File photo of Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley in Lethbridge, March 24, 2022. The Official Opposition has released its Alternative Throne Speech ahead of the start of the fall legislative session. (File photo: LNN)

By Justin Goulet

Alberta NDP releases Alternative Throne Speech

Oct 27, 2023 | 3:37 PM

EDMONTON, AB – Ahead of the start of the fall legislative session next week, the Alberta NDP has released an Alternate Throne Speech.

The Official Opposition said it focuses on what matters most to everyday Albertans, and touches on issues like health care, the cost of living, housing, and protecting pensions.

Rachel Notley, leader of the Alberta NDP stated, “While the UCP is fixated on bickering and backward-looking and bad ideas, Albertans can count on us to be working hard to make life better for everyone in our province.”

HEALTH CARE

The party’s first Private Member’s Bill intends to bring legislation that will make sure that no Albertan has to pay to see their family doctor. The NDP said it will also call for recruiting health care professionals with signing bonuses and will work with rural municipalities to facilitate community integration.

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Notley said, “We will also continue to push for the adoption of evidence-based health policies that include supporting family doctors to work in teams with other health professionals. We believe in working with doctors to ensure we have competitive pay and proper work environments.”

The party leader said the provincial government “must work with health colleges to develop a clear path for international medical professionals to provide patient care”.

Notley remarked that Alberta must fund post-secondaries in order to expand the number of spaces for future health care graduates, including rural training spaces.

She said, “We will also continue to demand an independent inquiry into the series of horrific errors that led hundreds of small children to be infected with dangerous E. Coli bacteria in what has become the second-largest outbreak of this kind in Canadian history.”

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Additionally, the NDP plans to continue pushing for new schools with new teachers and education assistants. Notley said the party intends to bring legislation to ensure that schools in the province report class sizes publicly and “begin work to bring them down”.

COST OF LIVING

Alberta’s Official Opposition said another area of focus is the cost of living, with planned legislation that will provide relief to Albertans stressed out by high housing prices.

Notley said, “The UCP cut rental supplement programs, forcing more Albertans out of their homes.”

She added, “We will push to reverse these cuts. We will continue to call for a cap on sky-high utility rates and push for a comprehensive investigation into the unrelenting, record-high increases under the UCP. We will demand efforts to lower tuition and school fees and increase student support. And when Alberta grads leave school, I want there to be plentiful industrial jobs available to them.”

RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS

The Alberta NDP also highlighted the UCP’s pause on renewable energy projects, announced in August.

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In a news release, the Official Opposition said Alberta was leading Canada in renewable energy growth before the UCP moratorium was announced. The NPD said it plans to introduce a motion in the legislature demanding that decisions like the pause on renewable energy projects never happen again.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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