File photo of NDP leader Rachel Notley from 2018.

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

thoughts from all sides

Reaction to UCP government’s Budget 2022 pours in

Feb 24, 2022 | 5:02 PM

Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP say Budget 2022, which you can read more about here, is a prime example of why Albertans can’t trust the governing UCP.

The budget was released Thursday afternoon, with Premier Jason Kenney boasting that it’s the first balanced budget for Alberta in 14 years.

Budget 2022 forecasts a $500 million surplus, but the NDP say it fails to provide any meaningful plan for creating jobs, and doesn’t provide relief for soaring monthly household bills. They also say it breaks a promise made just days ago to help families recoup natural gas costs.

“Only the UCP could have soaring energy prices and still find new ways to disappoint the hardworking people of this province. Sky-high oil prices and no stability in our hospitals, 1,000 fewer teachers in schools, no real plan for jobs or economic diversification, and no help for Albertans who can’t pay their utility bills today,” says Notley, the party’s leader.

“I was shocked that this government put nothing in this budget to help with the sky-high bills Albertans are paying right now. Not a cent. For both gas and electricity, Albertans are on their own this winter.”

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The NDP also criticize the UCP’s bracket creep, which they say takes $850 million from Alberta families this term.

“This has real consequences. This year alone, the average family of four will lose $400 in income. A senior couple will lose $350 and Albertans on AISH, the most vulnerable among us, will lose $1,000 . That is shameful considering the surplus we are seeing today,” Notley said.

“The UCP’s jobs projection has been revised down in their last three budgets and today their forward projection is still 138,000 jobs short of what they promised they would create before the end of their term. And when it comes to big ideas for the future of our economy, things like geothermal exploration, hydrogen development and energy storage this budget offers lip-service, at best. If the UCP took these priorities seriously, there would be some acknowledgement of the need to invest in them. We are way behind.”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) agrees with the NDP about the bracket creep, announced in the 2019 budget, which they note was introduced despite promises from Kenney he wouldn’t raise taxes.

But the CTF does believe the budget begins to move the province in the right direction “after years of overspending and big deficits.”

“The government deserves credit for beginning to roll back years of government overspending that has wreaked havoc on our province’s finances,” says Kevin Lacey, the CTF’s Alberta director. “Finance Minister Travis Toews is right for signaling government spending will slow to a drip, and the province will finally balance the budget.”

Meantime, Friends of Medicare says Budget 2022 pushes privatization and profits over investing in public health care.

“The government’s budget was more of the same. It presents very little in terms of new plans for our health care, instead defaulting to the same old tired strategy of cuts and privatization. It was their plan all along, it was merely delayed as a result of the pandemic,’ says Chris Gallaway, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare. “The UCP government’s unprecedented pursuit of privatization throughout this health care budget represents the abandonment of Albertans and our health care system when we need it most.”

Omitted from the budget, the organization says, is mention of the ongoing drug poisoning crisis, or any plans to address it.

With record numbers of people dying from overdoses, they say the lack of mention shows how the government really feels about the issue.

Public Interest Alberta (PIA) also provided commentary on Budget 2022 Thursday, saying they are ringing the alarm bell on what is a “reckless agenda of cuts, deregulation and privatization.”

“The budget is balanced, but it is balanced on the backs of Albertans,” says PIA Executive Director Bradley Lafortune. “When Public Interest Alberta released our own budget priorities document, we had the audacity to hope for a budget that puts Albertans first. We called on the UCP to do something they’ve never done before: listen to everyday Albertans and prioritize their well-being over shareholder interests and corporate profits. Clearly, we were talking to a brick wall.”

Finally, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) says the budget was not written to serve Albertans, but to divert public assets to the UCP’s corporate funders.

“This is the biggest hand over of public assets that Albertans have seen in decades,” says AUPE vice-president Susan Slade. “If you want to see who wins in this budget, follow the money – and vast sums of money and public assets will be flowing to private and for-profit corporations.”

Slade adds: “Since the UCP was elected, it has deliberately under-funded and undermined public services, including health care, education, post-secondary education and government services. Now that it has inflicted this damage, it is seeking to break up what remains and hand over huge parts to their friends in business so they can make profits.”

More coverage of Budget 2022 is at rdnewsnow.com/news-alberta, with more local reaction anticipated on Friday.