As you sow so shall you reap (from the Bible). As you vote so shall you weep (from the letter writer).
It has been several months since the last provincial election and already the policies that were not supposed to happen are being implemented by the UCP.
Conservative entitlement is back with the awarding of sole source contracts (no competition for government largess at $900,000), gravy train runs with overnights in 5 star hotels are on again (London this time at $45,000 in six months), the premier is on his way to Houston for a few days at a cost of $32,000, and on and on.
As for the rest of us it is an increase of busing fees in the Rocky View school division to the tune of $600 plus for a family with two kids, reduced benefits for near seniors (associated with a bona fide senior), education cutbacks, tax breaks for large corporate entities with no guarantee of additional employment, an end to incentives needed to diversify the Alberta economy away from oil and gas boom and bust, limbo funding commitments to public transportation projects in both Calgary and Edmonton, cutbacks to municipal governments, wasted money on chasing political windmills, an end to energy efficiency improvements that put money in the pockets of families, an end to tax indexation that leads to tax bracket creep and numerous other backward thinking cutbacks (like health care).
If the population in Alberta who voted for these guys think that these measures will solve the economic problem in Alberta they must be dreaming in Technicolour. I suspect that next year will be worse than this year. So prepare for another round of 1930's cutbacks. As the saying goes "You get what you paid for". And I add "you pay and pay for what you get" Big time.
- James Perras
