ALBERTA PARTY:  www.albertaparty.ca

One public all-candidates forum left to attend:

CANMORE, Thursday, April 11^th, 5:30-7:30 – Malcolm Hotel, 321 Spring Creek Dr.  One last chance to meet your candidate in action!

Banff's all-candidates forum was held Monday, April 8th with a good crowd in attendance.  There were lots of questions related to tourism but also a wide selection of topics from palliative care to affordable housing.

This week was a busy week with visits to the seniors’ care centres in Banff & Canmore, a visit to Banded Creek School and a forum hosted by the Bragg Creek Chamber of Commerce. Following are some of the topics that constituents brought up this week and how the Alberta Party is responding:

Education Long-Term Labour Strategies:

While efforts will continue to reduce class size, the number of education assistants will be doubled to provide more support to students, more help for teachers and create a successful learning environment.  

Agriculture:

The Banff-Kananaskis agricultural sector produces high quality internationally famous beef produced using totally sustainable practices on lands otherwise mainly unusable for human food production. These rangelands and our rancher families have been an economic mainstay for Alberta long before we had energy or tourism industries and is a foundational economic contributor to our rural communities.

Forestry:

In Forestry, a technology and research institute will be created under the Alberta Party platform with a $50-million investment through Alberta Innovates to create innovative advancements including tall timber buildings.

Seniors Care:

The Alberta Party will help Seniors maintain independence, support the family members who care for them and plan ahead so that we're ready for an aging population.  A few specific actions include addition of 3,500 long-term care beds, programs to help seniors stay in their homes longer, a caregiver tax credit and better management of wait lists to keep couples together in seniors homes. 

Long-Term Labour Strategies:

Questions and conversations did arise about recruitment of skilled labour to fill the additional jobs created for educational assistants and for senior’s care.  Tourism & Hospitality has traditionally faced labour shortages, even in times of high unemployment in major centres.  While Alberta Party MLA Karen McPherson was working on a long term plan to get Albertan’s working again, I would suggest that we include creating a long-term workforce and education strategy, with perhaps ways that industries could work together to create long-term employment pathways.