A backward budget from Jason Kenney
Dear friends,
Today, Jason Kenney’s government tabled a budget for the 2021-22 year.
I’d love tell you that the UCP tabled a budget that will create jobs, revitalize the economy and protects the public services we need.
I’d love to tell you that, but I can’t.
Don’t believe what the Kenney government is saying. This is a budget that cuts services, that has no plan for the economy, and makes working Albertans pay for corporate tax cuts and bad investments.
CUTS TO VALUABLE SERVICES
When you factor in population growth and inflation, today’s budget represents a $4 billion cut to services we count on.
To put this in real terms, it means:
$600 million less for health care than Alberta spent in 2018-19. And that’s AFTER including money from the federal government to help with COVID.
The UCP have cut education funding by $160 million, even though 20,000 more students will come into the system in September.
The UCP cut $600 million from post-secondary education, they cut $750 million from municipalities. Kenney is cutting crime prevention & criminal prosecution. He is cutting funds for the homeless, funds for housing, and funds for wildfire fighting.
And on top of all that, there’s $1.4 billion in further cuts by 2023.
CORPORATE TAX BREAKS – THOSE ARE STILL A GO
Jason Kenney is continuing his $4.7 billion tax cuts for profitable corporations – tax cuts that have yet to produce a single job.
And we now know that Jason Kenney has lost another $900 million on the failed Keystone pipeline (bringing the total lost to $2.4 billion).
The budget has no plan for job creation and no plan for diversification of our economy. We have no plan beyond ‘hoping things get better.’
Kenney isn’t even making a dent in the deficit and debt. I don’t believe this is the time to focus on debt. But for all the pain inflicted by his cuts, Jason Kenney’s deficit is three times higher than the last NDP budget.
BACKWARD BUDGET
CUPE is fighting back. I’m asking you to go to www.backwardsbudget.ca and send a message to the UCP – this budget is a bad plan for Alberta.
Jason Kenney promised Jobs, the economy and pipelines. He promised no cuts to frontline services. He’s broken almost every promise he made.
Nobody voted for this.
Sincerely,
Rory Gill, President CUPE Alberta
