Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley speaking in Lethbridge. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Notley talks non-confidence vote, economy during Lethbridge speech

Mar 24, 2022 | 2:53 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce welcomed the leader of the province’s Official Opposition NDP on Thursday.

Rachel Notley spoke to a capacity crowd at the Sandman Signature, talking both about her party’s platform commitments and how she feels things should be handled differently by the provincial government.

In advance of the April 9 leadership review vote for Premier Jason Kenney, Notley urged elected members to take action against the UCP leader sooner.

MLAs are set to vote on whether or not to approve the Alberta 2022 budget momentarily.

The head of the NDP is asking them to issue a vote of non-confidence on the budget.

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“There’s good reason to vote against the budget. We call it the no-help budget. It’s a budget that does nothing to protect Albertans from the affordability crisis that so many people are feeling.”

While the UCP presented Alberta’s first balanced budget in several years, it came at the cost of budget cuts in certain areas.

READ MORE: Alberta presents balanced budget for 2022

Notley claims that areas like healthcare and post-secondary education saw large reductions, and believes that the budget is “not actually doing anything to protect Alberta families from the affordability crisis.”

She was pleased to learn recently that the strike at the University of Lethbridge ended after nearly six weeks, but believes it only carried on as long as it did because of budget cuts.

Since 2019/20, the school lost approximately $21 million in annual provincial funding or about 20%.

READ MORE: In wake of budget cuts, U of L says striking faculty need to make concessions

READ MORE: ULFA accepts new agreement, bringing an end to strike

If the vote of non-confidence goes through, it would likely trigger an election, potentially sooner than the already-planned one in 2023.

While not directly being in election mode, Notley says the NDP is ready to go if one were to be called.

“So if being ready for the election means that we’ve been connecting with Albertans and hearing what matters to them, and what are the things that would help them in their lives the most, and knowing what the answers to those questions are – if that means being ready for the election, yep, we’re ready to go.”

She spoke to Chamber members extensively about economic platforms including the need to diversify the economy, expand investments into renewable energy, what she believes are the financial failures of the UCP government, and how communities like Lethbridge should be better supported by the province.

Notley also acknowledged that most provincial government administrations in Alberta have more or less ignored Lethbridge. She says it is crucial to have strong MLAs in the cabinet who are going to ensure that the voices of specific regions and communities are heard loud and clear.

Despite the possibility of a vote of non-confidence being passed, there is already a provincial election planned for 2023 in Alberta.