Why I’m voting Wild Rose this Provincial Election

Good afternoon everyone!

Tomorrow marks two years since we moved into our beautiful home in Auburn Bay… It’s been fairly easy acclimating to the Alberta way of life since we moved our home from Vancouver. I love our neighbourhood, neighbours and friends we’ve developed over the past couple of years, and I’m looking forward to growing our social circle in Calgary even further in the months and years ahead.

When I moved to Calgary, I considered myself a moderate, or “small C” conservative (ie: the BC Liberal Party fit many of my political views) however, with this new province comes quite a different political landscape, and I’ve found that I’ve become even more conservative in my politics since I’ve moved.

I can’t really put my finger on why that is, perhaps I’m just getting older, and more fiscally conservative in my thinking? I guess there’s a lot of reasons.

So, when I was faced with the upcoming election decision, I really considered only two parties… The PC, Progressive Conservative party, and the Wild Rose party. Not being a card-carrying member of either, I felt my mind was open to the possibility of voting either way, as they are both have conservative platforms.

But, there’s distinct differences in the two parties in my opinion, and I’ve definitely been swayed towards the Wild Rose for many reasons. (Although, if you’d asked me two years ago, I would have said PC all the way!)

Here’s a few reasons why the Wild Rose will get my vote:

• I like Danielle Smith. I think she’s well-spoken, and confident. I don’t like Alison Redford – her demeanor is shifty, and doesn’t inspire my confidence at all.
• On the topic of health care, I believe the Province needs to be far better able to handle the critical needs of their constituents – if the lines are too long, the health care system needs to provide another way to make sure patients are taken care of. Danielle Smith believes we should pay for private, or out-of-province care when this happens, and I’m wholly on board with this idea. Redford believes more clinics are needed – this does nothing to help the ailing surgical system, and cancer care waiting times. Not a fan of this idea at all.
• When it comes to social policy, I believe that Alison Redford is moving the PC party towards socialism rather than conservatism. An example? She believes the Welfare programs need a lot more money. Smith believes they need to be better managed. I agree with her.
• When it comes to environmental issues, Smith believes industry should be held more accountable to fixing their own problems, and Redford believes government should be more involved. I’m in favour of making industry pay, and not making the Province (and the people) pay the bill.
• One issue that I believe should not be a part of the Provincial policy is Federal law… The PCs believe the blood-alcohol limit for drivers should be changed from .08% to .05%. The Wild Rose does not. I strongly agree with the Wild Rose on this one. As much as I find drinking and driving appalling, changing the limit does absolutely nothing to remove problem drivers off the road. If the law needs to be changed, let the Federal government make that ruling for the whole country.
• And, finally, I agree with Danielle Smith’s position to rollback the 34% pay increase the PCs voted for in 2008 right after the last election. Redford, who is currently the highest paid Premier in Canada, refuses to consider doing this. Add onto that the crazy amount of pay the PCs enjoyed for rarely or never sitting on committees, of which only a portion was made to be paid back after political heat.

Yes… I’ve made up my mind.

YOUR TURN: Have you decided? Tell me why you made the decision you did?