Dear Editor,
Our United Conservative team remains focused on standing up for Albertans against an out-of-touch NDP government. We’re focused on renewing the Alberta Advantage and providing Albertans with a strong, common-sense alternative to the NDP. The issues facing Alberta today are serious.
The NDP has put our province on track for a staggering $96 billion with their latest budget.
Their carbon tax grab has made life more expensive, especially in rural communities like ours – it costs more to fill up and drive for groceries.
And because the NDP’s Trudeau- Liberal allies asked them to, they’ve committed to raising it even higher.
Further, the NDP was slow to act on the escalating crime rates in our communities, dismissing our calls for an emergency debate in the legislature while criminals targeted rural communities.
And their hasty decision to accelerate the phase-out of coal left many facing uncertainty, as the NDP never bothered to take into account the families and communities that depend on these jobs.
Introduced shortly after their much-criticized debt-heavy budget, the NDP’s Bill 9 was another obvious effort by a desperate government to distract attention away from their failed economic record.
Ask yourself: If the NDP really believed this legislation was necessary, then why have they never once raised it before?
They did not do so during decades in opposition, they did not mention the need for it in their last election platform, nor did they make any mention of it in their three years in government.
I strongly oppose any form of intimidation or harassment and support laws to ensure public safety – but I’m not interested in playing the NDP’s divisive politics.
Like many other members of our caucus, I made the decision to abstain from the Bill 9 debate rather than validate the NDP’s cynical wedge politics.
Even with virtually no opposition in the Legislature, the NDP government made the choice to drag out the time between introduction and a final vote on Bill 9 for 56 days.
I can’t speak to what misunderstanding transpired with Mr. von Busse at the June 30 event he mentions in his letter to the ECA Review, but since first being elected in 2012, my priority has always been to stand up for our community and bring local concerns to the Legislature.
My staff and I communicate with constituents daily.
While Twitter isn’t an official line of communication that’s actively monitored, we communicate regularly through emails and phone calls which we answer daily.
It continues to be a privilege to represent and stand up for the people of Drumheller- Stettler.
I remain committed to representing your concerns and standing up to this out-of-touch NDP government.
Rick Strankman
United Conservative Party
MLA Drumheller Stettler