NDP CAN SAVE CASH
Most Albertans grasp the state of today’s economy. Thousands of people have lost their jobs — or, if they’re among the relatively lucky, they’ve had to muddle through with wage cuts or reduced hours. Others haven’t had a wage increase for some time.
Notwithstanding this, Albertans heard the assessment of Premier Rachel Notley on Wednesday during her so-called state of the province address. And while acknowledging hardship, the speech didn’t mirror the experiences being lived out by many families.
On the same day Enbridge announced more layoffs, including 370 positions in Canada, the premier bragged about creating 1,100 teacher positions and saving the jobs of 800 learning assistants. If only those in the oilpatch and other enterprises could count on such largesse.
There’s no doubt the premier is wellintentioned, but she is misguided about how a thriving economy is nurtured. Government can act as a “shock absorber” to an extent, but it shouldn’t be a drag on the private sector, as the NDP seems intent on with some of its policies.
The premier talks about diversifying the economy, but that’s the job of entrepreneurs who see the opportunity to turn a profit. It’s not the role of ideologues determined to part with taxpayers’ money, or worse, piling on more debt in some dodgy game of corporate welfare.
During her speech at the Jack Singer Concert Hall before a group of invited guests, Notley repeated her belief that political opponents are determined to slash public services such as health care and education.
“We reject this obsessive idea, advanced by our colleagues on the opposition benches in the legislature, that in tough times we need to make Alberta’s situation worse through a knee-jerk cutback to public services,” she said.
It’s the NDP that’s most likely to talk about “knee-jerk cutbacks,” of course, because it plays into the government’s narrative. But it was Notley who spoke with pride in her speech about cost savings reached just this week with the Alberta Medical Association.
Notley said the deal with doctors will reduce expenses to two per cent annually until the contract expires in 2018. Under the agreement reached with the previous government, she said, costs were expected to grow by eight per cent annually — a little better than the 9.7 per cent they’ve increased each year for the past decade.
Notley — who perhaps inadvertently hinted at the extent of bloat in government spending — demonstrated cost savings can be found without ravaging public services. Hmm, who knew?
Apparently it is possible to secure better value for scarce public tax dollars. Notley should do more of it while spending less.