Lethbridge Herald
By Letter to the Editor on April 14, 2015.
Insanity is said to be doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Premier Prentice has shown great hubris and called an early election to give him a mandate to fix Alberta’s budgetary failings. This is a totally unnecessary and very expensive waste of money. Albertans have already told the premier what they want through an online survey initiated by the government. Unfortunately, the results did not match the premier’s plans and virtually all of the wishes expressed by Albertans in the survey have been ignored. In fact, Premier Prentice’s plans are in complete opposition to the wishes of Albertans expressed in the survey.
Health-care premiums are to be reintroduced. There will be no return to a progressive personal income tax. Corporations are to feel no increased tax pain. Incredibly low oil royalties are to remain the same. Massive debt will once again be incurred over the next few years.
Premier Prentice says, “All Albertans need to look in the mirror” when dealing with Alberta’s budgetary problems. In this, he is absolutely correct. It is Albertans who continually elect inept and entitled Progressive Conservative governments with a massive majority. Another such Progressive Conservative government, with little opposition, is the worst possible electoral outcome. It can and will cater to the vested interests of the wealthy, corporations and oil companies. Average Albertans will be left to pay for the Progressive Conservative government’s financial mismanagement and corporate welfare.
I encourage everyone to vote in the upcoming election, but I strongly urge you not to vote for the very political party that got us into the present financial mess. The Progressive Conservatives have had over 40 years to get Alberta on a sound financial footing that is not reliant on oil prices. We accept change in all walks of life. Why not in Alberta politics? It is time for a change in who runs our province. The Progressive Conservatives have not earned and do not deserve your vote.
Robert King-Brown
Lethbridge
