Praise for Notley’s oil industry efforts

By Letter to the Editor on January 12, 2019.

Oilmen in the Edmonton area aren’t surprised that this province is in the mess that it’s in.

Instead of listening to Peter Lougheed, who advised them to slow down the growth of the oilsands, get control of the pollution, collect proper royalties and taxes and refine the oil in Canada, the Klein and Stelmach governments slashed royalties and taxes and invited the world to come and get our next-to-free oil, but weren’t smart enough to ensure that there was a proper system in place to get this massive increase in production to world markets and as the oilmen point out their stupidity has caught up to us.

But then as our family certainly knows they weren’t smart enough to understand what closing hospitals, closing 1,500 hospital beds, and cutting 5,000 nursing positions would do to us either. After my father spent countless hours volunteering for the Lougheed and Getty governments, and donated about $30,000 to them, the Klein government almost killed him with their massive health-care cuts. In addition their massive education cuts cost six young teachers, we knew, their jobs and forced young families to pay the highest school fees in Canada, along with the highest day care fees and highest after school fees while they gave away billions in royalties and taxes to benefit their rich friends.

While Premier Rachel Notley desperately tries to fix this stupid mess they created she has all sorts of sarcastic remarks hurled at her by Jason Kenney and his ignorant supporters and the oilmen have nothing but praise for what she is trying to do to save their industry and as they point out don’t forget that Jason Kenney was part of the Stephen Harper Reform Party government that turned a blind eye to what was happening and allowed it to happen to Albertans.

Alan K.Spiller

Edmonton

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