With the Easter weekend upon us, I thought it a perfect time to share a positive political story with you. Don’t laugh …there is such a thing from time to time. Last week my Wildrose colleagues and I were able to share details on a principled decision that we made a while back and I’m thrilled to be a big part of it. You see not long after the election, a PC dominated legislative committee voted to increase MLA pay by 8%. Yes, in an era when we’re asking everybody else to hold the line or take rollbacks, they voted [...]
Author Archives | Bruce McAllister
Remember that promise the provincial government made not to raise taxes?
Remember that promise the provincial government made not to raise taxes? Well, they just broke it. Not in the form of a provincial sales tax, but make no mistake, our taxes are going up and we have the PC government to thank for it. You see the government is in a bind and everybody knows it. They spend way more money than they take in. Now we all know that’s bad practice, and so do they, but they can’t help themselves. So, they’ve come up with a clever way to reach into your pocket and take more money out ….substantially [...]
The Broken Promises, Back-in-Debt Budget
Last week the government released its budget for 2013-2014. It is a budget littered with broken promises. It will also plunge Alberta back into debt. This is the sixth year the government presented a deficit budget. And for the first time in a decade, Alberta will be a province in debt. At the rate this government is going, we estimate that by the 2016 election, Alberta’s debt will be nearly $17 billion. Despite the fact that Alberta still collects more in resource and tax revenue than any other province in the country, this government continues to spend way beyond its [...]
Redford discussion dismantling the Alberta Advantage
Ever heard that saying: “you’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t?” Well that’s exactly how I felt before attending Premier Redford’s recent economic summit. I was hoping for a positive discussion on how we might address Alberta’s economic future. Unfortunately, the Premier stacked the panels and the result was a discussion weighted heavily in favour of levying unfair taxes on hardworking Alberta families. Don’t get me wrong, there were some expert panellists, with impressive qualifications, but it was clear that a real discussion on this provinces out of control spending, and how we might rein it [...]
We don’t have a revenue problem
Happy New Year, and here’s hoping this finds you happy, healthy, and holding steadfast to whatever resolutions you set for yourself this year. One of my commitments to you after being elected was to keep you informed of what I am up to and working on on your behalf. So, with that in mind, it’s been a busy start to the New Year. After a Christmas break with my family, it’s been back to business in January. We held an Open House at our Chestermere office last Saturday. Thanks to all who dropped by to say hello and chat. We [...]
And now for something completely different
And now for something completely different, a Christmas message from your MLA with nary a mention of politics. I love this time of year for many reasons. First and foremost, it’s a time to spend quality time with friends and family. Something we often seem too busy for throughout the year. It’s also a time for family traditions. A time for “making memories” as I like to put it. I remember as a young teenager going to cut the Christmas tree down with my brother on the family farm. One particular year, after finding the perfect, full, plush, balsam fir, [...]
When Question period is not Answer period
What a session it has been in the Legislature this fall. As you are no doubt aware, the latest scandal involves Premier Redford’s awarding of a $10 billion tobacco lawsuit – the biggest litigation contract in Alberta’s history – to her ex-husband’s law firm when she was the Justice Minister. The Premier’s response to this information becoming public has been to deliberately mislead Albertans about her involvement in the awarding of the contract. When questioned in the Legislature, Premier Redford denied that she made the decision to award the contracts to the International Tobacco Recovery Lawyers (ITRL), saying “I was [...]
Busy weeks in our provincial legislature
As your MLA, I always want to do my best to keep you informed on what is happening in government. Trust me when I say I could write an essay on the last couple of weeks. With that in mind I thought you would appreciate the article my colleague, Airdrie MLA, and Wildrose finance critic Rob Anderson wrote on our government’s financial mismanagement. It has been a very busy couple of weeks in our Provincial Legislature. The Government has put forth an unprecedented amount of bills in a very short time frame. We are doing our best to hold [...]
Fall Legislative Session begins
Hello, I hope this finds you well as we approach the end of another month. As you know, the fall session of the Legislature began this week. As your MLA here in Chestermere- Rockyview I am very much looking forward to following through on the commitment I made during the election campaign to represent your views in the Legislature. There are several priorities my colleagues and I in the Wildrose Official Opposition will be focusing on. First and foremost, from a provincial perspective, we have to push this government to get its financial house in order. As you may know, [...]
Supporting Alberta beef
For the past several weeks, the crisis caused by the shutdown of the XL Foods plant in Brooks and several cases of confirmed E. coli related illness have continued to dominate headlines across the province. My thoughts go out to those who have been affected by E. coli as well as to the workers who have been unable to work since the plant shut down. The plant in Brooks is a significant economic driver and the impact of the shutdown has already been far reaching. The safety of consumers and getting workers back to work in Brooks need to be [...]
