Wes Taylor
MLA Battle River-Wainwright
Counting chickens before they hatch is, they say, foolhardy. However, failing to plan for a likely eventuality is equally foolhardy.
I was encouraged to see a recent poll, carried out by Mainstreet Research, which showed the UCP leading in every region of the province, including Edmonton. The poll found that 52.1 per cent of Albertans supported the UCP, while 32.5 per cent supported the NDP. The poll also found UCP Leader Jason Kenney to be more popular than the NDP Leader (40 per cent versus 33 per cent).
As I said in my last post I am following Jason’s advice, namely, “If we work hard, stay humble and earn every vote, we will ensure that this deceptive, divisive, debt-quadrupling, tax-hiking, job-killing, accidental socialist government is one-and-done”.
But, what should be our priorities if we are returned to power? Constituents often say to me that they want to see a return of the ‘Alberta Advantage’.
What is the Alberta Advantage? Well, it was Lieutenant Governor Gordon Towers who first uttered the phrase when delivering the Throne Speech in August 1993. Ralph Klein had been returned to power and he had written:
“Unlike some others, my government will not try to buy prosperity through higher taxes. Instead, it will build on Alberta’s existing advantage of low taxes and its free enterprise spirit to develop the most competitive economy in North America. The government will strengthen the Alberta Advantage and sell it aggressively around the globe.”
I wrote of the importance of investment, or the ‘free enterprise spirit’, in my last post. Low taxation and free enterprise is the classic Conservative approach to economics. This approach has proven successful time and time again.
So what are the steps to restoring the Alberta Advantage?
It will not be easy. In the words of Churchill, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”.
For too long now governments, not just here in Canada but throughout the Western democracies, have followed a paradigm that is producing increasing debt. The difference between socialist and conservative governments appears to be merely one of scale. When conservatives have attempted to deal with debt they have been far too timid in their reforms.
Radical change is required. Essentially, governments must tax less, spend less and, importantly, meddle less. I recently had the opportunity to hear John Robson speak to this very issue.
John Robson is commentator-at-large with News Talk Radio 580 CFRA in Ottawa and is a National Post columnist and documentary filmmaker. He is also an Invited Professor at the University of Ottawa. John holds a B.A. and M.A. in history from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D in American history from the University of Texas at Austin.
I will not repeat John’s commentary here. Instead, you can hear him deliver this personally. I have invited John to come and deliver his talk on Restoring the Alberta Advantage to you at an open event.
The talk will take place at the Prairie Rose Seniors Centre in Wainwright on Friday, Aug. 24 starting at 7 p.m.
The event is open to all Battle River-Wainwright constituents and to anyone further afield who might care to attend.
I encourage you to come and hear a highly passionate, erudite and gifted speaker give you insight into the economic issues we face. John offers solutions which, although today may be considered radical, ultimately will become necessary.
Let’s make Alberta great again!