The Friday Focus Returns

The Friday Focus is a weekly blog post from Alberta Liberal Leader John Roggeveen. It covers some of the major topics in Alberta Politics each week. 

Playing with Pensions

The UCP didn’t campaign on the widely unpopular idea of an Alberta Pension Plan. But that didn’t keep them from releasing a questionable report last week to promote it.

Panned by independent experts for its phony numbers and spurious assumptions, in reality, an Alberta Pension Plan will drive up costs, bloat bureaucracy, and expose Albertans’ retirements to more risk. 

Leaving the CPP will not only hurt Albertans it will further damage our relations with the rest of Canada. Our fellow Canadians will be paying more while we gamble on our citizens’ futures. It’s a lose-lose formula. Canadians are stronger together. That’s something Danielle Smith and her soft-separatists can’t seem to understand. 

The CPP ain’t broke. Don’t try and fix it.

Spilling Oil but not the Beans

In 2022 Imperial Oil learned its Kearl Mine was leaking toxic tailings fluid that mixed with groundwater. Then in 2023, the same site spilled 5.3 million litres of contamination into the environment. Thanks to a third-party report we now know the government and the Alberta Energy Regulator failed to keep affected Albertans in the know. 

Astoundingly, the report found the AER followed the rules for informing the public. That revelation screams out that the rules are woefully inadequate. It took months to notify First Nations communities who then went months (months!) without updates. The UCP turned a blind eye as it swept a health and safety disaster under the rug. Unlike pensions, this lack of transparency must be fixed. Now! 

Building and Renewal

Alberta needs the Alberta Liberals, a party that encourages citizens to work together toward positive solutions.  There is renewed interest in our party and you can be part of that growing momentum in two ways today. 

The first is to make a donation to the Alberta Liberal Party. The end of the third quarter is fast approaching and we are still $2000 away from our goal. Every donation will help us get closer to it.

The second is to sign up for our Annual General Meeting on October 14th in Edmonton. Liberals from across the province will be gathering to set the course for our party. I hope to see you there, so we can discuss our visions for a better future for Alberta. 

Sincerely,

John