Alberta Premier Rachel Notley made an important announcement from Calgary on Tuesday morning and has called a provincial election for the spring.
Notley made the announcement from the National Music Centre and said that a provincial election will be held on April 16.
“As I’ve often said, since pretty much the day I was first elected, we are going to call the election within the time that the legislature specifies we should. April 16th will be pretty much smack-dab in the middle of that election period, which is specified by the legislation, and so it makes sense. We’ll have a good opportunity to talk about our vision for the future, to talk about building one Alberta and it seemed like a good time to go,” said Notley.
Duane Bratt, Political Science Professor and Chair in the Department of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies at Mount Royal University, says it was a good time for Notley to drop the writ.
"I always thought that this was the right time because it was before Easter, it was before the end of the fiscal year at the end of March. I looked at the list of bills that they produced, there doesn't appear to be enough there for a real spring session,” he said.
Notley also used the opportunity to launch her campaign and said she has a message for all Albertans.
“If you want to build this province, if you want to act like an owner of our resources and insist that our jobs stay here in Alberta, if you want to ensure that our citizens have the best health care and the best education, if you want honest leadership that brings us together instead of looking for ways to drive us apart, if you want the approach that was pioneered by Premier Lougheed, updated and carried forth by my government to keep building our province over the next four years, then let’s team up and let’s keep moving our province forward. Reelect me as your premier.”
Notley said she is committed to fighting for the economy, diversifying the energy sector and continuing to invest in infrastructure to encourage more growth in economic hubs like Calgary.
She talked about building more schools, a new cancer centre, expanding major roadways and focusing on flood mitigation projects.
Notley says Alberta’s conservatives are starting to have serious doubts about leader Jason Kenney.
“A nasty record of intolerance should have no place in the Premier’s office in this province,” she said. “It’s now clear that Jason Kenney’s campaign betrayed the Conservative Party by cheating to win its highest office and then he lied about it.”
UCP leader Jason Kenney held a press conference in Leduc in the afternoon and hosted a rally in Edmonton in the evening.
“Are you better off than you were four years ago?," asked Kenney during his announcement in Leduc. "That’s the question Albertans will be asking when they choose their next government on April 16,” said Kenney. “For the vast majority of Albertans, the answer is no.”
“I can tell you one thing that Albertans hate is unemployment and the corrosive affect that is has on people’s lives. That’s why a United Conservative government will be obsessed with creating jobs. We can’t afford to continue with four more years of failed, high tax, high debt, high regulation NDP economic policies.”
Advance poll dates have already been set and new electoral division boundaries will be in effect. Advance polls will be held on April 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
For more information from Elections Alberta, click HERE.
