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MP Blaine Calkins: Alberta left behind in Speech from the Throne

Liberal course does nothing for Alberta economy, crime
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Red Deer - Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins reacted to the Speech from the Throne in a press release dated Dec. 5.

The 43rd Parliament began with the Governor General reading the Speech from The Throne on Dec. 5, which outlined the Liberal government’s priorities for the upcoming legislative session.

“Today’s Speech from the Throne will give no relief to Albertans,” Calkins said in the release.

“While the Liberals injected the speech with lip service about listening to regional concerns, they also made it clear they will be pressing forward with the policies that are most destructive to the Albertan economy. Policies like the mandatory carbon tax and the phasing out of our energy industry.”

Calkins went on the say the Liberal’s plan will do nothing to heal regional divides, or to protect Albertans from crime.

“The Liberals also made it clear that they don’t understand how to keep our communities safe. They are abandoning evidence-based decision making when it comes to crime and gun violence, and instead are choosing to move forward with forced confiscation of people’s property. The Liberals should be targeting criminals by fixing our justice system by ensuring that prison time is meaningful, instead of focusing on law-abiding hunters, farmers and sport shooters firearms.”

He doesn’t put much credence on the middle-class tax cut, either.

“The last time the Liberals put forward a so-called middle-class tax cut, 80 per cent of middle-class families ended up paying more tax. At a time when Albertans are struggling to get by, we need concrete plans to make life more affordable. Instead we heard about big plans that will come with an equally big price tag that we cannot afford.

Calkins says the Conservatives will “fight every step of the way to put more money in the pockets of regular, every day, hard-working Canadian families so they can get ahead.”



Emily Jaycox

About the Author: Emily Jaycox

I’m Emily Jaycox, the editor of Ponoka News and the Bashaw Star. I’ve lived in Ponoka since 2015 and have over seven years of experience working as a journalist in central Alberta communities.
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