3 March 2008

Alberta Liberals Ready to Hold Tories Accountable

Speaking in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft thanked supporters across Alberta this evening after the election poll results showed that his party will continue to stand up for Albertans as the Official Opposition.

“We fought the best campaign we could fight, and achieved more than we see in these results,” said Taft. “We won’t know the true value of the work we’ve done for years, but it is real.”

“The Alberta Liberals will continue to fight. We’ll stand proud in the legislature, ready to hold this government to account. There will be no free ride.”

Taft congratulated the other leaders and thanked all the candidates and volunteers that supported them throughout the election campaign.

“I also thank the voters who came out on election day, in the belief that a single vote can make a difference,” said Taft. “I especially thank the voters of Edmonton-Riverview for electing me to a third term. It’s an honour to represent you.”

“We have made commitments to Albertans—on health care, on the environment, on education, on the economy—and I intend to push for each of them, with all my might.”

“Fortunately, I won’t be working alone. I’ve got a great team with me, and we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work come tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you Alberta for your support – I look forward to standing up for the best interests and the priorities of Albertans as we move forward into the next Alberta.”

“We are the party that will bring vision and balance to Alberta’s future, and that’s worth fighting for,” said Taft.

2 March 2008

It’s time for a new government, Taft tells Edmonton rally

Edmontonians turned out on Saturday to hear Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft deliver one strong message: Alberta needs a new government.

“It’s time,” said Taft. “We’ve been saying it through this entire campaign, and on Monday—together—we will translate those words into action: It’s time for a new government.”

“Ed Stelmach expects Albertans to wait four years for the end of health care premiums. He expects Albertans to wait until 2050 before taking serious steps to address climate change. When it comes to affordable housing, he expects us to wait. When it comes to spiralling electricity and auto insurance rates, he expects us to wait. And when it comes to hospital emergency rooms and surgical procedures, he really expects us to wait.”

“Well, we’ve had enough waiting. We’ve had 37 years of waiting. We need a new government.”

“On Tuesday morning, we will wake up to the Next Alberta. We’ll wake up to a province where public health care is stronger than ever, where we lead the planet in protecting the environment, where we protect jobs and the economy, where we make our communities safer, and where we save and invest our money for the future.”

“We’ll wake up to a new government. An Alberta Liberal government.”

“Ed Stelmach himself was quoted yesterday saying that the Liberals will be successful. We agree.”

“We will be successful because of all the ways we’re different from the Tories. Alberta has changed. The world has changed, but Ed Stelmach and the Tory government have not. Like Rip Van Winkle, they’ve been asleep for decades. It’s time to move on, Alberta! We need a new government!”

Taft told the enthusiastic crowd that the Alberta Liberals are the only party in this election poised to form a new government that acts on Albertans’ needs and priorities.

“Our opponents know what the people and the experts have been saying,” said Taft. “The Alberta Liberals are the strongest on the environment, we’re the strongest on health care, we’re the strongest on education, we’re the strongest on jobs and the economy, we’re the strongest on saving for the future. Not the Greens, not the NDP.”

“Not the Conservatives.”

On top of that, Taft reminded the crowd of the Alberta Liberal commitment to Edmonton and Alberta.

Taft said the Alberta Liberals will:

• Super-charge Edmonton’s post-secondary institutions, making them true, permanent world leaders.
• Expand the Cross Cancer Institute and increase training spaces for health care professionals.
• Strengthen arts and culture by tripling funding to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and establishing an Alberta arts festival.
• Get the 23rd Avenue interchange built.
• Create a new royalty regime that gives Albertans their fair share while also protecting jobs, the environment and the economy.
• Place a three-year moratorium on school closures to review the flawed school closure process.
• Enact a big cities charter, giving Edmonton the constitutional power it needs to chart its own course.

“Nothing changes unless we change government,” said Taft. “Albertans have a chance to change the future.”

“It’s time for the next Alberta – it’s time for a new government.”

1 March 2008

It’s time for a new government, Taft tells Calgary rally

Several hundred enthusiastic supporters turned out today to hear Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft deliver one strong message: Alberta needs a new government.

“It’s time,” said Taft. “We’ve been saying it through this entire campaign, and on Monday—together—we will translate those words into action: It’s time for a new government.”

“Ed Stelmach expects Albertans to wait four years for the end of health care premiums. He expects Albertans to wait until 2050 before taking serious steps to address climate change. When it comes to affordable housing, he expects us to wait. When it comes to spiralling electricity and auto insurance rates, he expects us to wait. … And when it comes to hospital emergency rooms and surgical procedures, he really expects us to wait.”

“Well, we’ve had enough waiting. We’ve had 37 years of waiting. We need a new government.”

“On Tuesday morning, we will wake up to the Next Alberta. We’ll wake up to a province where public health care is stronger than ever, where we lead the planet in protecting the environment, where we protect jobs and the economy, where we make our communities safer, and where we save and invest our money for the future.”

“We’ll wake up to a new government. An Alberta Liberal government.”

“Ed Stelmach himself was quoted yesterday saying that the Liberals will be successful. We agree.”

“We will be successful because of all the ways we’re different from the Tories. Alberta has changed. The world has changed, but Ed Stelmach and the Tory government have not. Like Rip Van Winkel, they’ve been asleep for decades. It’s time to move on, Alberta! We need a new government!”

Taft told the enthusiastic crowd that the Alberta Liberals are the only party in this election poised to form a new government that acts on Albertans’ needs and priorities.

“Our opponents know what the people and the experts have been saying,” said Taft. “The Alberta Liberals are the strongest on the environment, we’re the strongest on health care, we’re the strongest on education, we’re the strongest on jobs and the economy, we’re the strongest on saving for the future. Not the Greens, not the NDP.”

“Not the Conservatives.”

On top of that, Taft reminded the crowd of the Alberta Liberal commitment to Calgary and Alberta.

Taft said the Alberta Liberals will:

• Build the long-delayed new facility for the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, along with the South Health Campus.
• Get the South West Calgary Ring Road built.
• Establish Mount Royal University.
• Create a new royalty regime that gives Albertans their fair share while also protecting jobs, the environment and the economy.
• Build schools in the Calgary communities that need them—without resorting to P3s—and protect and improve the schools we already have.
• Enact a big cities charter, giving Calgary the constitutional power it needs to chart its own course.
• Bring the Legislature back to Albertans. It belongs to them.

“Nothing changes unless we change government,” said Taft. “Albertans have a chance to change the future.”

“It’s time for the next Alberta – it’s time for a new government.”

1 March 2008

It’s time for a new government, says Kevin Taft

Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft told Red Deer and Central Albertan residents today that after 37 years of Tory rule, it’s time for a new government.

“On the 26th day of this election campaign, I’m here to talk about the need for change – for the next Alberta,” said Taft. “I’m here to talk about the need for a government that listens to citizens, instead of tuning them out.”

“It’s time for a government that will listen to its people, that will put money back into education and health care, that will spend wisely and save wisely, that will protect our environment,” said Taft. “After 37 years of Tory rule, it’s time for a change so we can get the job done right.”

Taft says an Alberta Liberal government will support the upgrading of the Red Deer Airport, protect the Red Deer River basin, boost affordable housing and reduce homelessness, put more police officers on the street, and ensure that government agencies are accountable, transparent and fair. 

The Alberta Liberals will also provide Red Deer residents with better access to their legislators by taking the Legislative Assembly on the road for two weeks each year to a different community outside Edmonton.

“The people of Red Deer have been taken for granted for far too long – it’s time for this region to regain its voice in the provincial Legislature,” said Taft. “You have a chance to shape the foundations of this province by voting for a new government.”

Taft notes that the Alberta Liberal platform has been getting solid reviews all over the province. The Alberta Medical Association gave our health care policies top marks out of all the other parties, and the Conservation Voters of Alberta said our environment platform is the strongest.

“Nothing changes unless we change government,” said Taft. “Albertans have a chance to send a message, to change the future.”

“It’s time for the next Alberta – it’s time for a new government.”

29 February 2008

Alberta Liberal government will get Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo the representation it deserves

Kevin Taft committed today to increasing representation in Alberta’s legislature for the people of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo.

Taft made the announcement as he finished off a day-long visit to northern Alberta communities today.

Taft said the Alberta Liberals will ensure Fort McMurray and Wood Buffalo get the number of MLAs they deserve, whether that is two or three.

“This region needs voices in the legislature that represent the scale and strength of the area,” said Taft.

“Fort McMurray has been struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of growth for years,” said Taft. “Schools are deteriorating, highway driving conditions are unsafe, a major shortage of health professionals is causing a strain on health services, and the shortage of affordable housing has reached a crisis. A pipeline goes out of this region, and a garden hose brings government services back.”

“Fort McMurray is a thriving economic hub of this province, and residents deserve to be represented,” said Taft.

Taft said the strains on the public services and on the infrastructure of Fort McMurray are caused by the government’s failure to plan for the economic boom.

“This region is a prime example of how the Tories’ lack of planning has let Albertans down,” said Taft. “Because the Tories didn’t properly plan for development, we have a region that is bursting at the seams and playing catch up on all major infrastructure projects.”

Earlier in the day, Taft also visited the Wabasca-Desmarais area, where he talked to residents about Alberta Liberal plans to address shortages of health care professionals, to expand Friendship Centres and re-instate a provincial government department dedicated to Aboriginal Affairs, among other initiatives.

Throughout the day, Taft spoke to northern Alberta residents about the need for better planning and predictable, sustainable funding to allow communities to keep up with the pace of growth.

Taft said increased representation for Fort McMurray in the provincial Legislature will allow the region to address critical, long-neglected needs, and will ensure that the area can be better equipped to keep up with the pace of growth.

Taft said the Alberta Liberals will improve the quality of life for Northern Albertans by also:

• Responsibly managing the pace of oil sands development, based on a cumulative environmental impacts framework.
• Supporting value added growth in Alberta to a sustainable level. Instead of sending bitumen out of the country like Ed Stelmach’s government, the Alberta Liberals will partner with neighbouring provinces for upgrading.
• Ensuring adequate funding for rural health services to reflect the special challenges and higher costs of delivering those services in sparsely population regions.
• Implementing a comprehensive baseline health study of the residents of Fort Chipewyan and surrounding areas to assess the extent and cause of any environment-based health concerns.
• Conducting health impact assessments for all new major developments.
• Requiring mandatory watershed management planning and creating a provincial inventory of water.
• Increasing the number of affordable housing units and protecting renters from exorbitant increases.
• Creating a land-use strategy to balance industrial interests with those of communities and the environment.
• Reinstating a government ministry devoted to Aboriginal Affairs and doubling provincial funding for Friendship Centres.
• Super-charging post-secondary institutions, including Fort McMurray’s Keyano College.

“This government has had the gas pedal to the floor for 10 years, and it is time to ease up a bit and deal with the problems that Albertans are facing due to this overheated economy,” said Taft. “It’s not a matter of touching the brakes – it’s about driving the speed limit, to enable healthy, productive communities to keep up with and benefit from this growth.”

“Fort McMurray residents shouldn’t have to suffer any longer for this government’s failure to plan,” said Taft. “It’s time for a new government. We need a new government.”