MARILYN BURNS

Alberta Alliance Leadership 2005

If elected Premier of an Alberta Alliance government I will make every effort to implement fair royalty structures for our oil and gas resources. This will ensure long-term funding from our natural resources for Alberta.

If elected Premier of an Alberta Alliance government, I will look beyond the “Alberta Agenda” firewall, and stand up to Ottawa on every Provincial right. This includes refusing to prosecute federal gun registry offences, and initiating innovative health care reforms. I will also halt the unaccountable and high-handed equalization payments to Ottawa.

If elected Premier of an Alberta Alliance government, I resolve to make tax relief for every Albertan a priority, and end the wild Tory spending of our money.

It is critical that, as a team, we build the infrastructure of the Party at the grassroots level in every constituency in Alberta well before the next Provincial election. If elected as Leader of the Alberta Alliance Party, I will work with the Presidents of each region and each constituency to foster the dynamics of democracy in Alberta.

If elected as Leader of the Alberta Alliance Party, I will make the message clear that there is room for all small “c” conservatives to join in. We can all stand shoulder to shoulder to participate, work, and lead in this party. The welcome mat will be laid out for conservatives in the Alberta Party, the Social Credit Party, the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, and the Alberta Liberal Party.

If elected as Leader of the Alberta Alliance Party, I will immediately select a “Shadow Cabinet,” with a critic for every government portfolio. I will expect our critics to learn their portfolios, and be prepared to address all current issues with quick response media releases. We will be able to say to the people of Alberta that the Alberta Alliance is the “government in waiting". We will prove to the people of Alberta that we can be a better government, that there is a better way.

This is my blueprint for Alberta and my direction for the party, if you share my vision, please give me your confidence and support by voting for me as your Leader.

Call me at (780) 707-3403

Or E-mail at [email protected]

If elected as the Premier of an Alberta Alliance government, I would model Alberta’s health care system after the countries that are rated first and second in providing the best health care in the world, being Sweden and Japan.

Wait lists in Japan are “0” (zero). Under the Swedish and Japanese models, the government pays for the service provided and services can be provided by privately owned care facilities. The patient never pays out of pocket. Administrative costs are slashed. Patients have choice and control of their care.

Our children are our greatest resource, and we must manage this resource with the highest regard.

An Alberta Alliance Government under my leadership will institute a student based funding system from kindergarten to adult education. Funding will follow the student so we can tailor teaching to each child’s needs. Our children’s destiny and the future of education can be brighter but only by choice, not chance.

The Tories raised provincial taxes by $541 million in 2002, and those tax increases are still in place. When revenues from oil and gas are counted as tax revenues, Albertans pay more provincial tax per person than Canadians in any other province. Alberta also has the highest level of spending on government programs per person of any Canadian province.

As Premier leading an Alberta Alliance government, my top priority will be to abolish the health care premium tax for all Albertans, saving a family $1,056 per year. I will pass taxpayer protection and spending control legislation. As government spending is brought under control, I will raise the personal tax exemption to $20,000.00, and make it a goal to phase out the provincial property tax entirely.

The PC government’s 2004 budget did very little for small business. Small business is the backbone of the Alberta economy. Business owners are bombarded with skyrocketing input costs, including soaring business insurance premiums, natural gas and electricity rates, WCB premiums, property taxes, and rising gas costs. Alberta Alliance will support all small business’s.

Voter turnout fell to an all-time low in last year's provincial election. Many Albertans have concluded we live in an "elected dictatorship" run by whoever happens to be leader of the government party. As we saw with insurance rates and power deregulation, the leader's priorities can be totally disconnected from the needs and desires of ordinary Albertans.

As Premier of an Alberta Alliance government, I will ensure that one of our first bills is a "Direct Democracy Act" that allows the public to initiate provincial legislation. If at least five percent of the voters have signed a petition asking for a specific change in law or policy, it would trigger a provincial referendum on the matter.

The idea that our six federal senators in Ottawa should be chosen democratically by Albertans, not by the Prime Minister. Obviously, provincially-elected senators would represent our provincial interests in Ottawa, not the interests of the prime minister who appointed them. In fact, they could block the power of the Prime Minister more effectively than any opposition party has ever done in the House of Commons.

Although our present provincial government held Senate elections last year, it did literally nothing when the Prime Minister ignored the outcome and appointed his own three favorites to represent Alberta in Parliament's Upper House. This was a slap in the face to Albertans. An Alliance government under my leadership will not co-operate with Ottawa in any way until steps are in place to seat our elected senators in Parliament.

There is no logic to the Tory’s infrastructure development plan. They have not looked at long-term ramifications. For example, who would build a hospital in Calgary in a zone where sour gas wells could cause a disaster? The PC government already has. The twinning of the Fort McMurray road should have been done years ago. Infrastructure development in the Fort McMurray area has been like a dog chasing its tail.

If elected as Premier of an Alberta Alliance Party I would demand that gas tax revenue be put toward transportation infrastructure. Gasoline users should pay taxes to keep up the roads, and taxes generated should be used for that purpose. I would promote tax breaks to encourage the private sector to invest in infrastructure projects.

The PC government created an auto insurance crisis by subsidizing the premiums of high risk drivers at the expense of most Alberta motorists and accident victims. An Alberta Alliance government under my leadership will restore full compensation rights to innocent injured car crash victims. We will reduce insurance rates for ordinary Albertans by implementing aggressive traffic safety initiatives, designed to reduce automobile accidents, injuries and fatalities.

Alberta Alliance policy calls for a unified Alberta police force. I believe we should take immediate interim steps to train Alberta men and women for emergency relief and Provincial patrol purposes such as drug surveillance in schools. Then, when the current policing contract with Ottawa ends, we will be ready to consolidate our police services into our own Alberta Police Force.

Deregulation of our utilities is not working. Albertans were sold out by the PC government and are paying through the nose for their own gas and electricity. Jim Dinning, one of the main proponents of utility deregulation, left government to work for a major utility company, and now wants to re-enter government as the Leader of the Progressive Conservatives. This is like having the fox in charge of the henhouse. If elected I will take immediate steps to regulate essential services.

There are approximately 325,000 seniors in Alberta. 56% of seniors come under the low income bracket. Since Ralph Klein became Premier, seniors on a fixed income have lost an estimated 24% of purchasing power. If elected as Premier of an Alberta Alliance government, I would implement measures to return benefits and correct this inequity for seniors.

If elected as leader of an Alberta Alliance government, Albertans will be asked by referendum whether they want their tax dollars to fund abortions in Alberta. I personally oppose tax dollars being used to fund abortion, unless it involves a medical emergency.

The Alberta Alliance Party does not have a policy for same-sex marriage. The present policy requires that a directly democratic Province wide referendum be held on social issues such as this.

My belief is that marriage is between one man and one woman, and Ottawa’s law does not change what marriage really is. Alberta does have the Provincial right to make a law allowing only marriages between one man and one woman to be performed in Alberta. Using the “Notwithstanding Clause” If elected as leader of the Alberta Alliance Party, I will put that proposal for policy to the membership. If elected as Premier of an Alberta Alliance government, I will let the people of Alberta decide the issue by referendum.

The Tories have just sold out Alberta families again by agreeing to sign the federal Liberal National Day Care Plan. It is heart wrenching that parents who want to stay home with their children do not have equal opportunity to care for their children with those who choose to work. If elected Premier of an Alberta Alliance government I will never agree to any child care plan unless it provided equal opportunity and tax benefits to both stay-at-home and working parents.

Watchfulness of the environment under the PC government has turned into blindness. Containment and disaster preparedness in the Wabamun oil spill was appalling. The Province is ill prepared for any environmental disaster. I would make the care of our environment and disaster response a priority. Future generations deserve the right to enjoy our beautiful natural habitat.

The Tory government has turned its back on farmers. Farmers were hung out to dry in the BSE crisis. BSE should have been a wake-up call to kick start the building of Alberta owned meat packing plants, but the PC government is still catering to the Americans.

The oilfield boom is causing a loss in value added secondary business and agriculture. Rising input costs of fuel and fertilizer are burdening farmers to the breaking point. As leader of an Alberta Alliance government, I will take active measures to address these rural issues. We must re-vitalize and support our rural communities