Opposition MLAs attack job loss numbers
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on March 12, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com The NDP on Friday responded swiftly with strong criticism after Statistics Canada reported that Alberta lost 9,600 full-time jobs in February.The province did, however, gain 17,700 part-time positions,
NDP finance critic and MLA for Lethbridge West Shannon Phillips spoke via Zoom to media along with energy critic Kathleen Ganley.
The two addressed not only the job losses but the impact UCP policy is having on Albertans who are reeling with the effects of inflation and high prices for utilities, property and income taxes and car insurance as well as higher tuition at universities in Calgary and Edmonton where the cost of some programs has doubled.
She said economic gains experienced by the province due to high oil prices aren’t making it to the dinner tables of ordinary Albertans. Phillips added that a number of factors are holding back job creation and economic growth in the province.
The government’s failure to help Albertans include a failure to cap insurance rates and a lack of a real rebate for rising natural gas costs.
Ganley called the province’s rebate plan “a complete fake” which will benefit nobody in Alberta this winter and is highly unlikely ever will.
“They committed a total of zero dollars in the budget to pay for the natural gas rebates,” Ganley added.
“One of the major new costs the UCP is hammering us with is utilities. Albertans are opening bills that are hundreds of dollars bigger than they were a few months ago or last year,” said Ganley.
“We need meaningful action on cutting costs for families and they can start by scrapping their billion dollar tax grab,” she said.
“Albertans can’t trust the UCP to manage the economy when we have $100 a barrel oil…. Meanwhile everywhere we look, life is getting more expensive for Alberta families,” said Phillips.
She said the UCP is also hitting Albertans with a $1 billion tax grab.
Starting in the 2019 budget the UCP stopped raising tax brackets with inflation meaning that every year a bigger share of Albertan’s pay cheques is exposed to taxation, she said, describing this as bracket creep.
In a press release Friday, Economy and Innovation Minister Doug Schweitzer said, however, “Alberta is coming back. Our economy continues to grow, which is great news for all Albertans.”
He said Alberta experienced its fourth straight month of job gains – an increase of 8,200 – which dropped the province’s unemployment rate to 6.8 per cent, the lowest rate since September 2019.
“As we emerge from a difficult few years, there is increasing evidence that our economy is on the verge of taking off. Economic indicators like building permits are up and more businesses were incorporated in Alberta in February compared with the same time last year,” said Schweitzer in the release, adding that international exports are up by more than 65 per cent.
While Canada’s jobless rate stood at 5.5 per cent in February, Alberta’s was 6.8, the fourth highest in the country. That rate was down from January’s 7.2 per cent, however.
The country as a whole gained 337,000 jobs in February. Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter 4
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