At the end of the spring sitting of the Legislature, NDP House Leader Christina Gray and Energy Critic Kathleen Ganley called out the UCP on the complete failure to address the top issues facing Alberta families and businesses.
“The UCP have been entirely engrossed in their own internal drama, and have failed to address the single most important issue in the lives of Alberta families: the punishing monthly bills Albertans are struggling to pay,” said House Leader Christina Gray. “Many of these bills have grown by hundreds of dollars a month because of decisions made by the UCP.”
“I’m sure we will hear the Government House Leader congratulate himself on the number of bills the government passed,” said Energy Critic Kathleen Ganley. “But he’s missing the point entirely – the bills Albertans care about are the ones piling up on their kitchen table, and by every measure, those have gotten worse under the UCP.”
In this spring sitting, the UCP presented a budget that charges Albertans an additional billion dollars in income taxes through bracket creep, while reducing the value of the Child and Family Benefit, Seniors Benefit, Income Support, and AISH.
“As a result of UCP policies, Albertans are paying more income tax, more property tax, more tuition, more interest on student debt, more camping fees and more for car insurance,” Ganley. “But on top of all of that, there’s utilities.”
The UCP removed the NDP rate cap on electricity, and Albertan’s bills are now hundreds of dollars higher while natural gas prices have hit a 30-year high.
“Over 13 weeks of sitting in the legislature and the UCP has failed to do anything about this. Not a single Albertan has gotten a rebate, and the government still can’t give Albertans a straight answer about when they will,” Ganley continued.
“No one in this government is looking out for Alberta families. Alberta’s New Democrats are a unified team. We are energized, and we are ready to lead.
“We will always be focused on Albertans, on what Albertans need, and on keeping more money in Albertans’ pockets.”