The Latest

The Alberta NDP says it will cap electricity prices for three months and eliminate the small business tax

Syed Azam

Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley makes a campaign announcement in Calgary, on May 4, 2023. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

At the halfway point of the Alberta election on May 29, the leader of the New Democratic Party, Rachel Notley, has made important campaign promises regarding children’s activities, power bills, and health care.

The latest vow from the NDP on May 14 commitments to dispose of the private venture charge, which Notley said would “save neighborhood Alberta entrepreneurs up to $10,000 each year.”

Notley claims that electricity costs have increased by 140%, and that the NDP will “launch an investigation into power price spikes on your household bill so we can put an end to them” and set a three-month price cap on electricity at 12 cents. It swore to pay off $180 million under water.

The party is running on a campaign promise to train more nurses and doctors, pay for women’s contraceptives and birth control, and establish “family health teams.”

Notley stated in a series of campaign messages on May 13 and 14 that the party will “streamline credentialing for internationally trained doctors” in order to address the province’s physician shortage.

The party stated that it would provide health teams with “language specific resources” and invest $1.5 million in Calgary’s Chinatown, as well as make “important antiracism funding/commitment to affordable housing in Calgary.”

“Within ten years, up to one million more Albertans will have access to a doctor within a day or two as part of family health clinics,” the Alberta NDP pledged in April as part of its campaign.

“We won’t auction emergency clinics, we’ll staff them,” expressed Notley on May 14.

Additionally, the NDP has stated that it will remain a member of the Canada Pension Plan and will introduce legislation to prevent any Alberta government from switching to a provincial option. Other mission guarantees incorporate no new private annual charges, and a $500 tax break for guardians per kid for sports and exercises.

The party stated that if elected, it would raise payments to seniors, income supports, and Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH), which would increase payments to qualified disabled Albertans by $135 per month.

This election, the NDP and the United Conservative Party have both focused on affordability, with the NDP promising to “be releasing a clear plan” to house 40,000 Albertans within five years.

We will also provide shelters and agencies with stable, foreseeable funding and expand mental health support. According to the platform, “under a new Indigenous Housing Strategy, we will collaborate with Indigenous peoples and invest in more housing.”

“Begin the hard work of reforming income support and rental supplement programs,” the NDP stated.

The party stated that over the course of four years, it intends to hire 4,000 additional public school teachers and 3,000 support staff in addition to attracting $20 billion in private sector capital investment, which would “create 47,000 good-paying jobs.”

“We will end the emergency in our homerooms,” expressed Notley on May 14.

Notley likewise said it would begin developing a new, north leg of the Green Line Light Rail Travel framework in Calgary, fabricate 40 schools in Calgary, and “start work” on the North Calgary/Airdrie Territorial Wellbeing Place.

According to the party’s platform, “Calgarians are experiencing the second-highest unemployment rate and the second-highest downtown office vacancy in the country.”

The NDP is focusing its campaign efforts on a program that it is calling “Hometown Alberta.” In it, the party has stated that it will “improve local community facilities, like hockey rinks, in every corner of the province.” The party declares that it will “build, repair, renovate, upgrade, or expand” museums, art centers, sports facilities, and other public spaces.

Related Articles

Back to top button