Election 2023: Campaign Roundup - Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of our Alberta 2023 Campaign Roundup!

With the 2023 Alberta election now finally underway, I'll be bringing you daily updates on all the policy proclamations, platform promises, and political point-scoring from the campaign trail.

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Regards,

Peter McCaffrey
President
Alberta Institute

Campaign Roundup - Day 4:

• Danielle Smith acknowledged International Firefighters Day. Several wildfires are burning in Alberta right now, and we’re grateful for the firefighters who battle these blazes and keep people safe!
  
  
• Tyler Shandro, United Conservative Party candidate for Calgary-Acadia, made a video expressing his displeasure with the federal government’s catch-and-release bail reforms. Shandro noted that, while in office, his government hired 100 new police officers to help combat the rising crime in Alberta cities.
  
  
• Rachel Notley was profiled in Chatelaine magazine. The piece notes that Notley wants to increase the representation of women in politics and thinks that some of the labour shortage could be dealt with by reducing barriers to women reaching their full potential at work.
  
  
• After the real cost of Rachel Notley’s plan to transition the electricity grid to net-zero by 2035 was revealed, journalist David Staples noted that the cost of Albertans’ power bills might become the dominant issue of the entire election. The NDP's net-zero plan would raise the cost of electricity by 40%.
  
  
• Nancy Southern, the CEO of ATCO, also spoke out about the cost of the broader net-zero plan, specifically around phasing out natural gas. She said it would cost Albertans $75 billion to phase out all natural gas, not including additional transition or converting appliances and furnaces away from natural gas.
  
  
• Danielle Smith held a press conference and unveiled the Alberta Job Growth and Diversification Strategy. She promised that a reelected UCP government would launch the “Alberta is Calling signing bonus,” a $1,200 tax credit for workers in fields with a labour shortage. Workers in industries like healthcare, childcare, and trades would be eligible after living here for a year.
  
  
• Another piece of the plan announced today is a Graduation Retention Tax Credit of between $3,000 and $10,000 to entice students in high-demand professions to stay and work in Alberta after graduating.
  
  
• In an effort to eliminate barriers to international and out-of-province workers, Smith announced auto-credentialing for in-demand professions. She said she would work with professional organizations to make it easier for workers to call Alberta home.
  

• Musician Corb Lund called for a strong stance against coal mining in the province. Rachel Notley filmed a video promising him that an NDP government would never allow coal mining in Alberta’s Eastern Slopes.
  
  
• Prasad Panda, UCP Candidate for Calgary-Edgemont, released a video promoting his party’s job-creating policies. He said Alberta’s economy has bounced back after the pandemic in a big way, and that the UCP will continue to create the conditions for growth by eliminating red tape, lowering business taxes, relentlessly pursuing investment, and making sure Alberta remains the economic engine of Canada.

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