 5th I’m asking you again for your support and I will continue to work with you to make West Yellowhead the best riding in Alberta.”
For more election coverage, check out the Fitzhugh's profiles of each of the candidates, the candidates' responses to questions related to Jasper and the region, and our coverage of the all candidates forum.
