Brian Mason reacts to throne speech

March 02, 2011

-          The throne speech recycles broken Tory promises. Among them are promises for several hospitals, a cancer strategy promised by Klein, suitable facilities for senior care, “smart” environmental monitoring-          Tories have no credibility on building Alberta’s economy. Unemployment went up .4% in January despite an increase in jobs. Meanwhile, Tories have piped thousands of jobs south through XL Pipeline. This government misses the mark on creating jobs during a recession and managing job shortages during booms. Tories drained the sustainability fund to cover for their mismanagement.-          The Tories cannot be trusted with our healthcare system. Despite promises not to slash funding, we see this government wastes money through mismanaging the system. They use misleading language to make their continuing care bed plan sound adequate, yet refuse to build needed long-term care beds. Privatization is the goal, not ensuring reliable public service to patients.-          The Tories announce and re-announce, but ultimately stall on building new infrastructure such as hospitals. Albertans see little action from Tories on infrastructure.-          Tories pay lip service to landowner rights, but in reality use draconian land grab laws to push through expensive power projects Albertans don’t want or need – raising everyone’s power bills.