I hope everyone has enjoyed the colourful, crispy mornings and is having a wonderful autumn! As a favour to a Calgary Hays constituent, I am reminding dog owners (I love dogs!) to please pick up what your best friend leaves “behind.” Thank you.
Return to the Legislature
The Legislative Assembly is set to resume on October 29th. I and the United Conservative Party Caucus will continue to hold the government to account as members of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Our caucus is focused on improving the Alberta economy so that jobs and opportunities return to you and your family. We will continue to challenge the NDP government on their destructive deficit financing which is on track to have our province about $60 billion in debt by the next election and $100 billion by the election after that.
Trans Mountain Pipeline
My United Conservative colleagues and I will continue to push our government to stop acting like a doormat for Justin Trudeau on Trans Mountain. Surrendering on the carbon tax and refusing to criticize Ottawa has us falling further and further behind on the construction of the pipeline.
This is important because www.BOEreport.com on Oct 4, 2018 has WTI Crude at 74.66 /bbl, Brent Crude at 84.58 /bbl, and CDN Heavy Crude at 33.45 /bbl. Folks, we are getting less than half of the world price on our biggest export product – which means billions of dollars earned in Alberta are not paid to Alberta. The pipeline will get us on the world market where those billions will create thousands of mortgage-paying jobs and the royalties will help build schools, hospitals, and roads while helping to pay back our debt.
Minimum Wage Hike
The NDP raised the minimum wage on October 1, totaling an increase of a whopping 47 per cent over the last three years. These rapid changes have contributed to a loss 13,300 jobs across Alberta in the accommodation and food services industries alone. Young people hoping to join the labour market will continue to experience great difficulty as the province’s youth unemployment rate surpasses 12 per cent. Simply put, these minimum wage hikes are bad for business in Alberta and hurt many of the workers getting a raise but now with fewer hours and in some cases losing their jobs altogether. The inflation caused by the minimum wage increase will nullify much of the increase take home pay for those on the minimum wage.
AUMA Conference
I had the privilege of participating in the Alberta Urban Municipalities Conference earlier this fall. Over 1000 delegates representing municipalities from all corners of Alberta met in Red Deer to discuss issues of crime, infrastructure, community safety, and more. Jason Kenney spoke to the conference and received a very warm welcome as he pledged to work with municipalities, including Calgary, to renew the Alberta Advantage and to once again make our province a great place to invest and create jobs.
Cannabis Made Legal
On October 17, Cannabis will be legal. The federal government, who is responsible for this decision, has created the web site www.canada.ca/Cannabis . Do go to this site for details on how this may affect you and your family.
Scrolls
Birthday Scrolls are available to constituents celebrating their 65+ birthday, in five-year intervals. Anniversary scrolls are available to constituents celebrating their 25+ Anniversary, in five year intervals
Keeping in Contact
Please continue to stay in touch with me on issues that affect you and your family. As your MLA, I am your voice in the Alberta Legislature and I am here to help you. My newsletter is written a few weeks ahead of publication, so if you are looking for updated information, or have any questions for me or any concerns that you want to share, I would like to hear them. I also look forward to attending your events in the Calgary-Hays area. Please contact me or my assistants at the Calgary-Hays Constituency Office. Call 403- 215-4380 or email [email protected].
