Alberta NDP Energy Critic Kathleen Ganley speaks at the Baymont Hotel in Red Deer on Monday. (rdnewsNOW/Sheldon Spackman)

By Alessia Proietti and Sheldon Spackman

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During a stop in Red Deer this week, Alberta NDP Energy Critic Kathleen Ganley said that UCP Premier Danielle Smith is focused more on putting money into the hands of her “cronies” rather than local healthcare.

At the Baymont Hotel (4311 49 Ave), Ganley reiterated commitments the NDP would make to Red Deer families if elected, that she claims, are being ignored in the current UCP budget.

READ: UCP unveils budget it says secures Alberta’s future

Ganley particularly spoke about the RStar pilot program, now known as the Liability Management Incentive Program, that would give oil and gas companies a tax break for meeting their legal obligations to clean up old well sites.

“There are connections between those who lobbied for RStar and third party groups that are currently running election ads targeting Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley. Smith lobbied for this royalty giveaway before she became Premier. She advocated for it during the UCP leadership race. She swapped out a UCP energy minister who opposed it for a vocal proponent,” she said, adding it leaves a conflict of interest appearance.

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“It is very atypical for someone to go from being a lobbyist and then transport projects, that they lobbied for in the private sector, directly into government and sort of push them through with little to no oversight,” she said.

“We know the program isn’t in the interests of the people of Alberta but yet she is pushing ahead with it anyway.”

READ: Oil well cleanup program listed as ‘key objective’ in Alberta’s pre-election budget

Ganley claims the program has received criticisms from Scotiabank, rural municipalities, and other experts and damages the province’s reputation in the energy industry.

Ganley said when Smith lobbied for the program to the then-UCP Energy Minister, she was told the project violated the “polluter pay principle”, which states that those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent further harm to individuals and the environment.

“Danielle Smith’s priorities are all wrong. She’s pushing ahead with a $20 billion giveaway, almost the total of the entire healthcare budget, but has no concrete plan to do anything to fix healthcare,” she said, adding that no plans have yet been made for shovels in the ground for the Red Deer Regional Hospital expansion.

She says the Alberta NDP would be committed to completing the project, as they did with the Calgary Cancer Centre, in addition to their plan for Family Health Teams to increase access to family doctors. She says that a proper hospital and health care system will boost the economy by bringing talent to the province.

READ: Alberta NDP visits Red Deer sharing plan to increase access to family doctors

From their “Competitiveness, Jobs and Investment Strategy”, other initiatives she said the NDP would commit towards the economy were the expansion of their Alberta Petrochemical Incentive Program and the UCP’s Alberta Indigenous Opportunity Corporation, various tax credits like the Alberta Investor, Digital Media, and Alberta’s Future Tax Credit which targets growth in specific industries, and use Performance Fast Passes to speed up approvals of projects for responsible companies.

“These are programs with a proven track record, not just of economic expansion and economic diversification, but also creating those good paying jobs and keeping that talent right here,” she said.

Ganley added that not only does the budget omit details on the Liability Management Incentive Program such as costs, benefits, or intended outcomes but it also doesn’t include other projects Smith has spoken openly about including the Alberta Pension Plan and Provincial Police Force.

In February, Finance Minister Travis Toews said there are no costs within the budget for these projects because they are still just plans and no policies have yet been approved.

Gabrielle Symbalisty, Press Secretary to Energy Minister Peter Guthrie, made a similar statement about the Liability Management Incentive Program.

“Consultations are ongoing and will take several months to complete. We won’t prejudge the consultation and analysis process, so we’re anticipating a decision next fall. The Minister of Energy is meeting with landowners, Indigenous groups, municipalities, and industry to design a rehabilitation pilot program after which the cabinet and government caucus will consider the feedback provided and make a final decision on whether and how to proceed. Remember, we are in the consultation and design phase of this potential program, which means different ideas are being suggested and none of them are final.”