Seniors on the Bow (SOTB) continued its popular ‘Voices of the Pioneer’ series with a visit from Banff-Cochrane MLA Ron Casey May 1.
The series aims to highlight the history of the Cochrane area, and Casey was tasked with providing some political chronicles of the constituency.
“It’s a bit of a convoluted history,” said Casey of how the boundaries of the riding have changed over the decades. “It’s a tough thing to get a handle on.”
Garnering several names over the years, the riding was called Banff-Cochrane from the mid ‘50s to early ‘70s when it was changed to the Banff district. In 1977, the riding became Banff-Cochrane once again.
The reason for the constant changes, Casey explained, was due to changes in population distribution. The current population of the Banff-Cochrane riding is 51,440.
Casey said there have been 24 representatives for the electoral district since 1905 and that the first four elections resulted in a victory for Liberal candidate Charlie Fisher.
“This is obviously before anybody ever heard of Trudeau,” said Casey, referring to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
Since 1971, there have been six MLAs for Banff-Cochrane, all from the Progressive Conservative Party.
Citing a quote by former MLA Greg Stevens when he was elected in 1979, stating several issues the riding was toiling with at the time, Casey underscored how the constituency continues to deal with the same hurdles 34 years later.
“Over the span of 30-40 years, the issues really haven’t changed,” said Casey, pointing to growth, transit, sewage and the Calgary Regional Partnership as examples.
Casey went on to speak to the approximately 25 in attendance about the provincial budget, saying with this year’s adjustment to separate the operational side with the capital, it is much easier for people to go through and understand the document.
Casey also highlighted the budget’s Fiscal Management Act, which he said ‘lays out a savings plan for the province’ by setting parameters as to how money is saved.
Education and health care are two endeavours that take up more than half of the province’s 2013 budget, with health care alone being nearly half.
“It’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with that rate of growth,” said Casey, explaining that around 100,000 people come to live and work in Alberta every year.
As he was addressing members of SOTB, Casey revealed that some senior’s programs would come to an end in 2013. Two examples he provided were the freezing of the education portion of property taxes on those 65 years or older. Starting in 2014, this program will be based on one’s income rather than age.
The second example was the property tax deferral program, where seniors can defer paying their property taxes to the province, with the money going back to the province once the property is sold.
Other topics touched upon by Casey included the twinning of Highway 1A through town and upgrading its intersection with Highway 22, saying the project is not on Alberta Transportation’s priority list and that most of the money is going toward upgrading Highway 63, which travels up to Fort McMurray.
Casey also spoke to the internationally discussed oil pipeline, saying if he were a betting man, he would wager the pipeline going east through Canada to Montreal.
He said Quebec was interested in refining oil from Alberta, but that ‘it takes them longer to get onboard with the rest of Canada.’
In response to a question by attendee Andy Marshall, Casey confirmed that the current Progressive Conservative Party would not consider implementing a sales tax in Alberta in an effort to deal with deficit issues.
Marshall said that, along with a sales tax not being considered, the province’s rigidity with regards to the flat income tax for all residents, is frustrating when it comes to the budget.
