In the day after the provincial election, Albertans are wondering if the Klein government will ever provide answers on key public interest questions.

Five days before the provincial election was called, Public Interest Alberta and a large network of organizations and individuals challenged all parties to identify where they stand on a number of important and inter-related public interest questions. The Fair Deal for Alberta Families statement defined eight major themes for the candidates to address. [See attached].

While the PC party headquarters did respond to the many people around the province who sent messages to their candidates, they failed to address any of the public interest solutions that were presented in the Fair Deal statement.

"How do you pass the test without answering the questions?" asks Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta . "This province has a lot going for it, but people want a government that is going to address the serious issues and present real solutions to the incredible stress that many Alberta families are under."

When it comes to the future of Alberta ’s health care system, the only thing the PC party wrote was that "The Premier commits that no controversial health care reforms will be implemented without consensus among Albertans." The questions remain, what "controversial health care reforms" are they planning and does the Premier know the definition of the word "consensus"

When asked if the party supported full day kindergarten and junior kindergarten for children from disadvantage families, there was no response.

Similarly, the Fair Deal statement called for an increase in the minimum wage, and improved support for disadvantaged families, individuals and the handicapped. Disturbingly, these questions were completed ignored by the PC party.

When it comes to making post-secondary education more accessible and affordable, the only commitment that came from the party was "We will maintain limits on tuition increases."

"If we wrote a report card on the PC party's answers on these key public interest issues, they would have failed most of the subjects," says Moore-Kilgannon. "Now that the election is over, we look forward to working with many individuals and organizations to help make sure that the Klein government will seriously respond to public interest issues. We can not let them fail Alberta families."

For a more complete analysis of the PC party's response to A Fair Deal for Alberta Families, visit Public Interest Alberta's webpage at www.pialberta.org.

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Media contact: Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director