Alberta NDP release first shadow budget
Posted December 10, 2019 7:50 am.
Last Updated December 10, 2019 12:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
EDMONTON (CityNews) – The Alberta NDP has released its shadow budget, one they claim would see Albertans paying less and getting more.
Finance Critic Shannon Phillips revealed the details of the budget on Monday. She said the NDP plan would overturn many of the UCP’s policies in its fall budget.
“We would increase funding to address enrolment growth in our schools. We would cap tuition-free increases to inflation. We would re-index AISH and seniors benefits and we would absolutely not fire thousands upon thousands of frontline health care workers.”
WATCH: Critics react to UCP budget
Phillips said the NDP would cancel the billions in tax breaks for corporations and claims anyone earning less than $315,000 a year would pay fewer taxes, while bringing the provincial budget to balance by 2024.
The United Conservatives responded to the budget saying it would increase spending by 14 per cent and include $6 billion in new taxes.
The NDP said it would also plan to re-hire former Elections Commissioner Lorne Gibson after his post was removed following the passing of Bill 22.
“Because it’s a travesty of justice that he was hired in the first place,” said Phillips.
This is the first shadow budget to be released under the NDP Opposition. The United Conservatives never released an alternative budget, claiming it was nothing more than a gimmick.
