UCP needs the guidance of enraged ciitzens to do the bare minimum

After weeks of frigid temperatures I don’t think I’ve ever been so pleased to hear Chinook winds rattling my windows this past week. Though I certainly won’t miss the sub minusthirty wind chills or the frigid walks to the car in the morning, it always strikes me how these extreme conditions bring out the best in our community. Throughout the cold snap so many Southern Albertans stepped up to help our less fortunate neighbours and provide them with the means to ride out the inclement weather. While these temperatures always remind me of the long and important fight ahead of us to make sure that everyone has safe and dignified housing, it’s also a firm reminder how good the people are that call this city home.

With this sense of pride in our region, I began this week with sincere hope that our provincial government would do what needs to be done in order to help Albertans and their communities get through the rest of 2021.

I really, truly hoped that Premier

Jason Kenney realized while he was drafting this week’s 2021-22 provincial budget that he can’t cut Albertans and expect us to thrive — especially under the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Above all, I hoped that Premier Kenney and his ministers saw the opportunity to support Albertans and took it, even after all these months of inaction and neglect.

I hoped that he would take the advice of southern Albertans, like those students, staff and faculty at Lethbridge College who last week wrote an incredible guest column in these pages. They wrote about the impacts that cuts have and will continue to have not just on our kids’ futures, but also our regional economy and the jobs that rely on strong post-secondary institutions. I hoped that he would hear the sincere concern coming from these residents about the millions in economic activity that result from their institution, and that he would hear their message on how to grow and diversify the province’s economy through education and training.

I also hoped that he would hear the message that our region has sent to Edmonton so many times: Southern Albertans deserve world-class opportunities here at home and we shouldn’t have to send our kids hundreds of kilometres to train for their futures.

Yes, I had a great deal of hope that the Kenney government would rise to meet the incredibly important moment to which they have been appointed. That they would use the budget to fight back the public health crisis so Albertans can get back to work. That they would cease their cruel and thoughtless attacks on our senior citizens and our most vulnerable neighbours.

Perhaps most urgently, I hoped that Premier Kenney would use the Budget to full-throatedly put themselves on the side of so many Alberta families that are struggling to make ends meet in an economy that continues to sputter and fail those looking for work.

Of course, I had reason to suspect that Jason Kenney and the UCP government would not meet the moment.

Since forming government almost two years ago they have consistently prioritized the needs of profitable corporations, all while overseeing disastrous results for Alberta’s jobs market and the economy more broadly. In its previous budgets this government had said to Albertans that there was more value in handing multibillion dollar tax breaks to these companies than there was in properly funding health, education, or any of the vital social services that protect us.

Beyond this, there’s the fact that Albertans are constantly needing to remind this Premier and his ministers of our values, and of the right thing to do. Whether on parks, on coal mining in the Eastern Slopes, or managing the pandemic, it’s clear: this government requires the strong and ardent guidance of engaged citizens to do the bare minimum.

Still, even despite capricious and undemocratic games being played by his MLAs at Legislature Committees, I held some hope that this premier, who prides himself on his ability to strategically manipulate the political world, would see that failing to help Albertans at a time of great peril for our province would carry with it significant penalties from voters.

In the coming weeks and months, we will see the impact of Premier Kenney’s decisions and his priorities on the health of our province.

While we watch, I will continue working to ensure that the voices of southern Albertans are heard in Edmonton, that our province’s future is at the heart of all that our government does, and that the worst excesses of this UCP government are stopped in their tracks.

Though it is hard work, I am heartened by the thousands of Albertans from across our region who are working in their own ways to do these exact same things.

As always, if you require the support of your constituency office, please don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing lethbridge.west@assembly.ab.ca or by calling 403-329-4644.