Bow River People’s Party of Canada (PPC), candidate Thomas Ikert is tired of Alberta not being heard and wants to stand up for Albertans.
“Federally, I believe that my view of what it was to be a Canadian wasn’t being expressed,” Ikert said.
“People might not want to believe it, but the amount of productivity, and the amount of wealth that the oil industry generates for the rest of Canada is absolutely massive, and we have no representation,” Ikert said.
He added, “No one is standing up for the fact that Alberta is being taken advantage of, even though we’re down on our luck right now.”
Under PPC governance, the federal government will not be involved in health care or decide how each province sends the funds distributed.
Instead, the PPC has pledged to take the GST that is collected, roughly $40 billion a year, and disperse it among the provinces.
Each year the provinces will know how much funding they will receive from the federal government and will then be responsible for how to spend the funds.
“We can’t afford pharmacare because Canada is broke. I strongly believe that health care is a provincial jurisdiction, and the federal government should stay out of it,” Ikert said.
Along with health care, seniors care is also under the provincial branch of government.
“We could handle seniors housing provincially if we had more money if we weren’t shipping money to Ottawa,” Ikert said.
“Our party is committed to renegotiating how much money Alberta is paying, and it would be substantially less,” he said.
Although the majority of education is handled under the provincial government, students will be encouraged to go to technical schools where they will learn practical skills.
“It’s imperative on the person who is taking a student loan out to figure out what they are going to do,” Ikert said.
“I believe we have to make sure that people are responsible for their own decisions. Albertans would be far better off, if they are going to school, going to a trade school, or a technical school where they can get a skill that will be with them for life,” he added.
Ikert believes that the provincial government is on the right track by promising to hire 400 judges to handle rural crimes.
“The crimes that they are saying are insignificant, such as property crimes should get penalized a lot more,” Ikert said.
“The only thing that the federal government can do is we have to make the sentences a lot harder,” he said.
However, the country is broke, and the government can’t afford to do everything that Canadians want, he added.
The PPC will fight for pipelines and encourage provinces to use Alberta oil.
“A pipeline is absolutely essential for Alberta to continue contributing to the economic development of the rest of Canada. We need pipelines,” Ikert said.
“We should have a by-Canada first policy. The bottom line is if I have to drink milk from Quebec, they should have to use Alberta oil,” he added.
Ikert encourages all Bow River riding residents to review the PPC platform.
“If you’re a conservative, tell me how you cannot vote for the PPC. The PPC is a party for people, it’s not special interest,” Ikert said.
He added, the PPC is the only party proposing a balanced budget within two years and telling the truth to Canadians that the country is broke.
“I’m tired of the situation, I’m tired of Alberta not being heard in Ottawa. We need somebody that will be a voice, that will stand up and say this is wrong, you’re not treating us right,” Ikert said.
“Even if I’m the only PPC candidate in parliament, I can still be that voice. I can bring those questions up every day, and I can be in everybody’s face. It’s been too long that we’ve been taken for granted,” he said.
Adding, “I’m concerned with the direction of Canada, I’m in the right place at the right time. I can do it. If not me, then who else is going to do it?”
