Summery : The mandate for Alberta's elections has fallen, with voters heading to the polls on May 29 in what could be a scratchy result. United Conservative leader Danielle Smith and New Democrat leader Rachel Notley launched their campaigns in Calgary, with Smith promising a new tax bracket for people earning less than $60,000 a year and Notley criticized the move. Elections Director Glen Resler said nearly 20,000 election officials are being recruited to conduct the polls in the province's 87 constituencies. The Alberta election is expected to be a two-party race between the UCP and NDP, with the Liberals, the Alberta party and the Greens struggling to get out of the fringes. The NDP needs to win a majority of the 26 seats in traditionally conservative Calgary to surpass the UCP’s expected victories elsewhere.
Smith has warned voters that a second Notley term means a repeat of tax hikes and spending increases, resulting in multibillion-dollar budget deficits and a debt spiral. The UCP also carries the baggage of multiple scandals and controversies under both Smith and his predecessor, Kenney.
Full Story : The mandate for Alberta’s elections has fallen, with voters heading to the polls on May 29 in what could be a scratchy result.
United Conservative leader Danielle Smith and New Democrat
leader Rachel Notley kicked off their campaigns Monday in Calgary.
Calgary is expected to be a key battleground in the race, as
polls suggest Notley’s NDP could maintain its dominance in Edmonton, while
Smith’s PCU could maintain control in rural areas and smaller centers. .
Both parties have been campaigning unofficially for weeks,
with both leaders appearing at rallies over the weekend and the NDP releasing a
campaign song.
Smith launched his party’s campaign by promising that a UCP
government would create a new eight percent tax bracket for people who earn
less than $60,000 a year.
Smith said this new tax bracket would save $760 per year for
Albertans who earn more than $60,000 per year.
She said Albertans making less than $60,000 would see a 20
percent reduction in their provincial tax bill if their party is re-elected.
“This permanent billion-dollar tax cut will provide
significant and timely tax relief to Albertans when they need it,” Smith said
in an announcement in suburban Calgary.
“It will result in real, significant savings that can go
toward housing, other life necessities, planning for the future, or whatever
else is a priority for you.”
Notley criticized the move, saying Smith will deplete
education and healthcare funding for the initiative.
Elections Director Glen Resler said in a statement that
nearly 20,000 election officials are being recruited to conduct the polls in
the province’s 87 constituencies.
It is expected to be a two-party race between the UCP and
NDP, with no other parties taking seats in the legislature, leaving the
Liberals, the Alberta party and the Greens, among other groups, struggling to
get out of the fringes.
Both the UCP and NDP are campaigning for economic stability,
promising rules to save more of Alberta’s oil bounty, while fully funding
education and improving the healthcare system.
It would be a tightrope walk to victory for Notley, who is
bidding to become the first prime minister to serve unfulfilled terms.
He led the NDP to victory over the Progressive Conservatives
in 2015, only for the PCs to join forces with their centre-right rival the
Wildrose Party to win Jason Kenney’s government with the UCP in 2019.
The NDP needs to win a majority of the 26 seats in
traditionally conservative Calgary to surpass the UCP’s expected victories
elsewhere.
Smith has warned voters that a second Notley term means a
repeat of tax hikes and spending increases, despite low oil prices during the
NDP’s tenure, resulting in multibillion-dollar budget deficits and a debt
spiral. supported by taxpayers.
That oil price crash during the Notley years turned into an
oil boom under the UCP, allowing Smith to increase spending virtually across
the board in the February budget while posting a surplus of $ 2.4 billion.
The NDP says the UCP’s tax haven was a mirage given its
clandestine measures, which include raising user fees, recovering revenue from
police fines and de-indexing personal income tax rates, resulting in higher
costs for families, especially at sky-high auto insurance rates. .
“There will be no tax increases for Albertans under an NDP
government for the next four years,” Notley told supporters in Calgary.
“Those kinds of engagements aren’t free either.”
Smith’s UCP also carries the baggage of multiple scandals
and controversies under both Smith and his predecessor, Kenney.
Under Kenney, the UCP went to war with the health
profession, breaking the master labor agreement with doctors and seeking pay
cuts for nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government also fired the electoral official who was
investigating the party.
During the pandemic, Kenney has invoked the ire of his
party’s far-right over vaccine mandates and health restrictions, leading to a
membership uprising that forced Kenney to retire last fall due to a tepid show
of support. of 51 percent in a leadership review.
Enter Smith, a former Wildrose Party leader turned radio
talk show host and ardent supporter of the anti-vaccine movement.
She challenged conventional science and sparked controversy
when she said early-stage cancer patients must take responsibility for their
disease.
“Danielle Smith’s problem, if she has one, is controversial
off-the-cuff comments,” said Elizabeth Smythe, a professor emeritus at
Concordia University in Edmonton.
As prime minister, she fired the Alberta Health Services
board and the medical director of health, blaming them for overcrowding
hospitals during the pandemic.
He called the unvaccinated against COVID-19 the most
discriminated group he has seen in his life.
More recently, he has come under fire for taking an active
role in court cases over COVID-19 health violations, urging court officials to
consider whether they are worth pursuing.
The provincial ethics commissioner is also investigating a
phone call in which Smith is heard offering to help a defendant with his
upcoming criminal trial linked to a border blockade against pandemic measures.
UNDECIDED VOTERS
This election is expected to be close, according to
political observers, and could come down to just a handful of seats.
The biggest problem, according to Geoffrey Hale, a political
scientist at the University of Lethbridge, is that many people aren’t sure who
to vote for.
“There is a significant swing vote that is not necessarily
happy with the leader of either party,” Hale said.
“Both the conservatives and the New Democrats (are)
demonizing each other.”
Undecided voter Martin Wilkins says he and his wife don’t
know who to choose to elect.
“Because I don’t think I’m any different than a lot of other
Calgarians and Albertans who say, what do we have to choose from, this is it?”
Wilkins said.
“I can tell you right now, Danielle Smith, no way… I’m not
crazy about the NDP being back in power.”
Wilkins says that if she were to change her mind and decide
to vote for someone, it would all come down to what benefits you can be
afforded as a senior.
“I don’t want anybody messing with the Canada Pension Plan, the
old age supplement,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May
1, 2023.
