UCP making life more unaffordable for Albertans

By Lethbridge Herald on August 3, 2022.

GUEST COLUMN

Shannon Phillips – Lethbridge MLA for Lethbridge West

Albertans are facing a cost-of-living crisis not seen in decades.

Grocery prices have risen astronomically, gas prices are verging on $1.90 per litre, and utility rates are nearly triple what they were under the NDP Government.

As well, as a direct result of UCP policy decisions, Albertans are paying hundreds of dollars more in income tax, property tax, school fees, tuition, student loans, camping, utilities and car insurance.

And still, despite all of this, UCP Finance Minister Jason Nixon recently claimed that life is already affordable for Albertans, that we aren’t feeling the impacts of inflation, and that all is well – or even better – because of choices his government has made.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Finance Minister — the entire UCP Government for that matter — have lost touch with the challenges facing everyday families. They don’t understand the reality of Alberta families trying to put food on their kitchen table or small business owners struggling to keep the lights on with utility bills that are hundreds more dollars than they used to be.

They don’t understand the stress of parents trying to afford costly back-to-school bills come September or the reality facing future leaders who want a post-secondary education but are facing massive increases in tuition and increased interest on the student loans they may turn to.

This UCP Government has proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted to help Albertans during this time and certainly cannot be trusted to care about the struggles of an ordinary family when they worry more about themselves than others.

Jason Nixon may not see any of these things as a problem, but while he brags about how affordable life is, Albertans are drowning in additional costs.

Albertans don’t need their government to be denying the reality they are facing. They need an urgent action plan to deal with their current struggles and worries.

I hear every single day from people who feel that they are a little further behind each month. Facts are facts — there is an affordability crisis in this province. Denying it disrespects people who are facing tough decisions about buying a house, starting a family, or expanding their business, who are seeing the cost of everything go up.

Albertans deserve a government they can trust to make decisions that put money back in your pocket. A government who will get up in the morning and work hard on their behalf, fighting to make life better for people across the province, rather than fighting each other in increasingly dramatic fashions.

An Alberta NDP government will have a plan for the challenges of today and a plan for the surplus that sets us up for tomorrow. We’ve all seen the bumper stickers: “Please God, give me one more oil boom. I promise not to piss it all away next time.”

Our commitment to you is that should Alberta’s NDP form the next government we will fight every day to make life more affordable for you and your family.

Shannon Phillips is  is the NDP Finance Critic and Lethbridge-West MLA.