Jason Stephan (Supplied photo)

By Troy Gillard

“Socialism is in opposition to liberty”

Red Deer MLA rejects ‘socialist lockdown’ over COVID-19

Nov 27, 2020 | 9:39 AM

The MLA for Red Deer-South says going into lockdown over surging COVID-19 cases in the province would be the wrong thing to do.

Jason Stephan delivered a member statement in the Alberta Legislature denouncing a “socialist lockdown” as a way of responding to the pandemic.

“Neither socialism nor a lockdown avails a principled vision of hope Greater individual, family, community and provincial self-reliance is the right path forward,” Stephan suggested. “The decision (Tuesday) to reject an NDP socialist police state lockdown was the right one. Albertans will rise to the challenge and bend down the COVID curve.”

He said, “Socialism is in opposition to liberty. It can only exist through the rough fist of the state. Socialism is fixated on fighting over a pie, not growing it, and inevitably shrinking it. When legal plunder displaces work as a ruling principle, a sustainable society is lost.”

Stephan went on to say that, “Socialism is soul destroying, infecting a people with diseases of dependence and idleness. A people that is dependent is not free, and idle people are not happy. We raise a voice of warning and of hope.”

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Stephan also said Alberta must protect itself from a “socialist decarbonization reset, disconnected from economic reality, and bankrupt of a vision of hope.”

“The right path forward is for Alberta to seek great self-reliance. Socialism fears self-reliance,” he stressed. “Consistent, deliberate effort towards self-reliance will yield results and opportunities sooner than anticipated. Enacting all fair deal recommendations is a good start. Better days are ahead.”