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“There will be pain. And I think that as conservatives, if we’re telling you that there will be no effect on services, we’re not being straightforward. There will be effects.” — Derek Fildebrant, Wildrose MLA
Edmonton (11 July 2017) — “There will be pain.”
Straight from the horse’s mouth, Albertans have finally heard what the effect of a Wildrose/Progressive Conservative/United Conservative Party government would be on vital public services.
Public services to be cut under conservatives in Alberta
Here’s what the Wildrose shadow finance minister said in an interview yesterday with radio host Ryan Jesperson on 630 CHED: “There will be pain. And I think that as conservatives, if we’re telling you that there will be no effect on services, we’re not being straightforward. There will be effects.”
This stands in stark contrast to Fildebrandt’s earlier promises to protect services.
The people who suffer that pain will be Albertans — vulnerable Albertans like those who need health care or children who will be in increasingly crowded and underfunded schools.
The pain will also be felt by Albertans who provide frontline services, with thousands likely to lose jobs. For the tens of thousands of Alberta families who have already suffered job losses due to the collapse in oil prices, the last thing they need is to see another family member laid off by a conservative government.
If you’re a frontline health-care worker like the 25,000 members of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA/NUPGE) or if you’re sick or vulnerable Albertan or if you have children in public school, you have been warned: Painful cuts are coming to frontline services if a conservative government is elected.