Autumn brings worries of high energy bills

By Lethbridge Herald on September 24, 2022.

AT THE LEGISLATURE
Shannon Phillips – NDP MLA for Lethbridge West

Ever so slowly our mornings are getting crisper, leaves are gently showing their new colours, and we’re all getting back into the swing of new school years. 

All of these things herald the arrival of fall and all of the reunions and rituals that come with celebrating harvest, the passing of summer and new challenges ahead. For many of us it’s an invigorating time to look ahead while celebrating the year that’s been so far.

Unfortunately, autumn comes with an undertone of stress for many families in our community this year. 

As the weather cools and the days shorten, many of our neighbours will be thinking of the immense energy bills they will be facing as they heat and light their homes and put fuel in their tanks as they drive themselves to work and their kids to activities.

With record-high electricity prices forecast for the coming year, our home energy bills are set to explode once again, placing further strain on family budgets that have already been stretched to the limit this year.

It’s a theme I’ve heard time and time again as I’ve been talking to folks across the city these past few weeks: families and seniors just wanting to get ahead and not being able to, no matter how much harder they work or how much they scrimp and save to cut costs.

 They want a government who sees what they’re going through and actively finds ways to lessen their stress and make life just a bit easier. Unfortunately, what they see is a government in thrall to palace intrigue: focused on itself and each other, all trying to outdo each other with bizarre and radical promises to a small and increasingly out of touch subset of the UCP membership.

All this internal squabbling and spectacle aside, families in southern Alberta continue to be pinched in very real, very immediate ways by the UCP Government’s policy choices. 

As a provincial government, the UCP doesn’t have control over everything – they can’t control the price of bananas at the grocery store or how much our kids’ back-to-school outfits cost – but there are many, many things that they can do to help Albertans out during this challenging time. Unfortunately, at every turn they seem determined to complicate things if not make them worse.

Every month when we open our electricity bills we get a stern and stinging reminder of the poor choices made by the UCP. In a fit of shortsightedness the UCP cancelled the electricity rate cap that would have saved Albertans an incredible amount of money this past winter and even more next winter. 

On top of this we’ve seen them pile onto the added costs by jacking up the cost of almost everything they have power over, from car insurance to tuition to fees to visit our parks and wild places. When it comes to the issue of inflation and costs, it’s clear which side the UCP government is on, and unfortunately it’s not the side of everyday working Albertans.

It’s these issues – the things that keep parents and seniors up at night and which the UCP have made every effort to ignore – that make me want to fight even harder in the Legislature for our city and region and to make sure that those same concerns I hear on the doorsteps are given voice. It’s why I’m excited to be part of a caucus that not only understands these concerns and helps to magnify the experiences of communities impacted by bad decisions, but is also committed to finding ways to help and putting those ideas into place if given the privilege of forming government.

I’m also encouraged by the spirit of Southern Albertans and the ways in which we band together to build each other up and embrace our incredible strength and diversity. 

This month I was privileged to attend the South Region Self-Advocacy Network (SRSAN) Citizen Walk About in support of those in our community living with disabilities and using their voices to advocate on behalf of themselves. I was, as always, proud to stand with folks from various backgrounds and abilities and discuss the need to ensure everyone in our community feels like the full citizen that they are – and has access to the economic, civic, and social opportunities they deserve to live full lives. 

Members of SRSAN are just another example of what makes our community great: friends and neighbours supporting each other, amplifying each other’s voices and working toward a fairer and more accessible world.

While I’m always thrilled to hear stories of resilience and community-building in our city, my office is also here to help if you need additional support. If you or anyone you know requires that assistance please reach out by calling 403-329-4644 or by emailing lethbridge.west@assembly.ab.ca.