Time to meet Nathan Neudorf, MLA Lethbridge East. He is also the Minister of Affordability and Utilities... which is kind of funny, really. Below is an article his staff wrote outlining what the UCP Government was doing to make life more affordable for Albertans. Our comments are in red. And, because we aren't afraid to point out the cold hard facts, we have included links to articles and web pages that show how the UCP has been supporting (or not!!!) supporting Albertans as the case may be. There is also a link to the actual Edmonton Journal Article so you can read it without our comments.
What Alberta is doing about affordability
published June 11, 2024
Edmonton Journal
Nathan Neudorf: What is Alberta doing about affordability (or unaffordability, as the case may be?)
It should come as no surprise that addressing the cost of living is a top priority for the UCP government. After all, creating the new Ministry of Affordability and Utilities was one of the first things Danielle Smith did after becoming premier. (It takes more than a name change to make a difference, let’s see how they are doing…)
Alberta’s government has taken an all-government approach as we continue to build on existing affordability measures. Our Affordability Action Plan has already helped measurably lower the rate of inflation for Albertans. In addition to the over $5 billion that our government spent on affordability efforts since 2022, more than $1.5 billion (where did you spend the $$$?) is committed this year to support Albertans with the cost of living.
Albertans have the lowest overall taxes in Canada with no PST, no payroll tax or health premium, as well as a low provincial income tax that about 40 percent of Alberta tax filers don’t pay. (40% of Albertans don’t pay taxes because they live below the poverty line - that is not the brag you should be putting out there.) As promised, we expanded the Alberta Taxpayer Protection Act to protect Albertans and Alberta businesses against future income tax hikes, with nearly a billion dollars going towards indexing personal income taxes this year alone. (https://therosetowneagle.ca/politicslaw/kenneys-last-job-for-taxpayers-end-bracket-creep/) (Albertans are still dealing with the bracket creep introduced by Kenney in 2019.)
Alberta’s fuel-tax relief program saves Albertans on gas and diesel when oil prices are high. Alberta’s government is also taking action on high auto insurance rates by introducing price protections. (UCP implemented a gas tax of 13 cents/liter. Blamed Ottawa for carbon tax increasing gas prices April 1, 2024. Coincidentally, this was the same date for the next carbon tax increment to happen.) https://www.alberta.ca/about-fuel-tax#:~:text=Effective%20April%201%2C%202024%2C%20Alberta's,is%204%20cents%20per%20litre.
(Federal Carbon Tax went up 3.3 cents per liter. The provincial government implemented it now so the federal government would take the fall.) https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/oil-gas/carbon-tax-increases-april-1-2024#:~:text=The%20impact%20will%20be%20similar,cents%20per%20litre%20from%20before.
(Albertans get carbon tax rebates four times per year. The federal gov’t rebates 90% of the money to those who qualify. It is a way to modify behavior, have less carbon emissions and support the more vulnerable in our society.)
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-car-insurance-premium-cap-hike
(Insurance is slated to go up 7.5% over the next 2 years to go up 15% by 2026. Alberta has also created a new website to show their no-fault insurance program to benefit you guessed it, insurance companies. If you have questions, check out Breakdown Alberta with Nate Pike to hear his guest, Mark McCourt (Injury Lawyer) talk about the dangers about no-fault insurance in Alberta) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K_MVjhYdjE
For Alberta’s families, our government is expanding accessible, affordable, and high-quality childcare by reducing childcare fees, increasing subsidy eligibility, and creating thousands more childcare spaces. We also invested $12 million in increased tax breaks and subsidies to help cover the costs of adoptions, reducing costs by as much as 50 percent. https://globalnews.ca/news/10577023/alberta-private-childcare-operators-opt-out-10-a-day/ (Alberta signed on to the $10/day childcare deal with the Federal Gov’t, since then they have tried to make the program fail. They delayed payments to daycare operators, causing them to have to use their own funds or face closing their doors because they couldn’t afford to stay open.) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/child-care-centre-closures-alberta-protest-1.7099737
Supporting families and children goes beyond the household as well. Alberta’s government is making kids’ sports and recreation activities more accessible and affordable through the Every Kid Can Play Program and investing $30 million in new funding for sports and recreation facilities. https://www.alberta.ca/every-kid-can-play-program
More than $24 million is going to help school authorities cover higher transportation costs and ensure more funding for student transportation this year. Through the School Nutrition Program, we are ensuring more than 58,000 Alberta students have access to quality, nutritious meals. (When the NDP was the gov’t they funded breakfast programs and student transportation was covered for students that required it. The UCP has refused to do this.)
Students are Alberta’s future, and training homegrown talent in-province is essential to keeping the Alberta advantage. That’s why our government has dedicated $86 million to support post-secondary students, capped domestic tuition increases at two per cent, extended the interest-free grace period for student loans, and more. (“President Flanagan’s initial statement did not mention that the UCP’s cuts to the university’s grant now amount to $222 million, or a 33% cut to the university’s Campus Alberta Grant since 2019-2020.”) March 15, 2022 (So we are still 31% behind where we were in 2022!) https://www.parklandinstitute.ca/retelling_the_story_of_the_ucp_governments_budget
Protecting and supporting vulnerable Albertans, including seniors, is top of mind when it comes to addressing affordability. This includes over $400 million in support such as indexing financial benefits like AISH to inflation, increased wages in the social sector, and rent-assistance programs. We followed through on our campaign promise for a seniors discount, providing them with a 25 percent discount on personal registry Services. https://open.alberta.ca/publications/seniors-programs-and-services-information-guide (The UCP just gave themselves a 14% COL increase retroactively giving them an additional $1890 and a $270/month raise) https://www.mylethbridgenow.com/48227/news/provincial/ucp-committee-members-vote-to-increase-mla-accommodations-allowance-alberta-ndp/
Bill 32 would put a default limit on cola’s for seniors and AISH recipients to 2% per year.
Housing, food, and utilities are basic necessities, not luxury goods. That’s why our government continues to focus on lowering Albertans’ bills. Alberta’s government continues to encourage new residential housing construction by reducing red tape and supporting innovative strategies to build more homes faster. Together with its partners, Alberta is supporting $9 billion in investments into affordable housing to support 25,000 additional low-income households by 2031. This spring, we also passed legislation to promote more housing development, which included exempting non-profit affordable housing from property taxes, encouraging more homes to be built while driving down costs. Alberta is building more homes, resulting in almost 14,000 new housing starts in the first four months of the year — a historic record for the province. (This addresses housing only, the need is there because of the “Alberta is Calling,” campaign. It cost $25 million and over 55,000 people moved to Alberta. Rents have gone up by 17.5% year over year. )
https://globalnews.ca/news/10484561/alberta-is-calling-phase-3-moving-bonus/
Our government is also continuing to strengthen our agricultural sector and invest in funding for food banks, helping ensure Albertans have access to affordable, high-quality Food. (Wouldn’t it be better to ensure that Albertans have enough money to afford quality food, it would cut healthcare costs, food bank costs and would result in a healthier and happier population?) Alberta’s government is reviewing the province’s entire electricity system as we work to help lower Albertans’ utility bills. Our government has already taken action by providing nearly a billion dollars in monthly power bill rebates. (This has not been in place since April 2023.)
https://www.alberta.ca/natural-gas-rebate-program
https://ucahelps.alberta.ca/energy-rebate-program.aspx
We’re restricting the practice of economic withholding, which is estimated to save Albertans more than $8 billion over the next decade. (This summer we had brownouts and warnings of blackouts). This spring, we also passed the Utilities Affordability Statutes Amendment Act, which will lower and stabilize local access fees on utility bills, saving the average Calgarian $145 annually, with families on the Rate of Last Resort saving $937 per year. Our government is committed to ensuring our province continues to generate reliable and affordable power and these changes are just the start.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-electricity-economic-withholding-1.6946797
(Economic withholding shows that the UCP gov’t is more worried about businesses making huge profits in Alberta vs. Albertans being able to pay their bills.)
However, affordability must be addressed by all levels of government — federal, provincial, and municipal. Ir is unacceptable for municipalities to be raking in hundreds of millions in surplus revenue off the backs fo Alberta's ratepayers. (Are you telling us it is unacceptable for municipalities to be raking in hundreds of millions in surplus revenue off the backs of Alberta’s ratepayers. These funds are coming from the Federal Government) Albertans need and deserve their fair share of federal funding for housing. (Are not citizens who live in municipal areas Albertans?) And one of the main contributors to rising costs in Canada continues to be the federal carbon tax. (???????? The Federal Gov’t went to you first and you told them to stick it. The municipalities are dealing with the homeless, they are not getting any money from you, so …. They are trying to look after their citizens. Also you have cut the Grants in lieu programs, told oil companies they don’t have to pay their taxes. The cities are struggling to meet the needs of their citizens and have to raise taxes making life more unaffordable. We are not blaming towns and cities, we are blaming you! What are you going to do about it Minister of Unaffordability?)
https://www.alberta.ca/canada-alberta-affordable-housing-agreements#:~:text=A%2010%2Dyear%20agreement%20between,and%20community%20housing%20in%20Alberta (NDP agreement with Federal Gov’t for housing funding. Federal gov’t approached Alberta regarding funding to build and supply housing for homeless Albertans in Edmonton in spring of 2024. They were rebuffed so went to Mayor Sohi to offer the funding. The UCP were upset and accused them of going behind their backs. Not true.)
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/ottawa-bypasses-alberta-homeless-encampment-money
Alberta’s low-tax, business-friendly environment, combined with our government’s ongoing red-tape reduction and affordability measures, are helping keep life affordable for everyday Albertans. Our government is working tirelessly to lower the cost-of-living, and keep Alberta the best place to call home. (Well, you better work harder, it may be affordable to you with your $120,000/year salary and expense account and retirement fund ($15,000 per year) but to most of us, it is not. Many Albertans are falling further and further behind while Multinational companies are making record profits. You may have been bought and paid for by these companies, but Albertans put their trust in you and you are not doing the job we hired you to do. It’s time to do better!)