A Quick Look at 5 Alberta Provincial Political Parties
On Tuesday, April 16th, Albertans will be heading to the polls to elect (or re-elect) a political party to lead our province. Here are some of the parties and what their outlooks on education, healthcare, and the environment are.
“Disclaimer: These are not the complete platforms of the parties running. This article only includes a few of their policies about the three listed issues.”
Stephen Mandel and the Alberta Party
Jason Franson/The Canadian Press
The Alberta party aims to lower class sizes from K-12 and double the number of educational assistants in schools. They also plan to make it mandatory for students to have up-to-date vaccines if they attend a publically-funded school. Along with that, for their healthcare plan, the Alberta party plans to regulate massage therapy under the Health Professions act, and adding coverage for dental check-ups. They would also like to put fluoride in drinking water province-wide in order to prevent tooth decay. The Alberta party plans to cancel the NDP carbon tax and instead only tax large industrial emitters.
David Khan and the Alberta Liberal Party
David_Khan_CTV.jpg
Similar to the Alberta party, the Alberta Liberals want to lower class sizes. They aim to place a cap on class sizes province-wide. Along with this, they want to phase out school fees, ban junk food in schools, and change the curriculum to include more about mental health and LGBTQ+ issues. If elected, the Alberta Liberal party plans to spend an additional $600 million dollars each year on mental health supports. They also plan to declare a public health emergency for the opioid crisis, as well as increasing the number of supervised consumption sites and decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs. Environmentally, Khan’s party intends to increase the protected areas in Alberta to cover 30% of the province. They also want to eliminate single-use plastics and ban the clear-cutting of forests.
Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party
Doug Collie/MVP Staff
If elected, the United Conservatives look to cancel the focus on inquiry based-learning and instead focus on foundational skills such as phonics and alternative math instruction methods. The UCP plans to reduce the wait time for general surgeries by 75% within 4 years, which will mean that more surgeries will be done through a third party (not in a hospital). They will also appoint an Associate Minister for Mental Health and Addictions. To protect and conserve our environment, the United Conservatives plan to charge a $30 fee to off-road vehicles and camping trailers. This money will go towards protecting and maintaining hiking and walking trails around the province.
Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP
Dean Bennett / The Canadian Press
If the NDP are reelected, they plan to build and upgrade 70 schools across Alberta, focusing on the high-demand for high schools, and create new provincial language programs in schools, offering Filipino, Punjabi, Somali, and Cantonese. As for healthcare, the NDP intend to create better access to addiction treatment programs across the province and expand access to reproductive health services in rural Alberta. They also plan to develop online tools so that Albertans can contact health professionals remotely for routine appointments such as filling prescriptions. The NDP plan to continue to phase out coal-fired power and keep the cap on the oil sands carbon emissions.
Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes and the Alberta Green Party
Nelly Alberola/Radio-Canada
The Alberta Green party intends to raise the age that formal instruction starts at, so that no child younger than will attend school. They stress that daycares should encourage play and outdoor activity. As for healthcare, the Greens would like to see pharmacare implemented across Canada in order to reduce the cost of prescription medicine. They intend to put an emphasis on mental health care in our province as well. In regards to the environment, the Green party looks to ban fracking, stop the growth of the oil sands, and transition the province into using 50% renewable energy by 2030.
I strongly encourage you to visit the sites that are linked beneath the party names as well as the sites of any other parties you’re interested in. This article is just a quick glimpse into their platforms and in no way encompases all of their goals.
