Despite sweeping to an election victory with a promise to balance the province’s budget and remain debt free, Premier Alison Redford delivered a deficit in a budget that included billions in borrowing for infrastructure such as roads and schools.
Liberal Leader Raj Sherman called the budget, which included a seven per cent cut to post-secondary spending, “morally and intellectually bankrupt.” The “bitumen bubble” — a term coined by the Redford government to describe the effect of a lower price for Alberta’s crude in the international market — was a “manufactured crisis,” Sherman said in a year-end interview.
“Now it’s quite clear Redford has taken a very sharp turn to the right. She’s betrayed all of those coalitions who helped get her elected, so there’s a big gaping hole in the middle of politics here,” Sherman said.
The introduction of bills 45 and 46 led to protests and condemnation from the province’s labour unions and an unlikely alliance of Alberta’s three opposition parties, with representatives speaking loudly against the legislation.
Bill 46, which has already come into force, will legislate a wage deal with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees if an agreement isn’t negotiated by Jan. 31. It also eliminated the union’s ability to go to binding arbitration. Its companion, Bill 45, significantly increases the penalties for illegal strikes and “strike threats.”
Opponents criticized both pieces of legislation as heavy-handed and the AUPE has filed a legal challenge against Bill 46. Both bills have “the power to transform Alberta politics for a long time to come. I don’t really think that the government yet grasps the magnitude of the impact from what they’ve done,” Mason said in a year-end interview.
Public sector unions were credited with solidifying Premier Alison Redford’s win in 2012 after a push to stave off a Wildrose win. Many of those voters have now been alienated from the Progressive Conservative government, Mason said.
“I don’t think this is the kind of thing that people will forget.”
Redford defended the legislation in a recent interview, saying Bill 46 was designed to bring AUPE back to the table and includes provisions for an eventual wage increase.
“The idea that we’re not supportive I think is completely wrong, but I understand. I mean, this is what happens and it’s (the election) two years out,” Redford said. “At the end of the day, we will always, as a government, need to balance fair compensation for incredible public servants who just do a tremendous job for Albertans every day, and where we are in terms of our revenue challenges and balancing the value for taxpayers dollars.”
Mason said he sees a potential for a split vote on the right, adding he hopes that will help increase his party’s presence after the next election.
“I think our public support is increasing and has been steadily increasing the last few years, since the last election, and I think that plus a divide vote on the right create excellent opportunities in the next election,” Mason said.
Original Article
Source: edmontonjournal.com/
Author: Mariam Ibrahim
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