Western Standard - Important Announcement to Mark the Start of the 2023 Provincial Election

00:00:00.000 here

00:00:30.000 Thank you.

00:01:00.000 Thank you.

00:01:30.000 Thank you.

00:02:00.000 Thank you.

00:02:30.000 Thank you.

00:03:00.000 Thank you.

00:03:30.000 Thank you.

00:04:00.000 All right.

00:04:23.820 Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for this exciting announcement.

00:04:27.760 My name is Matt Jones and I'm the United Conservative candidate for Calgary Southeast.

00:04:32.900 I'm here with my fellow UCB candidates.

00:04:36.480 Josephine Pawn, Jeremy Nixon, Jason Coffing, Rebecca Schultz, Muhammad Yassine, Nicholas Millican, Mike Ellis, Chris Davis, Tyler Shandro, Whitney Isaac, Astrid Kuhn, Pamela Rath, Inder Gruel, Miles McDougall, Jason DeJuan, Rick McIver, Amonpreet Singh Gill, and Mickey Amory.

00:04:56.840 I've had the honour and privilege of representing Calgary Southeast from 2019 until today.

00:05:02.860 And looking back, it's been a remarkable four years.

00:05:06.280 When we took office, Alberta wasn't working.

00:05:09.140 And Albertans were struggling.

00:05:10.820 The previous NDP government had raised taxes, increased regulatory burden,

00:05:15.300 and had done significant damage to our energy sector and reputation as a place to do business.

00:05:21.040 Under the NDP, tens of thousands of Albertans lost their jobs.

00:05:24.780 investment dried up and people were leaving Alberta to find opportunity and hope in 2019 Albertans

00:05:32.180 spoke they had had enough of the failed and costly policies of the NDP they wanted to restore the

00:05:38.760 Alberta advantage and to move Alberta forward once in office we did exactly what we said we would do

00:05:44.580 exactly what Albertans told us to do we cut taxes we got control of our spending and focused it on

00:05:51.340 the priorities of Albertans and we restored

00:05:53.780 Alberta's reputation and Albertans' confidence

00:05:56.420 in our great province.

00:05:58.180 We've come a long way but we're not done yet.

00:06:00.620 We need to continue moving forward on reducing

00:06:02.960 taxes to keep Alberta affordable.

00:06:05.260 We need to continue moving forward on health

00:06:07.020 care and on public safety.

00:06:09.200 With the support of Albertans and the

00:06:10.960 leadership of the woman that I have the

00:06:12.460 privilege of introducing today, we're going to

00:06:14.540 do just that.

00:06:15.960 She's devoted her career to solving the

00:06:17.860 challenges facing our province.

00:06:19.640 to securing a stronger more prosperous future and she has put together the united conservative team

00:06:25.560 and policies we need to get there it is my honor to introduce the leader of the united conservative

00:06:30.840 party and the 18th premier of alberta please welcome danielle smith well thanks so much good

00:06:40.680 morning good morning ladies and gentlemen thanks matt for the kind introduction matt of course is

00:06:45.400 This is our UCP candidate here in Calgary Southeast.

00:06:47.780 In his role as minister, he's done a tremendous job

00:06:50.860 addressing the affordability and cost of living concerns of Alberta.

00:06:53.880 So thank you so much, Matt.

00:06:55.480 I'm also honoured to be joined by the rest of our fantastic team

00:06:58.180 of Calgary UCP candidates who are united in our commitment

00:07:01.460 to move Alberta forward.

00:07:02.940 I hope to work alongside each of you in the legislature.

00:07:06.500 This election is about families, hardworking women and men

00:07:09.340 who deserve good-paying jobs, who deserve safe streets

00:07:12.200 and communities, who deserve low taxes

00:07:14.600 and an affordable cost of living and while alberta's economy is booming it seems everything

00:07:19.000 we need to live and raise our families is getting more expensive and we are mindful that taxes are

00:07:23.960 the biggest cost for most alberta families that's why the united conservative party is committed to

00:07:29.240 making life affordable by cutting taxes for all albertans so today i'm pleased to announce a

00:07:37.080 re-elected united conservative government will create a new eight percent tax bracket on income

00:07:43.320 under $60,000. This means that every Albertan earning over $60,000 or more will save $760.

00:07:52.520 That is $1,500 per family. Albertans earning less than $60,000 will see a 20% reduction to their

00:07:59.560 provincial tax bill under this tax cut. This permanent billion dollar tax cut will provide

00:08:05.400 meaningful timely tax relief to Albertans at a time when they need it most. It will result in real

00:08:10.440 and significant savings that can be put towards housing life's other necessities planning for the

00:08:15.800 future or whatever else is a priority for you after all it's your money you earned it it's not

00:08:20.840 the government's the new tax cut for all albertans is just the beginning of what united conservatives

00:08:26.840 will do to help alberta families we're also focused on the future that is why a re-elected

00:08:31.480 ucp government will continue to index all tax brackets to keep up with inflation which will

00:08:36.760 will better shield Albertans from the cost of the federal NDP liberal coalition's irresponsible

00:08:41.660 spending spiraling debt and carbon tax. Today's commitment to lowering taxes builds on our no tax

00:08:48.180 hike guarantee. UCP's pledge to not increase personal or business taxes. A UCP government would

00:08:55.360 formalize this guarantee by expanding the Taxpayer Protection Act to ensure that no future government

00:09:00.340 can increase personal or business taxes without first getting approval from Albertans in a referendum.

00:09:05.820 them. And finally, a re-elected UCP government will again extend the fuel tax holiday until

00:09:12.300 December 31st, 2023, ensuring Albertans save 13 cents per litre at the pump. This is a savings of

00:09:19.680 around $10 on average every time you fill up your vehicle, and it will assist Albertans to offset

00:09:25.080 the notly Trudeau carbon tax that makes everything Albertans need to live more expensive. A memo from

00:09:31.360 the parliamentary budget officer shows that the average Alberta family will pay $710 out of pocket

00:09:37.980 on the carbon tax this year after their so-called rebates. By 2030, the NDP Liberal Coalition will

00:09:44.980 be picking an additional $2,000 a year out of the pockets of Albertans with their carbon tax.

00:09:51.220 We will not stand for this. A UCP government will work to axe the carbon tax altogether because the

00:09:56.800 best way governments can help address affordability is by ensuring that you, the taxpayer, keeps more

00:10:02.280 money in your pocket. That is our UCP plan to help you keep more money in your pocket. Now contrast

00:10:07.900 that with the NDP's record. While Rachel Notley and the NDP were in government, they hiked taxes

00:10:13.800 and fees 97 times and raised the business tax by 20%, causing businesses and families to leave

00:10:20.640 The NDP's high taxes resulted in a record 13 consecutive quarters of people leaving Alberta for other provinces.

00:10:28.640 While businesses closed their doors, industries were forced to lay off workers and investment dried up.

00:10:34.640 The choice in this election couldn't be clearer.

00:10:37.640 It's a choice between a UCP government that will cut your taxes and make life more affordable,

00:10:42.640 or an NDP government that will make you pay more across the board from taxes to fuel to groceries and beyond.

00:10:48.640 and beyond. It's a choice between moving Alberta forward and building a brighter future

00:10:53.120 or returning to the NDP's costly and failed policies. We can't afford to go back.

00:10:59.380 Since taking office, the UCP has restored Alberta's tax advantage, meaning that Albertans

00:11:04.900 are paying almost $20 billion less in taxes than the next lowest tax province. We have seen record

00:11:10.760 investments and greater economic diversification after we cut Notley's high corporate tax rate of

00:11:16.520 12% down to 8%. That tax will now generate a record $6.4 billion this year in corporate tax

00:11:24.500 revenue that helps to pay for high-quality health care, schools, and supports to help

00:11:29.480 Albertans manage inflation. We need to continue growing the Alberta advantage so our province

00:11:35.380 remains the best place in the world to raise a family and build a business. And that means having

00:11:40.640 a responsible plan for spending, growth, and stability that keeps taxes low and the cost of

00:11:45.620 living affordable. Together, we will build a stronger, more resilient, and more prosperous

00:11:50.720 Alberta today and for our future generations. At its heart, this election is a choice between

00:11:57.580 moving forward or going back. Between embracing forward-looking policies to grow the economy,

00:12:04.000 generate new opportunities, make life more affordable, or returning to the costly failed

00:12:09.060 policies of the NDP. For the sake of hundreds of thousands of families across Alberta,

00:12:14.040 we can't afford to go back.

00:12:16.000 And with Albertans' support, we won't.

00:12:18.380 Instead, we can move forward

00:12:19.940 building the stronger, more resilient,

00:12:21.580 more prosperous province

00:12:22.880 Albertans deserve today

00:12:24.220 and that we want our children

00:12:25.760 and grandchildren to inherit tomorrow.

00:12:28.480 Thank you very much.

00:12:38.000 Thank you, Premier Smith, for your remarks.

00:12:40.340 Introducing a new tax cut for all Albertans

00:12:42.560 by creating a new 8% tax bracket on income under 60,000 is an important step forward. After four

00:12:49.120 years of UCP leadership, Alberta is back and the signs are all around us. Our economy is booming.

00:12:55.280 We're seeing economic diversification at rates we've never seen before. Alberta is leading the

00:12:59.920 way in the hydrogen technology. We had a record year for film and television productions and our

00:13:04.960 city is becoming a hub for tech with several innovative companies choosing our city for their

00:13:09.440 We are making progress on healthcare by clearing the surgical backlog, decreasing wait

00:13:14.680 times in emergency departments and for EMS and we are investing in new hospitals.

00:13:19.480 For Calgary, that will mean preparing to open the new Calgary Cancer Centre and planning

00:13:24.140 a new hospital for North Calgary Airdrie.

00:13:27.200 We have made too much progress to risk throwing it away with Rachel Notley and the NDP.

00:13:32.020 This could quite possibly be the most important election in Alberta's history.

00:13:35.660 On one hand, we have Danielle Smith and the United Conservatives who are relentlessly

00:13:39.760 focused on moving Alberta forward.

00:13:42.560 Conservatives are committed to creating opportunities for all Albertans with more good

00:13:46.220 paying jobs, low taxes, a strong economy while also ensuring that our communities are

00:13:51.060 safe and secure.

00:13:52.660 On the other hand, there's Rachel Notley and the NDP who want to take us back to their

00:13:56.900 failed policies of the past.

00:13:58.880 They want to raise taxes, to spend recklessly and make promises they just can't keep.

00:14:04.420 They are committed to taking us back to the days of high unemployment, job losses

00:14:08.320 and a more expensive Alberta for all.

00:14:11.220 The choice before Albertans is clear.

00:14:13.660 It's a choice between Danielle Smith and the United Conservative Party that will move

00:14:17.320 Alberta forward or Rachel Notley and the NDP that will take us back.

00:14:21.920 Albertans can't afford to go back.

00:14:24.660 We need to continue to build a stronger, safer and more affordable Alberta.

00:14:28.620 And that's exactly what a re-elected UCP government will do.

00:14:32.540 Thank you.

00:14:34.420 all right thank you everybody i'm going to go to questions on the floor i know we have quite a bit

00:14:39.460 uh please just say your name outlet you have one question and then i'll hit the the phones go ahead

00:14:45.220 hi audrey never with radio canada happy election launch day thanks audrey so um in the last few

00:14:51.620 months since you've become premier you've spent over 2.5 billion dollars in inflation relief

00:14:56.180 measures 330 million in the arena deal for the calgary flames um and now 1 billion on this tax

00:15:04.580 cut what would you respond to those who would see this and think you're trying to

00:15:08.340 buy votes with government money well look the the role of government is to identify the things that

00:15:13.540 people want us to invest in and to invest in them i've been asked for for many months now what we

00:15:18.740 would do to be able to to help calgary and that was part of the reason why we wanted to bridge the

00:15:24.420 gap and make sure that we did important infrastructure investments so that they could

00:15:28.180 get to the the finish line on the the uh the entire district that is going to i think not only

00:15:33.700 rejuvenate the uh the downtown core but also provide a lot of wonderful memories for people

00:15:40.260 we also have a fiscal framework and our fiscal framework make sure that we limit year-over-year

00:15:46.420 spending increase so that we we have the ability to manage our spending in a sustainable way

00:15:52.180 i would point out that we paid off 13 billion dollars worth of debt and in doing so that saves

00:15:58.340 500 million dollars in finance charges i personally believe that we when we save money in finance

00:16:02.980 charges that money should go back to albertans and that's what this tax cut is about it allows

00:16:07.140 for us over the course of the next uh uh the next mandate to reduce the bottom rate by down to eight

00:16:14.180 percent on any on all incomes up to sixty thousand dollars which will save seven hundred and sixty

00:16:19.060 We believe that that dividend of us taking the hard decisions to pay off debt should go back to Alberta taxpayers.

00:16:27.800 Next question, please.

00:16:29.220 Good morning.

00:16:29.860 It's Safe Kaiser Global News.

00:16:31.280 I'm just wondering, you know, dealing press conferences here, you're here for the launch of the election.

00:16:36.740 Rachel Notley is also in Calgary, launch of the election.

00:16:39.800 Obviously, Calgary being the battleground here.

00:16:42.200 I guess what do you say to those that may see this and think, you know, if they live in rural communities or Edmonton,

00:16:48.840 that they're kind of being forgotten this election.

00:16:51.660 And how do you feel with a lot of Calgary writings being a little up in the air here?

00:16:58.340 Well, I would say that when we put together our capital plan,

00:17:01.620 we did that with $8 billion per year for the next three years.

00:17:05.640 And the bulk of that is going to support our communities outside Calgary and Edmonton.

00:17:10.980 About 75% of our capital funding is going to support rural communities,

00:17:16.500 road projects, hospital and education projects and I'm more than happy as we go through the campaign

00:17:22.580 to be highlighting those but here we are in Calgary today which is why we're highlighting

00:17:26.280 our Calgary investment. We have done an incredible amount of work over the last four years to

00:17:33.020 rebuild the confidence in our Alberta economy and it's working. We now see record influx of people

00:17:39.260 coming into the city. We see a record amount of venture capital investment, most of it which is

00:17:44.600 coming into the city, we see every day new businesses that are expanding out in downtown

00:17:51.020 Calgary. And so I think people know that we need to have a lot of strength in Calgary and in

00:17:56.140 Edmonton. And people, I think, are rooting for our two major cities to do well. That's part of the

00:18:01.240 reason why we're making these kinds of investments. But the main thing today is this is a policy that

00:18:05.860 benefits everyone. Every Albertan who is going to receive a tax cut, when we go down and reduce

00:18:12.940 that lowest rate to eight percent on all incomes up to sixty thousand dollars it'll be seven hundred

00:18:17.900 and sixty dollars for each individual taxpayer and fifteen hundred dollars for a family um that

00:18:23.580 has a two two income earners so to me that uh that is something that that every alberton can can take

00:18:29.260 it can uh can enjoy and take advantage of and that's part of the reason why we're announcing it

00:18:33.100 today good morning jason marcus off from cbc two weeks before your election you offered a public

00:18:39.900 health guarantee two weeks before the 2019 election jason kenny offered a public health

00:18:45.420 guarantee two weeks before the last sorry on the eve of the uh campaign jason kenny talked about

00:18:51.500 being relentlessly focused on the economy in your speech on saturday you said you're relentlessly

00:18:56.380 focused on the economy what's the difference between you and jason kenny hey look the ucp

00:19:01.500 is very consistent uh we both uh it doesn't matter whether it's me or my candidate standing behind

00:19:07.500 We believe that building an opportunity for jobs, economy and investment is the foundation of what it means to have an Alberta advantage.

00:19:16.640 So no one should be surprised by that.

00:19:18.420 No one should be surprised as well that the NDP keep lying about our health care record.

00:19:24.460 I mean, they said in the last election that we were going to cut health care by 20%.

00:19:28.800 Look what happened.

00:19:29.860 We now have a record amount of spending on health care and we've eliminated Rachel Notley's user fees. 0.99

00:19:34.260 She was charging $40 per day on bed access for those with addiction treatment.

00:19:38.660 We got rid of that.

00:19:39.420 We expanded out mental health.

00:19:40.540 We've made mental health and addiction an essential part of our health care system.

00:19:44.560 I signed a $24 billion deal with the federal government that will bring $24 billion worth

00:19:49.360 of new funding into our province.

00:19:51.580 And the foundation of that is the guarantee that we will uphold the principles of the

00:19:56.180 Canada Health Act, meaning no one will pay for a family doctor and no one will pay for

00:19:59.320 hospital services.

00:20:00.900 So as long as the NDP keep on lying about our record, we'll keep on telling the truth

00:20:04.240 about theirs and the truth about their record is that they devastated the alberta economy they

00:20:09.440 created policies that drove investment out drove jobs out and we had to reverse all of that so that

00:20:15.200 we were able to bring those people those jobs and that investment back and that's what the corporate

00:20:19.280 income tax cut was about that is also what the reduction in uh the fuel tax is about is to offset

00:20:25.520 the carbon taxes that she started and we're going to continue this by reducing personal income taxes

00:20:30.480 so that every single family is able to benefit from this $760 for those who are earning $60,000

00:20:36.720 or more as well as $1,500 for a family of two so we're pretty excited about being able to offer a

00:20:42.000 different vision sorry no difference between you and Jason Kenny then there's a I can tell you

00:20:46.400 people like this consistency and stability of a united conservative government which is why

00:20:51.920 we're seeking a second majority good morning Adam so it's from rebel news a lot has been made about

00:21:00.240 the sort of danielle smith versus justin trudeau narrative or the daniel smith versus rachel

00:21:04.560 notley narrative i wanted to touch on perhaps a different angle what about conservatives in

00:21:08.400 alberta who are apprehensive to support the ucp or i've often heard the terms are supporting the

00:21:13.840 ucp only as a lesser of two evils what do you say to them well look you've got two choices in this

00:21:21.360 election i think we've got a choice with the ucp government that will move alberta forward

00:21:26.560 or an NDP government that will move the province backward. And we've seen the difference between

00:21:31.280 our two records. The NDP has demonstrated what they will do when they're in government.

00:21:35.680 They increased taxes, they brought in a corporate tax increase, they brought in a carbon tax that

00:21:41.440 we can't get rid of, they brought in changes to how farms are operated and they've threatened now

00:21:47.040 to do that once again. We know exactly what we'll get under the NDP. We'll get an environment where

00:21:52.240 people are are looking thinking twice about staying here they we saw 13 quarters where people left our

00:21:57.920 province we we saw a decline in investment decline in revenue and decline in ability to pay for the

00:22:03.360 things that people care about that's what they're voting that's what the choice is they can vote for

00:22:08.000 us and they'll have the same stability that they have had over the the last four years knowing

00:22:12.640 that we are going to keep taxes low we're going to be relentlessly focused on jobs and economy

00:22:17.840 I want people to vote for another

00:22:19.880 conservative majority government.

00:22:21.880 Next question.

00:22:22.880 I feel like a lounge singer

00:22:24.880 here adjusting the microphone.

00:22:26.880 Rick Bell, Calgary Sun.

00:22:29.880 I'm sure you will have more announcements

00:22:31.880 that come in the 28 days.

00:22:33.880 But in the 28 days, there is going to be

00:22:35.900 going to be a big change in the

00:22:37.900 economy and investment and bringing 1.00

00:22:39.900 people here and creating an environment

00:22:41.900 where we are going to continue to grow.

00:22:43.900 That to me is the two big choices in

00:22:45.900 this election and I want people to vote

00:22:47.840 it even surfaced again on the weekend there's going to be the elephant in the room and the

00:22:52.620 elephant in the room is that people are going to bring up other issues independent of policy

00:22:57.940 and questions not so much about maybe the radio show host days but questions about things that

00:23:03.700 you've said when you were running for the ucp leadership and when you have been premier or

00:23:08.020 episodes that have happened or actions that have happened what is your plan over these

00:23:14.360 four weeks to counter those questions you can practice on it right now but what what what is

00:23:21.820 your what how how are you going to deal with that if people say well what about this and what about

00:23:26.680 ronda santus and what about christine ohm and what about uh and rand and what about this person and

00:23:33.320 that person and you like this and friedrich hayek and everybody else what and the pastor what are

00:23:39.740 you going to say when you're making announcements like this and questions inevitably will come up

00:23:44.140 about that stuff and people will question your who you are as a result of that look i i'm not

00:23:52.300 perfect everyone knows that um i've had 27 years in the public eye i've spoken and written millions

00:23:58.460 of words sometimes i make mistakes and every time i've made a mistake i acknowledge it i apologize

00:24:05.260 if i've hurt anybody and i promise to do better i think that people don't expect their politicians

00:24:10.540 to be perfect. What I would hope is that people would judge me and our UCP team based on what we

00:24:17.060 do. And we have done so much good in the four years that we've been in government. And we've

00:24:22.660 done so much good as a united team since I became leader. I am proud of every single one of our MLAs

00:24:28.820 and candidates. And I'm looking forward to being able to put forward a strong team that people can

00:24:33.980 have confidence in. The main thing that I think people will see of what it is that we're offering

00:24:38.900 is that we are offering stability, we're offering continuity, we are offering a government that is

00:24:43.840 going to make sure that we are relentlessly focused on creating jobs, attracting investment

00:24:48.700 and making sure life is more affordable for their families. That's what I hope people will judge

00:24:52.760 us on and compare that with Rachel Notley who made life more expensive, who increased taxes 0.81

00:24:57.880 and who drove investment in people out of the province. I don't think people want to move back,

00:25:02.800 I think they want to move forward. I'm moving forward and I hope that Albertans join us.

00:25:08.900 Tyson Thore with CTV. I just want to take you back to the event center announcement.

00:25:15.460 That day you had mentioned this is something that's going to be talked about with voters

00:25:18.740 during the election. The following day you said you didn't want to make it an election issue.

00:25:22.740 How do you square that? Of course there's a poll out this morning saying it's a very mixed

00:25:27.060 signal here in this city. So how do you square that with voters and what do you say to them

00:25:30.340 on their doorsteps through this campaign on why this is beneficial for this city?

00:25:34.420 Well you know honestly Rachel Notley surprised me by being opposed to the deal

00:25:37.860 because i was very supportive of the fact that the the team and the city came together in a

00:25:43.460 landmark deal that they've been working on for decades i want to be very supportive of this

00:25:47.540 council and i i found it uh amazing there have been stories over the course of the weekend where

00:25:51.860 every single council member was asked why they supported it and they all had different reasons

00:25:55.460 but it comes down to is it's a good deal for calgary it's a good investment for calgary

00:26:00.580 and it's going to change the lives of calgarians whether they enjoy sports or whether they want

00:26:05.300 concerts or whether they're just going to enjoy the outdoor spaces as well as the the incredible

00:26:10.180 opportunities that come from building out that district so if you want the truth i didn't

00:26:14.020 anticipate it being a campaign issue because i thought it was so obvious that whoever was

00:26:18.260 running would want to support calgary and so um to me it's up to ms notley to explain

00:26:23.860 why she would take an action that would kibosh a deal that was so hard fought and hard negotiated

00:26:28.740 by these two players the especially since what we put forward is very reasonable we're going

00:26:32.900 going to be supporting the infrastructure development. We're going to be helping to support

00:26:36.880 the community arena. And these are the kind of things that I believe Calgarians want us to

00:26:41.900 invest in. So surprisingly, she's made it an election issue. To me, it's a slam dunk. She

00:26:47.060 should just say she's going to support it. Hi, Chris Barker with the Calgary Herald.

00:26:55.380 I want to ask you about this announcement today. How much is it permanently going to cost the

00:26:59.220 Alberta Treasury. And then how are you going to pay for it? And I guess thirdly, what is this

00:27:04.500 going to do to the very slim budget surpluses that you have coming forward in the next couple of

00:27:08.560 years? So it's been costed out at, I believe, a billion dollars. I think just under a billion

00:27:15.140 dollars. And one of the things that I would say is that just because you increase tax rates doesn't

00:27:21.700 mean you increase tax revenue. We saw that with Rachel Notley's corporate income tax increase.

00:27:27.240 she went from a 10% rate to a 12% rate and if you look at what happened year after year after year

00:27:32.640 the amount of corporate income tax revenues declined we reduced the corporate income tax

00:27:38.180 rate from 12% down to 8% sending a signal to the world we were open for business and every single

00:27:43.940 year corporate tax revenues have an increase to point now where we have 6.4 billion dollars

00:27:48.500 in corporate tax revenue so the tax cut paid for itself with growth in the I would anticipate the

00:27:54.940 same thing would happen in in this case that putting more money in the hands of individuals

00:28:00.020 allows them with more of their own money to spend on the things they care about it stimulates the

00:28:03.860 economy it will result in more people moving here we have more people moving here we'll have more

00:28:07.860 taxpayers if we've got more people who are spending their money it'll it'll generate more

00:28:12.440 corporate tax revenue so I'm very confident that this is a very prudent way that we will be able

00:28:17.740 to move down to eight percent on a on a portion of the income it brings us actually if you want

00:28:23.620 the truth brings us in alignment with where british columbia and ontario already are those

00:28:28.500 are our two provinces that already do have a lower rate on the the lowest income taxpayers

00:28:33.780 um and i think we've already paid for half of it by making a an historic payment on our debt of 13

00:28:39.380 billion dollars we've begun paying down the uh the knotley era debt and uh it has saved over 500

00:28:45.380 million dollars in finance charges and as we continue to generate surpluses 50 of them will

00:28:50.500 go to pay down debt as we pay down debt and realize a savings on finance charges we're going

00:28:55.460 to return those dollars to to albertans as a dividend so that and and this is sort of the

00:29:00.500 first step on that so that's that's the approach that people should become accustomed to seeing

00:29:04.820 with us is that we are always going to be relentlessly looking for more ways to put

00:29:09.620 money back in their pockets so i i believe that that the cut will pay for itself hey jonathan

00:29:14.100 we'll go to you and then i have to hit the phones hello premier smith jonathan bradley western

00:29:18.260 standard your candidate for living state mcleod chelsea petrovic has apologized for past offensive

00:29:23.860 social media posts she didn't specify what those posts were what do you think of that

00:29:29.060 look the candidate uh came forward and uh disclosed to me some um some posts she was

00:29:34.820 that she was embarrassed about she's uh was very uh sorry for them and i accepted her apology

00:29:41.140 and she wants to focus on on moving forward and so we will all right operator let's go to the

00:29:46.500 first caller. Graham Thompson, Toronto Star. Yes, thank you. Premier, can you hear me okay?

00:29:58.100 Yeah, I can hear you all right. Yes, I'm sorry. You have a bit of a feedback at my end. I have a

00:30:03.620 question regarding a leaders debate, making sure that you're actually going to be taking part in

00:30:08.260 one. Is there going to be one? I ask because you have limited the ability of reporters to ask

00:30:14.900 questions without one question no follow-up and you know i've been around politics for a long time

00:30:19.700 we've never seen a premier refuse even a follow-up question during an election campaign i just want

00:30:25.860 to confirm there will be a leader's debate and you will take part in it i see that you guys are

00:30:32.660 getting very good at asking double-barreled questions so it doesn't matter that i don't

00:30:37.380 take follow-ups and the reason as you know i don't take follow-ups is so we can get more

00:30:40.820 through more questions we're in a period of time during this election where there's a lot of people

00:30:45.140 who want to ask me questions and we want to be able to take as many as possible and so that's

00:30:48.580 part of the reason for that graham yes there will be a debate from my point of view we have already

00:30:53.380 um have a team that has is working with the the the stations to be able to pin down the time and

00:30:58.980 the place so if there isn't a debate that's not because of me so you may want to ask miss notley

00:31:04.020 if for some reason she's having second thoughts about that and we will i'll continue to do these

00:31:09.140 kinds of media availabilities so that people uh know exactly what where i stand on issues we'll

00:31:14.660 be making myself available multiple times during the course of uh of the week and if there's anything

00:31:19.700 that is unclear about what i've said please feel free to follow up with becca pollock and she'll

00:31:23.220 be able to to clarify any of my answers all right aubrey let's go to the last caller please

00:31:29.060 lisa johnson edmonton journal hi thanks so much for taking my question i'm wondering

00:31:35.540 Ms. Smith, sorry, I'm getting a major echo here.

00:31:39.540 I can hear you okay. It's not echoing on my end.

00:31:43.540 Okay, great. Thanks. In early April, your lawyer sent a

00:31:47.540 notice of defamation demanding the CBC retract and

00:31:51.540 apologize for a January 19th story that you called defamatory

00:31:55.540 and containing faceless allegations. The letters gave a deadline

00:31:59.540 on Friday before you intended to bring a lawsuit against the CBC under the Defamation

00:32:03.540 Act and I have received a response from your office but I'm wondering if you can

00:32:10.920 just clearly say yes or no whether or not you follow through with your

00:32:14.580 intention to sue the CBC on this matter and if if you're going to repeat the

00:32:21.040 talking points that I received from your office on Friday can you please explain

00:32:24.300 why you don't think voters deserve to know if someone seeking public office is

00:32:28.800 following through on a threat to sue the public broadcaster look I think that

00:32:33.160 Albertans are interested in what we're going to be campaigning on to move the province forward

00:32:38.200 and that's what I'll be focused on for the next four weeks is making sure that people understand

00:32:42.680 exactly what a UCP majority government will deliver and that's going to be my sole focus

00:32:48.680 for the next 28 days. Thanks, everybody.

00:33:18.680 Thank you.

Western Standard - May 02, 2023

Important Announcement to Mark the Start of the 2023 Provincial Election

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript