In a packed room on Friday November 21st, Bruce McAllister – Wildrose MLA for Chestermere-Rocky View and Wildrose Leader, Danielle Smith, spoke to the changes that need to be made in the way Alberta government is ran. Even though the spirit of the evening was that of meeting with their Chestermere supporters and raising money for an upcoming election campaign, both spoke to the serious things going on in the Province of Alberta.
In his opening remarks, McAllister spoke to concerns such as the work that needs to be done on the Trans-Canada Highway regarding the access points and says that there has been meetings between himself, Mayor Patricia Matthews and Alberta Transportation officials to discuss these concerns. McAllister gave special thanks for their ongoing support in the community of Chestermere, included Jed Snatic of Lifepath Wellness, Andrew Marriott of Tim Horton’s, Alex Halat and the Chestermere Langdon Oilmen’s Association, Derek Jacobson of Quattro Energy, and Kam Khamba of the Chestermere Bottle Depot.
McAllister also shared an update with the progress of a decision being made to open a registries in Chestermere. He explained that it has been a long and complicated process and although it remains unknown as to where or when this will come to fruition, McAllister commented that a decision would be coming soon.
MLA Danielle Smith then took to the stage and started her speech by giving huge thanks and kudos to those that serve with her in the Wildrose caucus. Smith spoke to issues such as education, transportation and rural EMS and how all of these are in their sights and will be improved for Albertans.
With being back in the legislature for just three days at the time of this event, Smith said, “I think the new Premier is starting to get the idea of what’s about to get it. We have another four weeks to go and there is certainly no shortage of questions to ask.” Smith went on to discuss the Wildrose part in the recent dismissal of Minsters Doug Horner (Finance), Fred Horne (Health Care) and Jeff Johnson (Education). “That doesn’t mean that we have had 100% success in getting all of the things we are advocating for implemented, but I think it is an indication that they realize that they needed a change in direction”, Smith explained.
Smith continued by saying that their priorities during this Legislative session would be fiscal discipline and responsibility, making sure that there is access to international markets for energy, making sure that private property rights are respected and making sure that key social programs such as health care, social services and youth care are in place. “Alberta needs the Wildrose now more than ever. Every time we get a new Premier, Albertans, bless their hearts, are willing to give the person a chance. I think we are already beginning to see early signs that this new management is going to be exactly the same as the old management”, said Smith. “There is a huge appetite among Albertans to be able to change and they want change.”
“Many people know that we have been showing Albertans why they should vote Wildrose to a point. For instance, we have released now seven policy papers on certain issues like education, but it’s tough to get traction when you are the opposition party and I understand that. If the media has a bunch of events to go to and the opposition is releasing a policy platform, you’re probably going to go to Hilary Clintons speaking at the convention centre. And that is exactly what happened on my education announcement. Yet, the announcement called for, percentage grades on report cards or standard algorithms for times tables for kids – all the things that parents want and have been advocating for and the PC’s are adopting some of them based on that. I think we have to make sure, as Danielle said, that Albertans are reminded of why we are here. Let’s face it, Allison Redford and her gang were a disaster. It was embarrassing to even open the paper because just as a dad and as an Albertan, it was hard for me some days to look at the news coming out of the Legislature. Well, the next guy came along and he is more seasoned and he’s done the things that we’ve asked and is trying to turn the channel. The fact of the matter is, that government has a serious spending problem”, said MLA Bruce McAllister.
McAllister went on to say, “If we’re not here, Allison Redford is still the Premier. We have been very very effective in calling them out on what they have done and we’re the reason things are changing. And we’re not going to stop exposing them for that and at the same time we propose that after forty five years there’s got to be a fresh set of eyes and I promise you that if we can just get forty five months, Albertans will say ‘I don’t know why we waited so long'”.
