As the Alberta Legislature resumes and Albertans wait to hear the priorities of the UCP government through the Speech from the Throne, Public Interest Alberta’s Executive Director Bradley Lafortune issued the following statement:
“Albertans are waiting for real leadership. Food prices have continued to soar. Inflation keeps eating away at Albertans’ pocket books and as the temperature drops, families are already facing skyrocketing utilities. As this is happening corporations profiteer and continue to post record profits
“The chilly weather ahead of this throne speech has us thinking about the Albertans who are struggling to afford housing, those already sleeping rough on the streets, those living in inadequate and dilapidated rentals, the thousands of households waiting to no avail for subsidized public housing, and the hundreds of Albertans facing the drug poisoning crisis with no support from this government.
“We need urgent action on the affordability crisis. We need a real solution to the crisis of housing and homelessness.
“The UCP has a chance to prioritize the well-being of Albertans as they come back to work. But will they? If we’ve learned anything over the last 4 years of UCP governance, it's that we can expect more of the same chaos, cuts, and privatization.
“Smith and the UCP continue to ignore the common sense solutions they could enact today like rent control, utilities increase caps, and scrapping their risky plans for our retirement security. They continue to gut our public services, even as we have a massive surplus in the budget. And instead of taking action for Albertans, they’re spending millions on a campaign for a deeply unpopular move to withdraw from the CPP.
“Smith and the UCP have a chance to reverse course and work in the public interest. Now is the time for us all to demand an Alberta for all.”
