Strong UCP leadership shown in many areas
By Lethbridge Herald on April 8, 2023.
AT THE LEGISLATURE
Nathan Neudorf – UCP MLA for Lethbridge East
This will be my last opportunity to talk to you in my monthly column in the Lethbridge Herald before the upcoming provincial election. However, it is not your last opportunity to talk to me in person as myself and my team will be out in the community knocking on doors and participating in community events. Hopefully, we can pick up where we left off after May!
It has been a challenging four years with the effects COVID had on our communities and our healthcare system, and on the heels of four years of economic decline due to the NDP government’s detrimental policies. Under the UCP government’s watch we have built a stronger and vibrant economy, giving Albertans a brighter future.
In a recent Herald article, MLA Shannon Phillips said, “Albertans need to have the facts before voting for their premier and MLAs in May.” Surprisingly, I could not agree with her more! So here are the facts:
Fact: Shannon Phillips, Maria Fitzpatrick and their boss, Rachel Notley, introduced the Supervised Consumption Site that misused taxpayer dollars, had a devastating effect on local business, and negatively impacted public safety. Our UCP government listened to the people of Lethbridge and transitioned to a mobile site to help better meet the needs of our city.
The NDP did not prioritize helping people in their pursuit of recovery from addiction. Our government took a different approach, and we’re building a 50-bed Recovery Community in Lethbridge, and a 75-bed Recovery Community on the Blood Tribe.
Fact: Ms. Phillips and her team raised the corporate tax rate from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. That cost the province a revenue loss of $860 million dollars and 183,000 lost jobs.
Fact: the UCP reduced corporate taxes from 12 per cent to eight per cent and we’re generating upwards of $6.4 billion. The NDP cried “corporate giveaway;” however, our government is just business-friendly and saw the opportunity to create a more inviting environment to help strengthen our economy.
Fact: Our government spent $3 billion more on healthcare than Shannon’s and Notley’s NDP government. We successfully negotiated new collective agreements with doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals. Most importantly, our plan calls for an additional $1 billion for healthcare in the next fiscal year. We have a short-term plan to fix three critical areas of our health care system — decreasing ER wait times, improving EMS response, and reducing wait times for surgeries.
Based on our strong economic plan we will have the revenue to continue our investment in healthcare. Critical to that plan is opening more seats in post-secondary institutions for more doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals — trained in Alberta to practice in Alberta.
Fact: We are making record investments in education with an $8.8 billion operation budget for 2023-24. This is the biggest education budget in Alberta’s history. This is an increase of $433 million over the 2022-23 budget and is equal to $44 million every day students are in school. During my time as MLA, we have had two new schools announced and two major renovations for schools in Lethbridge. From 2019-2023 our government has announced 106 school projects while the NDP (2015-2019) only announced 47.
Fact: Alberta’s technology and innovation sector broke records for a fourth straight year, attracting $729 million in investment in 2022, a 20 per cent increase over 2021’s record-breaking $607 million. The compound annual growth rate is also the strongest in Canada – further proof of Alberta’s diversifying economy and sustainable economic growth. 2022’s record breaking $729 million venture capital investment attraction was $629 million higher than the NDP’s best year – a paltry $100 million.
Fact: Through the various Capital Maintenance Programs and investments, Lethbridge has received $27 million more under my time as MLA versus when the NDP were in office — and that does not include the second half of 2022!
Fact: The NDP government drove up a whopping $31.9 billion deficit whereas our UCP government started with a $14.8 billion deficit, but ended with a surplus year in Budget 2023 and a $2 billion investment into the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.
I believe in having a positive attitude on every task I undertake and I have maintained that position for the past four years and will continue with the same attitude throughout this election. I believe in doing real work — hard work — that benefits our city and our province. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported me over the past four years, and I ask for your support again so I can continue to work for you over the next four years.
16-15
“Strong Leadership”?
Really?
Nice bit of posturing before the election.
Somehow the nomination and subsequent demise of Torry Tanner, sums up the entire UCP fiasco.
Sure there are some that will embrace Tanner’s views and those of her illustrious leader, no matter the multiple “foot in mouth” moments of the latter’s reign.
Hopefully though, not the majority of Albertan’s who will see through the pre-election smoke and mirrors.
Thanks for the factual and timely update MLA Neudorf. While the NDP, in particular Ms. PHILLIPS are speading rumors. Innuendo and false reports, it is refreshing to have you share the truth and positive realities being achieved by Danielle Smith and her team. You are doing an impressive job Mr. Neudorf and we look forward to you continuing to do so as MLA Lethbridge East for at least the next two or three terms in office
Strong UCP leadership (yuk-yuk):
Pastor-gate, RStar-gate, RCMP-gate, CPP-gate, private-for-profit health care-gate, cuts to post-secondary education-gate, school curriculum-gate, Lake-of-Fire candidates-gate, Take Back Alberta-gate, anti-COVID measures-gate, having to appoint candidates-gate, open pit coal mining-gate, climate change denying-gate, lack of environmental protection-gate, Trump-style radical right wing style politics-gate, not fiscal conservatism-gate…..just plain UCP-gate all around.
Very true Mr Neudorf however, if the net result is that you have supported the “Downtown Restaurant, Hotel and Bar” called the Community Care Campus(CCC), that is what you will be remembered for, not for any of the above. It is never, in the end, what people think a person has done, its what they “see” they have done. Phillips, Myashiro and Spearman will forever be attached to the SCS, and the devastation it created in this city!
Whom do you think will be attached to the disaster called the Community Care Campus (CCC)when it turns out to be the downtown killer it will be?
Announce a change of direction now! The concept is sound, the location is not! Have the Gov, purchase some land outside of the City and setup the Community Care Campus there, its not too late. You can turn this ship around, you can single handedly save Downtown Lethbridge, you just have to have the drive to do it!
Why? I suggest you pick ANY city that has decided to bunk their Addicted in their downtown and try to find one example where it has not destroyed a massive Radius of Businesses/residents around it, and crime has not skyrocketed? Do you think we will be better or worse than Edmonton or DTES Vancouver? Informal bunking is bad (tent cities), formal bunking (CCC) is a downtown destroyer at its worst!
I am sure people like yourself are tired of hearing from me!
Do you think I am exaggerating? Are you willing to bet your political career, your legacy and our downtown, that I am?
There really is only one thing that needs to move within the CCC. It is any talk, plan or design that includes Housing or Sheltering, long or shortterm, that contain the Addicted. So if an Addicted individual arrives in Lethbridge and “checks in” to the Shelter. The Shelter tells him/her/they/them/it that it is 7 day hostel type lodging only and after the 7th day he’she/they/them/it gets assigned a bunk number in the “Retreat outside of Lethbridge”. If the person is found sleeping on the street, in the parks, or behaving like an addicted person, then the police pick him/her/they/them/it and load them on the bus to the “Retreat”. Why is this different from CCC? Well he/she/them/they/it has a HOME not a shelter. That HOME is an address. Building 4 bunk 227 Hwy X, Alberta with its own Postal Code. So if sleeping in a tent is the in thing, it no longer works in Lethbridge because the person can no longer say, they are HOMELESS because, they have a home and an address! https://lethccc.com
I define the Homeless in 3 Categories while for donation purposes, nonprofits, define the Homeless as one category. The 3 categories are Homeless, Addicted, Mentally Challenged. Homeless live downtown in Old Shelter, Addicted out at the “Retreat” and the Mentally Challenged at Fresh Start.
This concept destroys, any justification for ANY tent city and preserves Businesses, building owners, employee jobs residents, and Our 100+ year old Society! How can you possibly be against that?
My design, although not perfect houses the Homeless in the old Shelter. The Addicted out of town. Consider it, quickly because the nonprofits are forcing this into our downtown at a much faster rate than the public is aware. Why? Prime real estate on the cheap! We will have 6 more Churches in buildings that were previously owned by a good taxpaying business owner who had employees, quicker than you can say “forced into Bankruptcy by people doing God’s work”! https://lethccc.com