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EDMONTON — Alberta’s Opposition is anticipating a provincial budget next week that is likely to be filled with broken promises and fail to address the deteriorating health-care and education systems.
Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative government will unveil the budget on Feb. 29.
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NDP finance critics Shannon Phillips and Samir Kayande assert that the UCP is not meeting expectations.
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Kayande points out that Albertans are struggling as wages lag behind inflation and unemployment rises.
He also doubts that the budget will address the main issue: the province’s ailing health-care system.
Phillips highlights that the UCP’s proposed health-care spending for the upcoming fiscal year is insufficient to keep up with the consumer price index and population growth estimates.
“To continue with business as usual, we would need to see a five per cent budget increase next week,” Phillips, alongside Kayande, stated at a news conference in Edmonton on Tuesday.
“However, given the current state of our health-care system, with doctors at risk of closing their practices, nurses facing UCP-imposed overtime cuts, and over 800,000 Albertans without a family doctor, maintaining the status quo is not an option.
“We need improvements, but all the UCP is delivering is broken promises.”
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The Opposition points out that the UCP pledged to introduce a new tax bracket for incomes below $60,000 in the 2023 election, but it was absent from the fall fiscal update.
Smith will deliver a televised address to Albertans on Wednesday evening to outline her government’s vision and plans for the province ahead of the budget.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2024.
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