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Albertans want province back on track: UCP leader

Jason Kenney speaks at the UCP Founding AGM at the Red Deer Sheraton Hotel Saturday
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Jason Kenney, UCP leader, spoke to hundreds at the UCP Founding AGM Saturday at the Sheraton Hotel in Red Deer. (Photo by SEAN MCINTOSH/Advocate staff)

“Change is in the air.”

That’s what Jason Kenney said at the UCP Founding AGM at the Red Deer Sheraton Hotel Saturday.

Kenney, who said the AGM was the biggest political convention in Alberta history, took aim at the federal carbon tax while speaking to the hundreds of UCP members in attendance.

“If you pass a resolution to scrap the (carbon) tax tomorrow. I will be on a flight to Ottawa hours later to tell the Commons Finance Committee that an Alberta conservative government will pass the Carbon Tax Repeal Act as out first order of government,” said Kenney.

Kenney said the NDP government plans on raising the carbon tax again “because Justin Trudeau told them to.”

“In Alberta we used to have governments that acted like a watchdog for Alberta and not a doormat for Ottawa,” he said.

The oil industry was another focus for Kenney Saturday. He said Canada loses $40 million a day and $14 billion a year by underselling its oil - the country’s most valuable asset.

“We are giving our family jewels away to the pawn shop,” he said.

Unless the oil industry can get access to global markets, it will not be as successful as possible, he added.

“The world needs more Alberta energy and we will fight for that,” he said. “Canada, with the highest human rights, environmental labour standards of any energy producer on Earth, will compete with and hopefully displace energy coming from some of the world’s worst regimes.”

Kenney said the NDP government has quadrupled Alberta’s debt since being elected - bringing a $13 billion debt to $56 billion.

“The NDP is a fiscal train wreck and in the next election we must stop them from mortgaging our future,” he said. “Albertans want the province back on track and we’re going to get it back on track.”

“I will always be motivated by heart at service leadership, will listen to the grassroots, will use the best of my judgement and will work as hard as I can,” Kenney said.

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Jason Kenney, UCP leader, spoke to hundreds at the UCP Founding AGM Saturday at the Sheraton Hotel in Red Deer. (Photo by SEAN MCINTOSH/Advocate staff)


Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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