The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:

– the sanctity, meaning or purpose of life
– abortion, euthanasia or alternatives thereto
– human engineering, including cloning or cell manipulation, or gender election surgery

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:

– the sanctity, meaning or purpose of life
– abortion, euthanasia or alternatives thereto
– human engineering, including cloning or cell manipulation, or gender election surgery

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:

– the sanctity, meaning or purpose of life
– abortion, euthanasia or alternatives thereto
– human engineering, including cloning or cell manipulation, or gender election surgery

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding the sanctity, meaning or purpose of life.

Abortion, Euthanasia & Alternatives
The party advocates:
– making sure all women have full access to abortion
– making sure abortion procedures are more easily available in rural communities
– funding one cycle of in-vitro fertilisation treatment for women and families who have infertility issues and want to start a family

Socially-Assisted Death (SAD)
The party states that:
– all Public health facilities must provide this service to prevent undue suffering for SAD patients and respect their constitutional right to SAD
– individuals have conscience rights, facilities do not

The party advocates:
– requiring all health facilities, including Covenant Health facilities, to provide SAD services on site

Human Engineering
Transgender supports
The party states that it is committed to funding medical procedures for transgender Albertans, including elimination of gate-keeping and fully funding hormone treatments for trans women

The Sanctity and Purpose of Life
The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding the sanctity, meaning or purpose of life.

Abortion, euthanasia and alternatives
– the party states that during its prior term in office it passed legislation to prevent harassment at abortion clinics
– the party advocates expanding access to reproductive health services for women living in smaller centres and rural Alberta.

Human Engineering
The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding human engineering, including cloning or cell manipulation, or gender election surgery.

Sanctity of Life

Abortion and alternatives
The party states that:
– its mandate is simple and straightforward: it is committed to promoting pro-life public policy in Alberta, through politics
– it believes that all human life deserves protection, especially innocent human life

To help both mothers and babies, the party advocates:
– adoption: boosting support for women with unexpected pregnancies, easing the challenges of putting a child up for adoption, by supporting women through all 9 months of pregnancy; and expanding the influence of Alberta Adoption Services to better assist prospective parents who want to adopt a child
– informed choice and consent: because a women’s right to information about medical procedures should not be disregarded, requiring that patients considering abortion be given full information on fetal development, including an ultrasound and all the possible psychological and physical health effects the procedure might have prior to the abortion being performed. They should also be given the full range of information about abortion alternatives and support available from various agencies and groups within the community. Most medical procedures require patients be fully-informed about the possible complications and side-effects before they consent; why is not the same for abortion?
– counseling:  promoting counseling for women in unplanned pregnancies that will provide them with all the alternatives available to them including the possible physical, psychological and spiritual impacts an abortion could have
– requiring a parent’s (or guardians) right to give consent, or be informed, before their minor child undergoes an abortion procedure, just as is already the case when minors undergo medical treatments; or even body modifications such as piercing or tattooing
– parental notification for minors: just as is currently the practice with invasive medical-procedures or treatments performed on minors, requiring that the legal guardians of a person under the age of 16 receive notification when an abortion is scheduled for their child
– waiting period:  because abortion is one of the most important decisions a woman can make, and is irrevocable when complete, requiring a twenty-four-hour waiting period would allow time to think things over and prevent rash decisions
– ultrasound awareness:  in many other cases, prior to an operation, a doctor and medical team will review the operation with the patient, to inform the patient of how the procedure works, what will be done to the patient’s body, and frequently review any x-ray or MRI scans of relevant the area of your body, requiring full medical review prior to abortions
– increasing the emergency allowance for pregnant women escaping domestic abuse, in view of the enormous stress women faced with unplanned pregnancies can experience
– eliminating public tax-payer funding of abortions, which are currently funded with tax-payer dollars through the provincial health care system. The Canada Health Act does not require abortion costs to be insured. It states only that “medically necessary” procedures must be insured.

Human Engineering
The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding human engineering, including cloning or cell manipulation, or gender election surgery

The Sanctity and Purpose of Life
The party states that:
– a full life includes work that provides not only a living, but dignity. Therefore its first priority is to boost the economy and bring quality jobs back to Alberta
– however, “the good life” includes much more than material well-being
– while government can’t guarantee a good life, it has a central role in establishing many of the conditions for it like health, safety, education, and support for the vulnerable

Alternatives to Assisted Suicide
The party states that the 2016 legalization of assisted suicide underscores an urgent need to educate Albertans about palliative care, why it matters, and which services are available, and that now more than ever, the health care system needs to ensure access to high quality palliative care to alleviate suffering

The party advocate investing $20 million over four years, to:
– continue to shift from hospital to community-based home and hospice care
– establish and implement palliative care education, training, and standards for health professionals
– develop effective caregiver supports to support patients in their homes and community
– raise public awareness of palliative care and how and when to access it

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– its positions concerning abortion or alternatives thereto
– human engineering, including cloning or cell manipulation, or gender election surgery

The party states, as matters of principle, that:
– it believes that human beings are a part of nature, and not separate from it.  Whatever humans do to the web of life, we do to ourselves
– the evolutionary creativity and continued productivity of Earth and its regional ecosystems require the continuance of their key structures and ecological processes. Pollution of air, sediments and water, along with exploitive extraction of inorganic and organic constituents, weaken ecosystem integrity

The party further states that:
– the province stands at a moment of crisis. The latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have stated in no uncertainterms that we must act immediately if we are to have any chance at mitigating the worst effects of climate change
– Manitobans want to embrace a clean, green economy without delay, with realistic planning decisions that prepare us for the carbon-free future.  They are looking for a party they can trust to take action
– its climate strategies are integrated into every area of our platform. It seeks to promote a shift in consciousness and guide Manitobans towards practices that promote the flourishing of people a swell as the planet
– through innovative policy, Manitoba can be positioned for an energy future that is robust, sustainable, clean and affordable

In order to address the climate crisis, the party advocates:
– creating greenhouse gas reductions to be achieved by 2030, 2040, 2045 and 2050, taking into consideration input from stakeholders and the public
– incorporating climate targets into budget reporting to ensure that climate policy goals and budget policy goals work together

Energy & Resources
The party advocates:
– to support the transition away from fossil fuels, investing in Green energy, transportation and agriculture
– protecting and managing provincial natural ecosystems in ways that reduce overall emissions

Sustainability
The party states, as a matter of principle, that:
– it promotes the precautionary principle – look before you leap — economic regulatory activity should considerthis adage when reviewing a practice or product which potentially posesa significant threat of harm to human health or the environment

To strengthen industry regulations and support sustainable commercial development, the party advocates:
– supporting only commercial development and operations that demonstrate a strong commitment to preserving and protecting ecosystems
– strengthening and enforcing regulations that serve to stop pollutionfrom all sources, with a focus on mining and fossil fuel operations
– improving the Made-in-Manitoba Climate &Green Fund and the Expert Advisory Council, by (i) refocusing the priority of the Made-in-Manitoba Climate & Green Fund on funding climate mitigation and adaptation measures; (ii) providing the Expert Advisory Council with specific year-end greenhouse gas reduction targets to achieve; (iii) esnuring that the advisory council develops the most cost effective measures to achieve year-end targets; and requiring the advisory council to release a report every second yearon the progress being made to reach the targets that have been set

To promote sustainable energy and efficiency, the party advocates:
– increasing the energy efficiency of homes and other buildings by: (i) establishing incentive programs to ensure that Manitoba’s existing buildings are properly insulated; (ii) changing building codes to ensure that all new buildings meet super-efficiency insulation standards, and include small-scale renewable micro-generators; (iii) halting the expansion of natural gas services for residential heating; and (iv) exploring alternative, renewable options to natural gas heating, such as geothermal and electric

Conservation
The party states that:
– Manitoba’s natural ecosystems have been taken for granted for many years, and their existence has become threatened as a result. For example, 70 percent of Manitoba’s wetland habitats have already been drained,damaged or destroyed as a result of agricultural and urban development
– failure to conserve wetlands has resulted in increased flooding, greater greenhouse gas emissions,and more nutrient run-off into our waterways
– the province’s natural ecosystems are a vital part of its infrastructure that protects against flooding, mitigates climate change, and sustains the provincial economy

To ensure that Manitoba’s ecosystems are preserved for futuregenerations, the party advocates:
– preventing further pollution to Manitoba’s lakesand rivers, by: (i) working cooperatively with the City of Winnipeg and the federal government to upgrade Winnipeg’s sewage treatment system to prevent diluted raw effluent from being spilled into the Red River; and (ii) mandating strengthening and enforcement of manure management regulations for hog barns, chicken barns and feedlots in the Red River Basin to eliminate manure run-off
– restoration of Manitoba’s wetlands and protection of the health of provincial waterways, by: (i) creating a grant program for farmers to move ponds and wetlands around their land for convenient farming, as long as the water is retained; (ii) using tax incentives to encourage the replacement of the natural water retention capacity where potholes and sloughs have been removed; (iii) protecting government owned wetlands and prohibit further wetland drainage; and (iv) ensuring that all public right of ways, including ditches, road allowances, lagoons and drainage ditches, preserve as much natural wetland habitat as possible
– preserving and restoring Manitoba’s boreal forests, by:  (i) in consultation with Indigenous communities having claim to territory through traditional occupation and/or use, identifying areas to be preserved and protected for hunting, fishing and gathering purposes; requiring that all woodland operations, including logging, be done in a way that ensures the regeneration of the affected forest; ending clear-cutting in provincial parks, and promoting healthy reforestation projects
– banning harmful resource extraction methods, including: (i) the mining of peat lands, which are the filter for Lake Winnipeg; (ii) fracking, in order to prevent contamination of ground waterwith toxic chemicals; and (iii) uranium mining and exploration

The party states that:
– the six principles of the Global Green movement include commitment to ecological wisdom and sustainablity
– human beings are part of the natural world
– it respects the specific value of all forms of life
– it recognizes the limited scope for the material expansion of society within the biosphere and the need to maintain biodiversity through the sustainable use of renewable resources
– with ecological wisdom and sustainability two key Green principles, environmental protection lies at the heart of Green Party thinking

The party advocates:
– beefing up every aspect of environmental protection and weaving environmental criteria into other policy areas whenever appropriate; for example, urging that ecosystem boundaries be included as a mandatory consideration when provincial electoral boundaries are redrawn
– keeping and maintain all existing parks and protected areas in the Alberta Parks System
– continuing to expand the Alberta Parks system to fulfill the goal of protecting areas of significant ecological value
– supporting Ecotourism as defined by the International Ecotourism Society

Environmental Bill of Rights
The party advocates adoption of an Environmental Bill of Rights (EBoR) for the province of Alberta
– because laws can be passed more quickly than constitutions amended, the party would enact an EBoR first as a statute and then, later, move for it to be added to the provincial constitution
– and notes that although much research and consultation would have to be done before the final wording of the EboR was decided, it would advocate inclusion of at least the following:

1. a right of Albertans to a “healthy and ecologically balanced environment,” including a duty on the part of the government of Alberta to protect the environment under its jurisdiction for the benefit of both present and future generations
   2. the definition of “a healthy and ecologically balanced environment” would be stringent, such as “an environment of a quality that protects human and cultural dignity, health and well-being and in which essential ecological processes are preserved for their own sake, as well as for the benefit of present and future generations.”
2. the definition of “environment” would be all-encompassing, such as “the components of the Earth,” including a) air, land and water, b) all layers of the atmosphere, c) all organic matter and livin g organisms, d) biodiversity within and among species, and e) the interacting natural systems that include the above mentioned components
3. a guarantee that neither Indigenous people nor other Albertans would lose any of the legal rights or legal remedies they already have to protection of the environment
4. a specification that it must be interpreted (by the courts and all others) consistently with existing and emerging principles of environmental law, including but not limited to a) the precautionary principle, b) the polluter-pay principle, c) the principle of sustainable development, d) the principle of intergenerational equity, and e) the principle of environmental justice.”
5. a clear specification of means by which Albertans could force the government to comply with provincial environmental law, including the EBoR itsel, including the right to go to the courts to protect the environment by bringing an environmental protection action against the Government of Alberta for failing to fulfill its duties as trustee of the environment; failing to enforce an environmental law; or violating the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment.

Climate Change
The party states that:
– it recognizes that climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity
– it supports the creation of a climate change strategy at the provincial level that would determine mitigation and adaptation strategies for Alberta, and implement those strategies

The party advocates:
– making adaptation to climate change an integral part of all government decision-making
– where communities suffer damage from extreme weather and other climate related events, ensuring that such communities are rebuilt in such a way as to minimize the likelihood that they suffer the same sort of damage again in the future
– working with municipal governments to amend the Municipal Government Act so as to ensure the principles of adaptation to climate change are followed by municipal governments throughout the province
– production of accurate floodplain maps for the province, including projected changes 25 years in the future

Carbon tax
The party advocates:
– imposition of Carbon Taxes on all hydrocarbons, at levels sufficient to discourage consumption of them, and implementation of equivalent taxation of other sources of greenhouse gas emissions insofar as evolving technology for monitoring makes it practically possible to do so
– such a Carbon Tax price level will Include a plan for defined annual escalations over five year horizons; be based on the intention that the pricing plans will be regularly reviewed to balance achieving required reductions in emissions with the intention of being consistent with the efforts of the developed world in general
– use of revenue from the Carbon Tax to offset the impact of the Carbon Tax on lower income individuals; fund research and development of sustainable technologies and governance; pay down debt or add to the Heritage Fund; and reduce taxation from other sources
– action to revise, improve, and reincorporate the Carbon Competitive Incentive Regulation (CCIR) legislation that creates industry standards, based on product and technology for allowable levels of GHG emissions, to create a common ‘best practice’ benchmark for industry participants upon which all GHG costs or credits available are calculated for their facility
– implementation of global carbon price on shipping and aviation fuels, including consultion with and urging the federal government to take up the policy in international fora and negotiations, and other mechanisms

Species, Diversity, & Wildlife
The party advocates:
– amendment of the Animal Protection Act to include wildlife
– banning of trophy hunting
– recognition of the Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness, which declares in part that “non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviours,” and use of the declaration to guide other related policies
– banning the use of Compound 1080, Strychnine and Sodium Cyanide are banned as means to kill any wildlife
– banning the culling of wolves for any reason, and abolishing any version of the current “Alberta Wolf Management and Control Plan,” which has inhumanely culled over 2500 wolves

Energy & Resources
Carbon Fuels & Pipelines
The party advocates:
– recognition of climate change as a serious threat to humanity globally
– recognition of Alberta’s ethical obligation to contribute to the solution of climate change
– an orderly transition from dependence on fossil fuel exploitation to reliance on the full range of renewable energy sources available in the province, including wind, solar power and geo-thermal
– the fastest possible retirement of Alberta’s coal- burning electricity plants
– a moratorium on development of additional tar sands projects until the impacts of existing and approved projects on the environment, infrastructure and society are assessed and an overall development policy is created
– immediate and permanent rescission and ban on coal leasing, and on the licensing of coal exploration, coal development, and coal mining in the entire province of Alberta on both Crown and freehold lands
– a permanent ban coal land leasing, as well as the licensing of coal exploration and/or development, including above or below ground and using any technique of extraction
– promotion of the idea that the province should live within its existing pipeline means and thus opposes the approval and construction or expansion of any pipeline the purpose of which is to transport bitumen production from Alberta
– improved governmental monitoring of all pipelines.  Although the matter is largely within the jurisdiction of the federal government, the party supports the tightening up of all laws and regulations concerning the transport by train of bitumen production and all other hydrocarbons and dangerous goods
– a thorough independent review of the economics of the Northwest Upgrader project and, if so indicated, the termination of provincial participation in it
– termination of government funding for carbon capture and sequestration
– abolishment of the privately incorporated Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and creation of two publicly owned and operated review boards:  an energy development review board; and an environmental assessment review board.  These boards shall consist of independent and qualified experts working with communities and Indigenous peoples to ensure that proper environmental assessment and public consultations are conducted in the public interest. These boards will act with the authority of The Alberta Government and will have enforcement and respect for full public accountability
– research into power storage technology that would make intermittent alternative power sources more viable, for exa mple, technology that  would store excess wind power for use when the wind is not blowing
– phasing out the use of coal for electric power generation, with the goal of complete elimination by 2030
– replacing coal generation with renewable power, improved efficiency, small-scale cogeneration, demand response, and natural gas peaking capacity
– introduction of laws and regulations that would create a level playing field for geothermal energy, both for heating and for generation of electricity. In particular, the Green Party of Alberta government will support creation of a licensing system for geothermal wells
– setting a goal of a 50% renewably powered grid by 2030, and providing economic incentives for the transition through a combination of carbon taxes, feed-in tariffs, tax incentives, and regulation
– re-envision the Alberta electricity grid to give preference to decentralized power minimizing the need for long-distance transport from large, centralized power plants
– recognizing that the Alberta grid is relatively isolated, support for the development of an interconnected national grid
– banning of large scale use of crop land, forest and other vegetation for conversion to bio-fuels
– government subsidies, based on income, to offset or pay for installation costs for home based renewable energy technology
– immediate implementation of feed-in tariffs. A Green Party of Alberta government will require power companies to compensate customers for their power input at a substantial premium over the cost they pay for their power and to guarantee such arrangements for a term of 10 years
– strong support for renewable energy, especially solar power, including immediately construction of solar power stations
– requiring developers/builders to offer optional solar packages to all new home buyers
– protection of other values, during the move away from carbon-based energy sources to benign renewables, other values must also be protected, including bio-diversity and the agricultural land needed for food security
– resolving that the province’s overall renewable energy strategy be designed to take into account the mix of available local energy sources
– promoting research and development of  geothermal energy in Alberta, either through the creation of a Crown corporation analogous to AOSTRA or through a much stronger emphasis on geothermal research at Alberta Innovates
– much more rigorous regulation of the oil and gas industry, including application of the following principles:
1. The precautionary principle: a project should not be approved unless the evidence presented by the company proposing the project shows that the sustainability of Alberta’s ecosystems will not be threatened by it;
2. Strict enforcement of the laws regulating the industry is essential: penalties for infractions must be large enough to change the way companies do business and stop-work orders should be used as often as necessary to achieve compliance;
3. The polluter must pay: the costs of pollution, reclamation and restoration must be paid over the life of a project and not put off until the end of it (as by then the companies involved may no longer exist or have the funds to pay them);
4. The regulatory process must be fully transparent;
5. The public, including public-interest advocacy groups, should have the right to greater participation in the regulatory process.
– amening federal bankruptcy law to give priority to discharging a bankrupt entity’s obligations to reclaim and restore uneconomic industrial sites before dispersing any funds to other creditors
– topping up the Orphan Well Fund by an amount sufficient to eliminate its backlog of well-sites requiring abandonment and reclamation, and to recover these costs by means of a surcharge on PNG (petroleum and natural gas) and bitumen royalties
– banning multi-stage, high pressure hydraulic fracturing in Alberta
– requiring that the concentrations and compositions of all additives to frack fluids be made available on a public data base and easily accessed by legal land description
– requiring require groundwater testing of all public and private water wells within an eight kilometer radius of each multi-stage, high pressure, hydraulic fracked well, including testing for all additives in the frack fluid used in that well, and making results of such testing must be made publicly available and easily accessed by legal land description
– requiring ongoing monitoring and public disclosure and reporting of all monitoring results of all multi-stage, high pressure, hydraulic fracked wells to determine and stop any leaks of contaminants into air, soil, or water

Water
The party advocates:
– immediately reinstatement of the pre-2009 Navigable Waters Protection Act
– adherence with the 1969 Master Agreement on Apportionment and the Prairie Provinces Water Board
– affirming that all water in the Province of Alberta is, and should remain, the property of the Crown, to be managed for the common good
– while the Crown may grant licences for the use of water, this does not, and should not, grant title to the water itself
– affirming that that water, being essential to life, is more than a simple commodity and may not be bought and sold as such
– recognizing that the needs of licensees may change over time, allowing the Crown to permit the transfer of water licences in whole or in part, subject to conditions to protect the public interest and promote conservatio
– review of existing water licences at least every 20 years in order to adapt to climate change, future water needs, and First Nations rights, and allowing increased public participation in the granting of water licences
– affirming the right of the Crown to rescind or restrict existing licences where water is being used wastefully
– endorsing the July 28, 2010 United Nations resolution recognizing the human right to safe clean drinking water and sanitation, as a foundational principle of water policy
– assessing and regulating the density of all linear developments (roads, utility corridors, pipelines, railways, power lines, telecom infrastructure, right of ways, etc.) within provincial watersheds in order to minimize the harm associated with or resulting from these interventions
– designation of riparian reserve margins for all waterways according to size of the stream/river, the fish etc., bordered by protective management areas in accorance with specific guidelines
– improvement of surface and ground water surveys to generate regional modeling of water resources, and making survey data and modeling results available and actively distributed to interested parties and the general public in the form of Open Data
– completion of a water management plan that identifies and enforces a science based Ecosystem Base Flow (EBF) for all major Alberta rivers at a low—flow threshold
– in view of the increasing demands on water from oil sands development, giving the lower Athabasca region and the Athabasca River should have first priority for water source modeling and the establishment of an Ecosystem Base Flow (EBF)
– restructuring the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program for use as a comprehensive and scientifically robust monitoring system compatible with and integrated with regional water modeling
– where supported by data from an enhanced water quality monitoring system, vigorous action to stop water source pollution, including but not limited to:  1. pollution of water bodies by runoff of agricultural chemicals; 2. aquifer contamination by feedlot effluent; 3. physical or chemical contamination of water and watersheds by industrial, mining, oil and gas, or forestry operations; and 4. use of recreational vehicles

Sustainable Development
The party states recognizes the limited scope for the material expansion of society within the biosphere and the need to maintain biodiversity through the sustainable use of renewable resources

The party advocates:
– ensuring that all government policy is guided by the Party’s six guiding principles. Where choices must be made between material standard of living and quality of life for future generations, future generations should have priority
– requiring all-new construction buildings, as of 2030, to be “net-zero” for GHG emissions
– creation of community-owned renewable energy projects
– creation of mechanisms for financing cooperative businesses
– encouraging transition of existing businesses into cooperative businesses when the alternative is closure
– managing the move to renewables with consideration for local social conditions and with as much engagement, buy-in and participation of local communities as possible

Eastern slopes
The party advocates:
– requiring management of the Rocky Mountains’ eastern slopes landscape to focus on protection of the headwaters of rivers
– creation of an eastern slopes conservation authority
– drastic reduction of the area over which off-road vehicles can be used in the eastern slopes, and would strict enforcement of laws and regulations on their use
– assessment and regulation of the density of all linear developments (roads, utility corridors, pipelines, railways, power lines, telecom infrastructure, right of ways, etc.) in order to minimize their negative impact on watershed health

Soil conservation
The party advocates:
– protection and improvement of soil health, in order to ensure the soil’s ability to sequester carbon, harbour biodiversity, help prevent drought and flooding, and increase food nutrition, through various measures, including: crop development programs or cropping systems that maintain soil health in a sustainable manner; initiatives that help to prevent erosion and soil degradation; targets to address threats to soil health, including acidification, biodiversity loss, compaction, contamination, salinization/sodification, nutrient imbalance, sealing, organic carbon loss and erosion; assistance to farmers to implement regenerative soil conservation practices in order to enable long-term, stable food-raising conditions
– holding corporations responsible for reclamation and rehabilitation of the fossil fuel sites that have been impacted through their operations
– a review current obligations for remediation to re-evaluate if the dedicated financial devices are sufficient to the task
– where dedicated financial devices are insufficient, Governmental pursuit of means to remedy the situation
– incorporation of Project Drawdown’s principles and solutions to guide policy development that is ecologically and economically sustainable and draws down the levels of greenhouse gases to preindustrial levels as quickly and effectively as possible
– since energy efficiency is the cheapest, easiest and quickest way to drastically reduce energy consumption, support for initiatives to facilitate it, for example, requiring all homes to have an energy efficiency rating at point of sale or resale

Electric vehicle rebate
The party advocates:
– establishment of an EV rebate comparable to that of Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario, available within a term of 2 years with such term being open to extension by the legislature

Agriculture
The party advocates:
– ensuring that a resilient food system is a main provincial priority. A resilient food system is one that is biodiverse, decentralized, decarbonized and regenerative; based on local production and processing, small and medium organic farms, and co-operatives and local markets, including farmers markets
– an immediate ban on the use of all neonicotinoid anywhere they would be considered dangerous to the health of bees
– dialogue with farmers and ranchers to assist them in shifting to an agroecological system, meaning farming in harmony with nature, in order to create a resilient food system that strengthens food security and sovereignty, enables sustainable farmer livelihood, supports rural economies, and helps to resolve the climate and biodiversity crises
– subsidies, tax breaks and other financial incentives for agroecological practices, including but not limited to maintaining and planting shelterbelts, protecting wetlands, conserving native-grass prairie, regenerative soil practices, non-industrial no-till methods, use of natural fertilizers that benefit both crops and soil, complex crop rotation and inter-cropping, and by assisting farmers and ranchers who wish to obtain organic or regenerative organic certification
– assistance for all producers to certify under the existing Alberta Environmental Farm Plan process and to continue applying the prescribed environmental protection measures
– establishing priorities for agricultural research focusing on sustainable soil use and cropping practices
– recognition of the harm synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers present to the environment, other species and human health
– providing a subsidy to farmers to support transitioning to organic/permaculture, agroecology and other sustainable agricultural practice
– immediate funding for publicly available and transparent research into the long term effects of agrochemical weed control, including the effects on human health, soil microflora, nutrient retention, and soil erosion

Forestry
The party advocates:
– sustainable conduct forest management practices that prioritize the ecological services of forests in water retention and management, air purification and cleaning, and maintaining species diversity
– treating the economic values of timber extraction, food foraging reserves, and recreational use of as important secondary considerations
– prescribed burning as a forest management tool. Prescribed fire is the knowledgeable and controlled application of fire to a specific land area to accomplish planned resource management objectives. These fires are managed in such a way as to minimize the emission of smoke and maximize the benefits to the site
– implementation of a public education program to inform Albertans about the benefits of prescribed burning, and how a return to it benefits forest
– banning the practice of clear-cutting of forests
– phasing out all logging practices that do not meet standards of sustainability and preservation of forest ecosystems
– banning use of glyphosate and other herbicide chemicals by the forestry industry when the primary motivating factor is to increase the production efficiency of the forest and deter small, low intensity fire generation
– prioritizing species diversification in Alberta’s managed and unmanaged forests

The party states that it believes:
– the environment should be kept safe and productive to support an acceptable quality of life for the people of Alberta
– we must protect our natural resources while enabling Albertans to enjoy the economic and recreational benefits of nature
– that each stage of the manufacturing, resource development and consumption processes must assume its own share of responsibility for its environmental impacts
– it is the duty of those using our natural resources to fund pertinent reclamation projects and otherwise safeguard those resources
– environmental protection must be a synergistic process with consumer and industry buy-in

Soil & water
The party advocates:
– brining about the removal or neutralization of soil and water contaminants already released in Alberta
– stopping, treating, or controlling releases of contaminants currently occurring, and preventing or regulating future releases
– consolidating and reviewing existing provincial and federal laws, regulations, and guidelines, and will altering them to fit the needs of Alberta

Water & wetlands
The party advocates:
– improving water management practices and combatting overallocation to protect future supplies
– partnering with local environmental organisations to protect Alberta’s wetlands
– controlled grazing in forested areas to ensure natural wildlife habitats are preserved and to ensure Alberta’s prime ranch land is utilized instead
– taking measures to avoid the impairment or destruction of our natural resources and environment by excessive exploitation and use
– prioritizing habitat and ecosystem conservation rather that the preservation of individual species, with the exceptions of species that Albertans have an economic or cultural interest in preserving
– striving to manage our geological resources for the benefit of present and future Albertans

Project reviews
The party advocates:
– definition of disclosure requirements for potential review participants, along with harsh penalties for instances of noncompliance
– ensuring that beneficial effects of a project will be considered in the project review, rather than only adverse effects
– providing guidance to enable regulators to screen out projects with little hope of approval before the time and effort of taxpayers are wasted
– increased transparency about what is required in a project application, and design, construction, and operation of the project
– providing a clear framework for stakeholder consultation and compensation, to provide a consistent and predictable system for the applicant
– providing timetables for reviews and specifying actions that will be taken when deadlines are not met

Energy and Resources
Electrical Generation
The party advocates:
– continuing to promote the development of new coal and natural gas technologies
– opening new markets for our coal and natural gas services in developing countries
– encouraging innovation in the field of high efficiency combined cycle natural gas electrical generation technologies, ensuring they remain an inexpensive and reliable product for Albertan companies to market to developing countries.

Radiological Electrical Generation
The party advocates:
– ensuring that Alberta’s fissionable resources are used to produce new and valuable industries for Albertans
– evaluating and selecting Generation IV nuclear reactor designs for development that best suit the needs of Albertans, provide the cheapest electricity possible for Albertans and are made inherently safe using physical laws
– closing nuclear fuel cycle and ensuring state-of-the-art reprocessing technologies are developed in Alberta
– developing a nuclear engineering institute in Alberta

Oil and Gas
The party advocates:
– providing a new stable, consistent, and common sense set of industry regulations that will allow Albertans to invest with confidence in our oil and petrochemical industries
– decreasing processing times for project approvals by streamlining the approval process where applicable. In the absence of a breach of regulatory requirements or fraud, approval will not be revocable under normal circumstances
– ensuring that the approval criteria for projects remain consistent
– prohibiting foreign funded special interest groups from vexing industries and will ensuring that such groups are fined the full cost of delays
– helping Albertan oil and petrochemical companies gain access to adequate pipeline capacity to get their products to market
– encouraging technologies for safe and efficient oil and petrochemical transportation
– opening new markets for Albertan oil and petrochemicals in developing countries
– helping get Albertan natural gas to international markets
– engaging researchers and industries to find ways to convert normally wasted natural gas products into more economically valuable products
– eliminating the need for foreign gas product imports through the development of pertinent plant infrastructure where it is economically feasible
– encouraging research and feasibility studies into value-added and profitable carbon dioxide technologies, such carbon dioxide fracturing technology, to improve oil and gas well yields and to enable the exploitation of geothermal energy; water gas shift and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis processes, to create valuable chemicals out of carbon dioxide; and refrigeration technology utilizing carbon dioxide as the working fluid, to reduce our reliance on ozone damaging refrigerants

Mining
The party advocates:
– a review of mineralogical survey data to identify the top five (5) profitable resources, outside of oil, to leverage to develop new industries
– a review of existing mining industry regulation
– providing protection to businesses against new regulations and court challenges, ensuring regulatory requirements remain consistent, including immunity to lawsuits for the first five years of a mine’s operation if it is compliant with regulatory obligations
– ensuring that both private corporations and public sector industries are able to leverage Alberta’s rich lithium reserves
– encouraging growth of new industries surrounding lithium extraction, product development, and manufacturing

Agriculture
The party advocates:
– encouraging studies on holistic agriculture techniques and taking a results-based approach to economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture
– encouraging research into more efficient organic farming practices without harming conventional farming operations. Agribusinesses will be expected to take good care of the land they own and operate, to ensure it remains productive for future generations
– encouraging research into vertical farming and greenhouse technology
– ensuring that Alberta maintains a healthy bee population and encouraging the continued development of our apiculture industry
– promoting diversity in local agriculture to become self-sustaining as a country, with the goal of rendering agricultural imports unnecessary. This includes traditional agriculture (beef, poultry, swine, sheep, goats, grain, dairy, etc.) as well as greenhouses (non-traditional fruits and vegetables) and aquaculture
– providing an “Agricultural Education” online course to Alberta High School students, integrated with in person sessions and practical experience provided by famers who volunteer
– development of educational greenhouses and farms in each region of the province to encourage the development of a production-focused, entrepreneurial mindset in our youth
– promoting an “Alberta First” agricultural philosophy and striving to limit and regulate foreign investment in Albertan agribusinesses

Forestry
The party advocates:
– promotion of sustainable logging practices that preserve the natural structure and habitats of Alberta’s forests
– ensuring that reforestation activities mirror the land’s former natural condition
– encouraging the use of selective logging and cut blocks to decrease reforestation expenses and protect our forest’s natural environment
– changing the current leasing structure to allow the development of small forestry companies
– promoting an “Alberta First” forestry philosophy and will limit and regulate foreign investment in Alberta’s forestry-related industries.

Species & Diversity
The party advocates:
– development of a new fur industry as an environmentally sustainable alternative to synthetic materials
– opening of new markets for Albertan fur products internationally, while taking steps to prevent the overharvesting of furs
– leveraging the fur industry to preserve Albertan traditions in the modern area and to provide a strong incentive to preserve our forest environments and habitats
– leveraging the trapping industry to drive conservation efforts and research and reduce the need for costly aerial surveys

The party states that among its core values are commitments to:
– deliver prosperity and protect the environment
– safeguard the province’s precious air, water and land, including a commitment to battle climate change, and making polluters pay

Climate Change
The party states that:
– environmental protection is critical to protecting our way of life. It allows us to breathe clean air, drink clean water and grow healthy food, while protecting wildlife and ecosystems
– it is serious about environmental protection
– as the most environmentally-committed party in Alberta, it will protect Alberta’s local environments and play a leadership role in the fight against climate change
– since within 12 years irreversible climate change will begin harm every aspect of life and prosperity in Alberta, a modern climate change strategy has to be a twopronged approach: mitigation and adaptation: reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change
– since climate change is already a reality, the province must prepare for what that means, for humans and for nature

Mitigation
The party states that:
– economists agree that market-based approaches are the most cost-effective tool available to governments to address greenhouse gas emissions
– carbon taxes strike a balance between protecting our environment and protecting our economy, and reflect the true cost greenhouse gas emissions have on our economy, society, and environment

The party advocates:
– making the carbon tax revenue-neutral
– adopting enhanced rebates for low-income Albertans, and lowering income taxes, in an amount equal to the carbon tax Albertans will pay
– returning all carbon tax revenue to consumers and businesses
– full informing all Albertans on the progress being made in reducing carbon emissions
– introducing incentives to encourage Albertans to replace higher-polluting vehicles with cleaner forms of transportation
– calling for implementation of a national Clean Fuel Standard by examining the feasibility of an Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program and an Electric Vehicle Charging Incentive Program
– creating the business and regulatory environment to allow green initiatives like renewable energy to grow and thrive, including investment in research that helps make these projects more economical and exploring the feasibility of using more geothermal energy
– planting  trees in urban areas to improve air quality and absorb carbon, and to help keep communities cool by mitigating the heat-island effect in cities as our planet warms
– exploring other opportunities to make Alberta towns and cities more resilient in the face of climate change

Species, Diversity & Wildlife
The party advocates:
– creation of wildlife corridors to allow for the safe movement of animals, maintaining ecological integrity and increasing the viability of species at risk, particularly as as climate change forces species to migrate
– working with experts, conservation non-profits and other stakeholders to strengthen our conservation policies and preserve biodiversity, and putting an extra emphasis on protecting species at risk

Energy & Resources
The party states that:
– Alberta’s energy industry is the heart of its economy, and should be supported, not just for Albertans but for the environment

The party advocates:
–  balancing the environment and the economy by creating the most ethical and environmentally friendly oil possible so the world doesn’t turn to dirtier energy sources like coal
– ending government boondoggles in favour of a free-market approach, including establishing an independent panel of experts to review and make recommendations on any proposed future taxpayer-financed, value-added investment in the energy sector
– canceling a previous government’s costly and risky oil-by-railcar shipping plan.

Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion
– in order to diversify the province’s customer base in the most responsible way, completing the trans mountain pipeline expansion project, including proper and effective consultations with First Nations and meaningful accomodation of their concerns
– because the federal government cannot be trusted to get this right, demanding an interim report that details the federal government’s efforts to comply with the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision and the status of the consultation process with affected First Nations in Alberta and British Columbia

Bill C-69
– amendment of Bill C-69, in view of its deep flaws and the need to provide both regulatory certainty and socially-responsible investing
– joining with Alberta’s energy industry to demand specific amendments to this bill that balance economic, social and environmental concerns, including:
+ removal of project approval powers from the purview of the federal Environment Minister and depoliticizing approvals
+ modernizing and improving, not replacing, the National Energy Board, and retaining its well-established, extensively court-reviewed process and extensive jurisprudence;
+ considering positive aspects of national and regional growth, prosperity and competitiveness as public interest factors
+ embracing opportunities for Indigenous economic reconciliation; Increasing certainty around timeframes and clock stoppages
+ introducing innovative approaches to minimize timelines; and Establishing clear policy in the areas of climate change and Indigenous rights

Energy East Pipeline Project
The party states that:
– Canada needs greater energy independence and Alberta needs access to markets
– a pipeline east just makes sense

The party advocates:
– reigniting the Energy East pipeline project and replacing oil imports in eastern Canada with more ethical and environmentally-responsible made-in-Alberta oil.
– demanding that the federal government show national leadership and restart this important national infrastructure project

Amalgamating power market entities
The party states that:
– there currently exist six government agencies and committees involved in the power market, including the Alberta Electric System Operator, Alberta Utilities Commission, Utilities Consumer Advocate, Market Surveillance Administrator, Balancing Pool and Transmission Facility Cost

Management Committee
– these agencies cost over $175 million annually, and experts believes there is a significant overlap and redundancy in their roles, further exacerbated by a capacity market

The party advocates:
– amalgamating these entities to save consumer tens of millions of dollars a year

Renewable Energy
The party states that green initiatives like renewable energy represent an economic opportunity for Alberta

The party advocates:
– creating a business and regulatory environment to allow green initiatives like renewable energy to grow and thrive, including investment in research that helps make such projects more economical
– exploring the feasibility of more geothermal energy and congregation plants that convert excess energy into usable power

Water
The party advocates adopting a stronger conservation strategy for provincial water supplies and the Rocky Mountains Eastern Slopes, including:
– setting water quality and quantity as the highest priorities when considering any activities that affect headwaters
– funding all watershed councils to develop land use planning documents and developing land use plans based on their recommendations
– greater scrutiny of projects with large impacts on water usage
– implementing regulations and incentives to reduce the amount of freshwater used in fracking in favour of non-potable water
– implementing mandatory baseline groundwater testing and public reporting for oil and gas wells where hydraulic fracturing has been used
– opposing interbasin water transfers in all but the most extreme circumstances
– banning off-highway vehicles in areas where they compromise water supplies and habitat viability

Sustainable Development
The party states that fairness to future generations means finding a way to live sustainably today. We can’t pass the burden of short-term decision-making onto our children and grandchildren

Disaster preparedness and recovery
The party states that as the climate warms, Alberta will experience more extreme weather disasters including wildfires, droughts, and floods, but has historically underfunded Emergency Preparedness

The party advocates:
– budgeting more realistically for disaster recovery instead of relying on massive supplementary appropriations, using for example, including budgeting based on a rolling average of the previous five years
– requiring all Albertans who live or operate businesses in the floodway or flood fringe to have flood insurance, in the same manner that drivers are required to carry motor vehicle insurance
– pressuring the federal government to create overland flood insurance to cover all Canadians, as Canada is the only G7 country without such government-backed coverage
– legislating a requirement for the government to immediately release all independent, post-incident emergency response assessments as soon as they are received
– expanding protected areas from the current 15% of Alberta’s natural environments to cover 30% of Alberta by 2030. Protected areas can come in many forms and management structures
– building more wildlife crossings to combat habitat fragmentation, to move and prevent collisions between humans and animals
– protecting deer, elk and moose from chronic wasting disease and adopting appropriate measures to control and eliminate the potential for it to be transmitted to livestock and/or human populations
– banning clear cutting outright while working with the forestry industry to implement best practices for developing a strong and vibrant sector focused on sustainability and profitability. The practice of clear-cutting is extremely damaging for ecosystems, animal life, flood protection, and tourism
– working with municipalities to address urban sprawl and create more sustainable growth models.

Recycling
The party advocates:
– with China taking in less recycling product, changing Alberta’s recycling policy promptly, including expansion of electronics recycling to include small appliances and a host of other electronics that are currently ineligible
– implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on select products, in order to add all the environmental costs of a product to its market cost
– elimination of the use of single-use plastics in Alberta by 2030, beginning by incentivizing industries to scale down their use of these materials immediately

Land use
The party advocates:
– establishing a new grazing lease protocol for the entire province based on the program established by the Municipal District of Taber
– strengthening provincial oversight of gravel extraction.

Reclamation of Oil and Gas lands
The party states that the Alberta Energy Regulator (“AER”) has estimated the long-term reclamation costs of Alberta’s oil and gas industry to be as high as $260 billion or more, but so far the province has collected a mere $1.6 billion from industry to deal with this clean-up liability

To protect taxpayers, our environment, and our sustainable domestic energy, the party advocates:
– implementing an “Oil Patch Cleanup Bond” to ensure polluters pay
– in addition, setting time limits on “suspended wells” to ensure non-producing wells aren’t left unreclaimed for decades and timelines for reclaiming well sites

Stewardship of Creation
The party states that it offers an alternative vision of the future based principles which include a conviction that ecological sustainability must permeate all economic and social policy. Meeting human material needs must not use more of Earth’s resources than can be renewed within each generation. Wastes produced in meeting needs must not endanger future generations’ rights to clean air, pure water and productive soil.  Life on Earth is best protected by ensuring biodiversity, requiring recognition of each species’ contribution to the planet’s health. Consequently, we have to view other species not as resources for human wants, but as respected members of Earth’s living family. Human economic security is assured by reducing consumption, and is achieved by conservation programs. Such policies will also contribute to intergenerational equity,

…and that during its recent term in office it:
– took a balanced approach, bringing Albertans together to show that a strong economy and a clean environment can – and must – go hand in hand
– introduced the Climate Leadership Plan, placing our energy economy in the ranks of the world’s most environmentally progressive energy producers while building support across Canada for pipelines.  The Climate Leadership Plan has supported more than 7,300 jobs so far. 20,000 more jobs are planned, with construction starting on Climate Leadership Plan projects and with innovation initiatives getting off the ground. Since the Plan’s implementation, Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions have dropped 16% – the equivalent of three Metro Vancouvers
– took action to fund the Green Line, Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir and upstream flood mitigation infrastructure on the Bow River in Calgary, as well as the Valley Line in Edmonton, through the Climate Leadership Plan
– funded upgrades at schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals for projects that cut operating costs and emissions
– created Energy Efficiency Alberta, which has already saved Albertans $510 million through lower energy costs
– began phasing out coal-fired power, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in Alberta, while implementing programs to ensure a just transition for workers and communities affected by the coal phase-out
– invested almost $40 million for low-cost solar programs for homes, businesses, First Nations, municipalities and farms
– invested over $200 million to reduce methane gas emissions
– created Castle Provincial Park and the world’s largest protected boreal forest

The party advocates:
– continuing to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the Climate Leadership Plan, as part of an overall strategy to combat climate change
– meeting its goals of achieving a phase-out of coal generation by 2030, to add more renewable energy to the electricity system, and meeting a target of 30% of electricity generation by 2030
– achieving a 45% reduction in methane emissions by 2025
– keeping a firm cap on oil sands carbon emissions and working with industry to build upon its innovations to keep the industry strong and competitive
– building flood protection on the Bow River and complete the Springbank dam to protect Calgarians against a catastrophic flood
– employing the best science and prevention techniques to tackle the pine beetle infestation in an effort to slow and halt its movement eastward
– to give landowners more certainty, implementing clear timelines for when companies need to clean up their abandoned oil and gas wells and require them to justify delays in reclaiming sites, and implementing new corporate health measures on asset sales to prevent liability dumping as we continue to work with industry and the Orphan Wells Association to accelerate remediation of the orphan wells inventory
– developing a Clean Lakes Strategy to improve lake watershed management with a goal of reducing blue-green algae blooms and protecting vulnerable shorelines so Albertans can continue to enjoy our many lakes
– partnering with outdoor recreation groups to improve recreation infrastructure such as trails, staging areas and docks to create better access to Alberta’s wilderness areas
– multi-year, stable funding for watershed councils and land trust organizations so they can be more effective at protecting our water and vulnerable lands, and reducing barriers to the creation of land trusts to support voluntary land conservation across the province.

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– climate change
– species, diversity & wildlife
– energy & resources
– sustainable development

Stewardship of Creation

The party states that:
– a full life includes work that provides not only a living, but dignity. Therefore its first priority is to boost the economy and bring quality jobs back to Alberta
– however, “the good life” includes much more than material well-being
– while government can’t guarantee a good life, it has a central role in establishing many of the conditions for it like health, safety, education, and support for the vulnerable

To make life better for Albertans, the party advocates:
– protecting the environment through a common-sense conservation plan which recognizes that that recreation, economic use, and conservation can and should support each other
– providing thorough protection for Albertans’ property rights through new legislation and a review of all existing legislation

Climate Change
The party advocates, among its top 5 commitments
– repealing the carbon tax and suing the federal government if it tries to impose a carbon tax on Alberta
– standing up against the federal government and special foreign interests that are trying to block pipeine development, fighting for pipelines

The party states that:
– the world is grappling with the tension between our need for the carbon-based energy industry and a consensus that its emissions are directly contributing to climate change
– it is committed to responsible energy development and that includes action to mitigate greenhouse emissions and reduce their contribution to climate change
– in 2007, Alberta became the first jurisdiction in North America to bring in a form of carbon pricing for emitters with the Specified Gas Emitters Regulations (SGER).  It believes that restoring an updated version of the SGER model will produce better environmental and fiscal results than the carbon tax introduced by the a previous government.

The party advocates:
– bringing in a new Technology Innovation and Emissions Reductions (TIER) regime for large industrial emitters in Alberta effective January 1, 2020, including an improved system to manage emissions from Alberta’s large industries (including oil and gas and electricity generation) which are responsible for about 60% of Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions
– under the new system, requiring existing facilities with emissions above 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (or equivalent), other than electricity generators, to meet an emissions performance target of reducing their emissions intensity by 10% (increasing by 1% per year) compared to their average performance, either by reducing facility emissions, purchasing credits from facilities that have exceeded their compliance targets, purchasing accredited offsets from emissions reductions occurring elsewhere in the Alberta economy, or paying into the TIER Fund at a rate of $20/tonne
– reducing the compliance price from $30/tonne to $20/tonne
– requiring large final emitters (LFEs) in the electricity sector to meet a “good-as-best-gas” performance standard, which means that over 60% of coal fired electricity emissions will be subject to compliance
– implementing a TIER Fund which will help companies reduce emissions with cleaner technology; the first $100 million in revenues and 50% of remaining revenues paid into the TIER Fund to be used for new and cleaner Alberta-based technologies that reduce carbon emissions even further, including new and improved oil sands extraction technology and supporting research and investment in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS)
– using additional TIER funds will also support (i) reductions in Alberta’s deficit; and (ii) the energy “war room” that will share the truth about Alberta’s resource sector

Energy & Resources
Pipelines
The party states that:
– pipelines are how Alberta gets its oil and gas to market for sale, and that the lack of pipeline capacity causes the price for our oil to go down and prevents further investment
– it will pursue every possible pipeline project to get our oil and gas to market, including two stalled projects: Keystone XL and Trans Mountain, and fighting to re-start Energy East and Northern Gateway, and to complete Line 3; and support for every other proposed avenue of egress
– a previous government’s $3.7 billion contract to lease rail cars was one of the largest single expenditures in Alberta history, and unnecessary since the private sector was already expanding oil-by-rail capacity significantly

The party advocates:
– immediate filing a constitutional challenge to strike down the federal governments “No More Pipelines” Bill C-69 (should it become law) as a violation of Section 92 of the Constitution Act, which gives Alberta clear, exclusive jurisdiction over the production of oil and gas
– using “Turn off the Taps” legislation should provinces, including British Columbia, continue to obstruct the construction of pipelines
– buiding an interprovincial coalition of provinces which support jobs, pipelines, and our energy industry, making it a top issue in federal-provincial relations
– holding a referendum on removing equalization from the Constitution Act on October 18, 2021 if substantial progress is not made on construction of a coastal pipeline, and if Bill C-69 is not repealed

Sustainable Development
The party states that:
– a previous government introduced costly and unnecessary changes to the system, at a cost of billions of dollars
– EDC Associates estimates that a market-driven approach to renewables would add 1,566 megawatts of renewable power through 2030, without the need for any new taxpayer or consumer subsidies

The party advocates:
– ending subsidies after the Renewable Energy Program’s round 3
– asking the Auditor General of Alberta to conduct a special duty audit on losses incurred by a previous government on power purchase agreements held through the Balancing Pool
– immediate tender of a bid for a comprehensive independent assessment of the costs of the current Climate Leadership Plan
– consulting on whether Alberta should return to an energy-only market or create a capacity market, reporting back to Albertans within 90-days

Forestry
The party states that:
– Alberta’s forestry sector employs over 16,000 Albertans directly and another 23,000 indirectly
– provincial forest companies and workers are world leaders in sustainable forestry practices and in managing Alberta’s land base for future generations
– policies of a previous government are costly and threaten long-term timber supplies
– while it recognizes the federally mandated need to propose a caribou range protection plan, that plan must be done in close collaboration with all who are affected and must be based on science and common-sense conservation policies

The party advocates protecting, promoting, and partnering with Alberta’s forestry workers and companies to expand the sector’s economic opportunities at home and abroad, including:
– ensuring that forest companies have long-term access to a sustainable fibre supply with our Forest Jobs Guarantee, including current quotas and forest management agreements
– offesetting federal or court-ordered policies that inhibit access to fibre with access to an equal or larger area for forestry in the same region
– supporting environmentally sustainable forestry practices by working with Alberta’s forestry companies to optimize land management practices
– restoring funding for the fight against the mountain pine beetle by increasing funding by $5 million to $30 million annually
– defending Alberta’s forest sector and fighting for Alberta’s proper national share of trade-allocated export quotas
– directing Alberta’s foreign trade offices to work with forestry companies to improve export opportunities, especially in Asia
– immediate formation of a Caribou Range Task Force of local municipal governments, the Northwest Species at Risk Committee, forestry and other industries, Indigenous representatives, and habitat scientists to review the Alberta Caribou Draft Plan
– ensuring that that the province’s land use consultations and planning are completed before any new long-term decisions are made on habitat protection
– including Alberta’s forestry sector in our “fight back strategy” against foreign funded attacks on Alberta’s resources
– ensuring that the caribou range plan, and any other environment policies affecting the forestry industry, are subject to a comprehensive social-economic impact assessment

Conservation
The party states that:
– thanks in large part to the efforts of civil society, Alberta has a brilliant history of environmental stewardship
– tens of thousands of volunteers across Alberta help protect the natural environment together, making Alberta a world leader in conservation
– stewardship of our air, land, water, and wildlife is a moral obligation, as well as being supported by a strong economy

The party advocates implementing a Common-Sense Conservation Plan that recognizes that recreation, economic use, and conservation can and should support each other, including:
– introduction of an Alberta Trails Act to increase awareness about and encourage the sustainable use of trails, enhance trails and trail experiences, and protect trails for future generations
– increasing funding by 50% ($5 million) to the Alberta Land Trust Grant Program that conserves ecologically important areas, and preserving other program and policy priorities
– protecting creeks and streams on the Eastern Slopes by adding $1 million in funding (tripling provincial funding from $531,000) to the Alberta Riparian Habitat Protection Society’s “Cows and Fish” Program, while seeking matching funds from the private sector
– applying a mandatory $30 trail permit fee to Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV) and camping trailers to pay for restoring and creating OHV trails and preventing damage in Alberta’s great outdoors, and to hire additional enforcement officers
– implementing a balanced back country land use plan to ensure all Albertans can enjoy public lands and appreciate the wilderness
– reviewing Alberta Environment and Parks legislation to modernize it for the 21st century
– improving data collection on environmental outcomes relating to parks and public lands to ensure these lands meet the needs of Albertans in the 21^st century in an environmentally sustainable way
– ensuring that more department staff work in the outdoors and with local stakeholders, including facilitating visitor enjoyment of the back country and conducting environmental monitoring
– strengthening partnerships with non-profit park societies across Alberta, including setting aside $1 million over four years to pilot an expanded role with park societies
– ensuring that all major economic development proposals continue to be subject to mandatory environmental impact assessments
– ensuring that in the future, all major environmental protection proposals will be subject to mandatory social-economic impact assessments to allow the government to strike the appropriate balance between economic growth and environmental protection
– encouraging and increasing the use of development credits and conservation offsets in provincial development policy
– creating statutory tort action for adversely affected downstream private landowners, so they can more easily deal with illegal drainage of wetlands – specifically to address landowners whose property/crops are flooded/damaged because of a neighbour’s or government’s illegal drainage of adjacent wetland
– enforcing actions against “trespass farming”, i.e., protecting 66-foot-wide public right of ways against conversion to crops or drainage of ditches next to rural roads
– allocating $10 million over two years to create the Big Island Provincial Park along the banks of the North Saskatchewan River in Southwest Edmonton

The Role of the Family
Child Care
The party advocates:
– investing in accessible, high quality, cost-effective child-care spaces that address early childhood education needs
– provding funding on an income-tested basis to improve access to childcare
– assessing the increasing need for before and after school care and investing in improved access

Health Care
As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the party believes that:
– every Albertan deserves the opportunity to succeed
– the provincial government should aspire to provide excellent and innovative public education, public health care, and infrastructure, as well as a compassionate helping hand in times of need
– this can be accomplished through responsible use of public funds

The party advocates:
– improving quality and affordability of health care by partnering with physicians, healthcare providers, professional associations, and patients to raise awareness of evidence based best practices
– ensuring that that patients receive tests, treatments, and procedures that are necessary and add value to their care
– empowering Alberta Health Services and emergency departments to ensure that ambulance paramedics would not be required to wait with patients for longer than 30 minutes
– establishing a Wellness Foundation for Alberta to promote health and prevent disease and disability using a comprehensive approach focused on evidence-based primary prevention initiatives
– expanding use of Integrated Primary Care teams to ensure; improved patient outcomes, better quality of life, longer life expectancy, improved patient experience, lower overall costs

Home Care
The party advocates enhancing home care services for seniors and persons with disabilities by:
– increasing funding to improve the availability and quality of home care services
– ensuring more efficient use of financial resources, thereby reducing the need for expensive acute care beds and public, long term care homes
– ensuring adequate supports for the informal networks for those requiring home care services.

Elder Care
The party advocates:
– supporting provincial seniors by ensuring there are appropriate numbers of care facilities, including sufficient public facilities
– implementation of a comprehensive dementia strategy to ensure that patients with dementia and their families and caregivers across Alberta have access to a range of services appropriate for their needs.

Education
As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the party believes that:
– every Albertan deserves the opportunity to succeed
– the provincial government should aspire to provide excellent and innovative public education, public health care, and infrastructure, as well as a compassionate helping hand in times of need
– this can be accomplished through responsible use of public funds

Primary Education
The party advocates:
– ending mandatory school fees, making schools more accessible for all Albertans, and reducing the administrative burden on school staff
– providing sustainable, consistent, adequate funding for our schools, with annual increases that are proportionate to population growth plus inflation
– ensuring that funding is stable, to allow for long-term planning
– ensuring that building decisions for new schools are not politically driven, and funding new schools according to enrolment numbers
– encouraging the sharing of resources, such as bussing, between overlapping school districts to reduce duplication of services.

Post-Secondary Education
The party advocates:
– ensuring stable and predictable operational funding to post-secondary institutions on a multi-year basis
– legislating a cap to limit tuition increases for both domestic and international students to Alberta’s CPI
– advocating that the Government of Canada increase the income threshold for recent graduates to begin repaying their student loans
– commitment to provision of ongoing funds for student mental health supports

Students with Special Needs
The party advocates:
– increased supports for students with special needs with additional appropriately trained staff and funding
– targeted funding for educational assistants to increase the human supports for students with special needs

Culture & Community
As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the party believes that:
– a great quality of life requires strong communities
– through support of recreation, sports, arts and culture, government can help to build strong and vibrant communities

The Role of and Support for the Family

Child Care and Early Development Services

The party advocates:
– increased support and funding to provide affordable, high-quality not-for-profit child care and early childhood development spaces as required

Child Welfare & Youth Justice

The party advocates:
– rethinking and restructuring the provision of child welfare and youth justice services so as to better accomplish a fundamental task—nurturing a sense of belonging in children who lack a functional family or other intact support system

Health Care
The party advocates:
– governmental recognition of the importance of wellness and prevention of illness through the elimination of poverty and homelessness and the adoption and enforcement of environmental policies that will keep our air, water and land free from contaminants which cause disease
– encouraging an individual, patient-centred approach to the delivery of health services
– working to ensure the sustainability of Alberta’s universal, publicly-funded healthcare system, and extension of its coverage, over time, to include cover basic dental care and other critical health services
– strong support for maintenance of a publicly-funded, government-operated health care system
– recognition of the overwhelming importance of exercise to human health and of the harm to any person denied full opportunity to exercise
– removal of barriers to participation in physical activities, such as access to facilities, transportation, childcare and other support services
– support for a preventative approach to healthcare
– inclusion of basic dental care in the services covered by AHS
– extension of Alberta Health Care coverage to all health professionals falling under the Health Professionals Act
– reduction of unnecessary and redundant prescriptions, tests and other inappropriate use of health services
– investigation of the current application within Alberta of Nationally Allowed Guidelines for cadaver organ transplants, in particular the donation after cardiac death (DCD) as well as after brain death
– working with health care professionals to empower individuals to improve their own health
– increased funding to improve dignified end of life treatment, specifically, to improve palliative care, pain management, community and home care resources and grief counseling
– implementation of evidence-based solutions to address the on-going overdose and drug poisoning crisis that has contributed to a reduction of life expectancy in Canada, emphasizing harm reduction strategies such as supervised consumption services, syringe exchanges, and the provision of pharmaceutical alternatives to toxic street drugs

Pharmacare
The party advocates:
– coverage of the cost of by the provincial healthcare program
– recognition that the costs to government of providing pharmacare will be less if implementation of this program is put in place and coordinated across the country, for example, by joint purchasing agreements between provinces

Mental health
Acknowledging that any government will be judged by the way in which it treats its most vulnerable members, the party advocates:
– vigorously work to bring continuity to the provinces fractured mental health system by providing appropriate resources and followup treatment
– support for research into environmental factors contributing to mental illness
– training all care professionals and front line workers in the emergency, health, education and social service sectors—e.g., police, peace officers, teachers, nurses, nurses-aids, doctors, dentists , social workers and others—to recognize and deal with the manifestations of mental ill-health, including knowing where specialized services can be found and responding appropriately (e.g., with skill and compassion and with an emphasis on dignity and respect) to those suffering problems with their mental health
– ensuring the availability of a sufficient number of appropriately trained and licensed mental health specialists to meet the needs of all Albertans
– ensuring that all educational institutions are staffed with mental health professionals and nurses

Elder Care
The party advocates:
– creation of a coordinated, publicly-funded and delivered support system for seniors who require car based on principles of dignity and respect, with a focus on quality of life including emotional, spiritual and social needs of seniors as well as health-care needs
– expansion of home care to bring the care people need into their own homes
– for people who can no longer remain at home, provision of a long term care option in improved facilities that are more home-like and that follow best international practices

Home care
The party advocates:
– expanding and adequate funding of comprehensive home care to ensure it is responsive to both health and personal care needs of the patient and the family so that people are able to stay in their own homes as long as possible rather than having to move for care

Education
The party advocates:
– development of solutions to reduce costs for students including tuition charges for universities, colleges, and trade schools
– improvement of affordability and accessibility as the province moves towards a more equitable system of adequate stable funding of education
– establishing class size limits in accordance with the recommendations of Alberta’s Commission on Learning.
– reinstating funding for extracurricular sports, fine arts, and student clubs that encourage healthy community spirit, creativity, and leadership
– to ensure that schools are not be stressful places for children, starting formal instruction only when children are at least six years old; ensuring that daycares and early childhood classes encourage play and outdoor activity when at all possible
– ensuring that special education is such an integral part of the system that it has no stigma attached, including early identification and resolution of problems
– ensuring the availability of all necessary support resources
– requiring the teaching of tolerance, good citizenship and sustainable, healthy living that includes human sexuality
– tranforming schools into community centres offering programs such as libraries, recreation facilities, technology and training areas, fine arts theatres, and studios in partnership with municipalities and the elementary and secondary schools
– banning the use of seclusion rooms throughout Alberta, and instead encouraging the use of sensory rooms for students with sensory issues, social behavioural issues, and those who feel overwhelmed
– increased numbers of educational assistants (“Eas”) in elementary and secondary schools, while also promoting education and training in conflict de-escalation for EAs and teachers by psychologists, indigenous elders, and other culturally inclusive specialists, to deal with students who require additional support/use of sensory rooms
– provision of funding so that each classroom can have a  qualified teacher and an educational assistant for twenty students to properly facilitate inclusive education for all students

Public & Private Schools
The party advocates:
– a provincial referendum on whether separate school boards in the province should be disbanded and combined with the public system
– add a requirement to the School Act that every proposal for a new alternate program or school will be subjected to a formal assessment of its impact on Canadian civic values which include democracy, the rule of law, and human rights
– where that impact is significantly negative, and cannot be mitigated, the proposal must be refused
– all existing alternative programs shall be subject to periodic review, and, if no longer compatible with Canadian civic values, will be terminated
– reducing public funding for private schools from 70% (the current level) to 50%, which was the level of funding first introduced by the Lougheed Government; exceptions being made only for schools which offer programs that are educationally necessary for disabled students and are not available in the public system
– money saved by such funding reduction would be earmarked for improvements to the public education system
– effects of the funding reduction would be studied and further reductions considered on the basis of that study

Post-Secondary Education
The party states that it:
– supports extending formal learning opportunities past high school into post-secondary education and beyond, to lifelong learning for all Albertans whatever their educational needs and desires
– it recognizes that continuing education is key to ensuring that Albertans are well prepared for the employment opportunities presented by the new, greener economy
– policies must ensure that people who want to upgrade their education, technical skills or English language abilities can do so without going into burdensome debt

Culture, Arts & Tourism
The party states that:
– a flourishing cultural scene contributes hugely to the well-being of Albertans, in terms of both quality of life and employment opportunities and other forms of economic development
– it believes that government has a role to play in supporting culture and the arts

Public libraries
The party states that public libraries, accessible to all in the community, are essential to vibrant and fair democracy

The party advocates:
– as in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, support for “specific and unambiguou” rights to free universal public library access
– immediate restoration of funding to public libraries to compensate for revenue they would lose by providing free library cards

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding the role and purpose of the family.

Health Care
The party states that:
– Alberta’s current healthcare system is broken and is draining the resources of society without proportionally improving outcomes in comparison to other nations
– different systems and ideas must be allowed to compete, allowing the most efficient and effective choices to challenge current paradigms
– all public health care sector employees should be held to as rigorous performance standards as their private sector compatriots
– redundant management should be reduced through increased automation of administrative services and theempowerment of high performing front line staff

Nutrition and Health Coaching
The party advocates:
– eliminating the “Percent Daily Value” requirement on packaging, as this is based on the opinions of special interest groups rather than sound nutritional science
– replacing the PDV system with an online nutritional system which can account for different physical characteristics and is developed by subject matter experts based on objective knowledge, rather than industry lobbyists
– allowing registered health coaches and nutritionists to partner with hospitals and clinics to provide lifestyle follow-up appointments, allowing patients to receive more appropriate care while saving medical professionals time
– education of children and medical professionals on objective nutritional and lifestyle topics
– studying preventative health care measures to reduce the burden on the reactive health care system

Health Services
The party advocates:
– improved access to time saving technologies for Albertan hospitals and clinics, including MyHealth Alberta
– implementation of low user fees for the emergency room and clinical care, payable after the receipt of services, to decrease wait times and improve care for patients in critical need of attention
– continuing to to allow private sector health care and enhance private health care to provide an alternative to the public system
– ensuring that advanced testing methods and medical procedures are available to Albertans
– allowing nurse practitioners to diagnose routine medical ailments, while having a strong awareness of the limitations of their abilities
– greatly expanded scope of virtual medicine (telemedicine) to reduce wait times, provide simple diagnoses, and alleviate the burden on the public health care system
– partnering Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) to create Virtual Medical Diagnoses Technology programs to create skilled labour for this service
– leveraging machine learning technology to increase the accuracy of medical diagnoses
– continuous improvement, making the machine learning system compatible with dental and pharmaceutical care
– prohibiting physicians from accepting payments and other diagnostic incentives from pharmaceutical companies, treating such behaviors as a conflict of interest, a violation of medical oaths, and unprofessional conduct, and treating attempts by medical professionals or companies to circumvent related legislation shall be treated as fraud
– ensuring that medical research and clinical trials are protected by strict ethical legislation, ensuring data are not tampered with or omitted, and the integrity of the scientific process is preserved
– mandating that patients be given comprehensive and clear information on the complications and risks of medical treatments
– requiring that all medical and nonmedical ingredients of any substance used in the health care sector are clearly printed on the label, and communicating such information shall be communicated to the patient upon request

Salaries and Compensation
The party advocates:
– partnering with physicians to that ensure doctors are fairly compensated based on performance outcomes, provide optimal care for their patients, and are presented with opportunities available outside of the current public system
– ensuring that the wages and salaries of nurses and other health care workers reflect the amount of training they have received and their performance, while striving to ensure fairness for the taxpayer
– reorganizing UNA to classify Albertan nurses as professionals under Professional Governance, ensuring nurses are entrusted with the same privileges and responsibilities as other professionals in Alberta

Mental Health
The party advocates:
– acknowledging that there is currently a mental health crisis in Alberta
– ensuring that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is available to every Albertan struggling with mental health issues
– providing increased funding and improve the productivity of mental health research, focusing special attention on merging the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and applicable fields of neurology
– through research, removing the subjective nature of mental health care, allowing future mental health professionals to use objective physical knowledge in their treatment of disorders
– keeping mental health care treatments in Alberta current with cutting edge research
– ensuring that Albertans have access to world class health care and mental health education by leveraging both private and public services
– use of results-based metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of all mental health programs

Education
The party advocates:
– publication of classroom size cap guidelines for the public system based on parent preferences, expert advice, and educator input
– improving transparency and timing concerning student outcomes, so parents have the information they need to make informed decisions regarding their child’s education
– expecting students to meet performance standards to move on to the next grade
– holding educators accountable for their performance, and will remove poor performers, to ensure they are held to the same standards as those in the private sector, including reorganizing the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) to classify Albertan educators as professionals under Professional Governance, ensuring teachers are entrusted with the same privileges and responsibilities as other professionals in Alberta
– removing identity politics from all public core curricula
– ensuring that all public education institutions begin the first classes of each day with the singing of Alberta’s new national anthem
– exempting school administrators, including principals, from ATA membership, and may not be affiliated with the ATA during their tenure

Alternative Education
The party advocates:
– creation of a voucher system for private, alternative, and home education
– institutions meeting eligibility requirements would receive the full voucher amount
– home school students and institutions that use alternative curricula would receive a partial amount. To receive the partial amount, students of such schools would be required to write standardized achievement exams every three years
– granting public schools more flexibility to offer specialized programs while ensuring all students learn the core aspects of an enhanced standard curriculum

Personalized Education
The party states that children should receive a well-rounded education that is tailored to their individual talents, learning style, and needs, and that the current “one size fits all” education system is outdated

The party advocates:
– dividing the public education system into a Vocational Stream, Scientific Stream, and Business Stream
– aptitude testing for stream placement shall occur at the end of the sixth grade
– opening the Vocational Steam to students who learn kinetically that have an aptitude for trades, arts and skilled work and shall provide students with state-of-the-art trades education in addition to a core curriculum
– opening the Scientific Stream to students who show aptitude at technical and analytical thinking and shall provide students with world class education in advanced mathematics, applied sciences, and pure sciences, along with a core curriculum
– opening the Business Stream to students who show aptitude in the humanities and administrative areas, which shall provide students with strong business skills, leadership qualities, administrative skills, robust language education, and humanities education, alongside a core curriculum
– allowing students to move between streams, with the consent of their parent or guardian, by completing grade appropriate standardized testing

Public Curricula Development
The party advocates:
– development of the public curricula by a team of professionals and industry affiliates, with involvement of parents
– involving individuals affiliated with the public education system and post secondary institutions in advisory roles only
– development of a robust health curriculum for Albertan students including:
– ensuring access for students in every stream to comprehensive and meaningful financial education courses as part of the core curriculum
– emphasizing technical English in classes, focussing on report writing, advanced outlining and document organisation techniques, advanced writing techniques and grammatical structure, and research papers; in addition students will also study important western cultural works
– replacing the current social studies curricula after the sixth grade with several rigorous courses, uniquely tailored to the learning habits of each stream:
The History of Alberta – Seventh Grade;
The History and Philosophy of Western Civilization – Eighth Grade
Introduction to World History – Ninth Grade
Introduction to Philosophy – Tenth Grade\
Introduction to Political Science and Economics – Eleventh Grade; and
A Neurological Approach to Social Psychology – Twelfth Grade
– ensuring a baseline standard for mathematical literacy is maintained across all streams
– ensuring that students in rural areas have access to the same quality of education enjoyed by urban students
– ensuring that all Alberta students will have access to online “learn at your own pace” option classes and modules compiled and administered by the government

Post-Secondary and Continuing Education
The party believes that as the demand for post-secondary education has increased, institutions have struggled to adapt

The party advocates:
– separating the research-focused and the undergraduate education functions of public institutions to ensure students receive the full attention of trained instructors
– redefining tenure for public institutions
– elimination of government subsidies for private institutions, while imposing stronger performance requirements on public institutions
– undertake extensive productivity improvement audits for all public institutions to ensure efficient operation and improve outcomes
– elimination of extraneous and outdated programs from public institutions, providing more opportunities for private institutions
– ensuroing that institutions treat all public resources as an investment by the people of Alberta that come with responsibilities.

Post-Secondary Education:  Alberta First
The party advocates:
– giving Albertan students priority for admission at Alberta post-secondary institutions, provided that educational and residence requirements are met
– studying implementation of seat limits in public post-secondary institutions, to prevent burdening students with loans in areas where post-secondary opportunities are scarce and there is little chance of growth

Self-Directed Learning
The party advocates partnering with private organisations to develop accreditation examinations that will provide members of the public an opportunity to gain certifications for self-directed learning and acquired experience where a need exists

Special needs education
The believes that advocates all Albertans should receive an education that will improve their life prospects, while ensuring educators are not required to provide care for students with learning complications which they have not received adequate training for

The party advocates:
ensuring that students in the public system are properly assessed as early as possible in each child’s development
– ensuring that special needs students in the public system receive appropriate accommodation that does not place an excessive burden on teachers and administrators and shall give the teachers and administrators the autonomy to determine whether classroom integration is practical
– developing alternative public systems to accommodate students with special needs, and requiring that educators at such systems have specialized training
– expecting such systems to maintain a reasonable duty of care and ensuring that they are subject to ongoing assessment

The party states that among its core values are commitments to:
– improve public services, including hiring 2000 new teachers and investing in inclusive education
– prioritize sustainable and preventative healthcare to improve outcomes and drive down long-term costs

Role and purpose of family; support for families:
Universal Child Care
The party states that:
– providing subsidized child care improves labour participation for women, injecting billions into our economy annually
– when you invest in child care, you invest in women; and when you invest in women, you invest in Alberta

So that every parent has an opportunity to participate in the workforce and be a parent, the party advocates:
– implementing universal subsidized child care for all Albertans
– testing the system to make it cost-effective and ensure the Albertans who need it the most will pay the least. Families earning $40,000 and under will pay $0 a day, scaling up to $45 a day for high-income families
– creating an income-tested Refundable Child Care Tax Credit for low- and middle-income families who have a stay-at-home parent or pursue other child care options
– providing funding to create new child care spaces to address space shortages

Health Care

The party states that:
– it believes in public healthcare for all, and undertakes to provide affordable timely access for all Albertans and fund neglected areas like mental health and addictions
– the best way to support our public system is to make it more sustainable. Currently, Alberta pays the most per capita for healthcare. With the number of seniors in Alberta on track to double by 2040, it is important than to make the provincial healthcare system more affordable with smart investments in areas like preventative care

Mental Health
The party states that:
– twenty percent of Albertans will be affected by mental illness in their life, but Alberta only spends 6% of its health budget on Mental Health
– this is only two-thirds of what expert opinion, including the Canada Mental Health Commission, recommend

The party advocates:
– closing the funding gap by increasing spending to treat addictions by $600 million annually over the next four years, including $150 million in new annual funding to be provided immediately, and gradually redirecting $450 million in existing funding over the next four years
– in addition to expanding access to programs, transforming the way the province approaches mental health in Alberta, including:
+ harmonizing goals and roles to develop an effective and integrated system
+ creating a person-centred care system
+ putting a renewed focus on public education and prevention
+ increasing the role primary care providers play in mental healthcare
+ combating stigma to address the 60% of people with mental health problems who never seek help
+ creating unique services tailored to the needs of people from marginalized groups

AHS Facilities
The party states that:
– the key to improving AHS facilities is an effective diversion strategy
– facilities, like safe consumption facilities and hospital facilities, should be distributed around cities and regions, rather than concentrated in one place

Sustainability
The party advocates:
– reduction of healthcare costs through smart spending in the areas that drive down long-term costs, including keeping people healthy rather than treating them when they’re sick, and investment in continuing and acute care spaces
– creating 2,200 new long-term care spaces
– working with non-profit and faith based providers to deliver long-term care spaces at half the cost
– investing $150 million into home care and assisted living
– investing $100 million into preventative care
– creating a Preventative Care task force to explore best practices in fields like nutrition, health education, screening, prevention and team-based community care
– finding savings by cutting the number of middle managers at Alberta Health Services and conducting extensive value-for-money audits

EMS
The party advocates implementing best practices from across the globe to implement a 15-minute patient transfer time from ambulance to emergency room, including:
+ hiring intermediate ER health care providers
+ increasing the number of community paramedics
+ improving EMS-ER handover efficiency with the use of advanced technology and streamlined handover procedures
+ rigorously managing patient discharge
+ launching a public campaign to raise awareness of proper ER use
+ reducing access block with increased community and continuing care
+ ending City of Calgary dispatch of ambulances: having AHS take over, as they do across the rest of the province

Opiod Crisis
The party states that two Albertans die each day to opioid overdose, and that much more can be done to curb the opioid crisis

The party advocates:
– declaring the Opioid Crisis a Public Health Emergency
– funding more treatment beds
– increasing the number of supervised injection sites
– making the addiction treatment medication suboxone free
– making addictions counselling free to those who need it

Additions and Decriminalization
The party states that people suffering from drug addiction and abuse aren’t criminals, they’re sick.  Punitive action worsens the stigma of addiction and makes it harder for people to seek help.

The part advocates:
– following the lead Portugal and decriminalizing the possession of small quantities of drugs in order to better combat addiction
– redirecting savings from the justice system into addictions treatment

Dental Care
The party states that a lack of access to dental care isn’t just about cosmetics or even comfort, and can result in serious health implications such as infections and even death

The party advocates working towards universal dental care with our partners in confederation, and making mental care more affordable in the interim by
– providing $50 million for expanding the availability and reach of affordable, community-based dental car e
– pressing the Alberta Dental Association and College to allow dentists greater freedom to advertise their services and lift restrictions on dentists’ being able to offer promotions or special pricing for groups such as seniors or children
– making the Dental Fee Guideline prices mandatory for essential services

Pharmacare
The party advocates working with the federal government and our partners in confederation on the implementation of a national pharmacare plan that provides access to affordable drugs for all Albertans

Incentivising Health
The party states that family doctors are currently paid based on the number of examinations or procedures they conduct or tests they order and review (“fee-for-service”), which can cause unnecessary procedures or tests to be ordered

The party advocates moving to a “primary care clinic” model that is being implemented in British Columbia, where doctors and family medicine clinics are paid based on how healthy their patients are, and are therefore incentivised to hire nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, nutritionists, kinesiologists, and physiotherapists, thereby promoting peventative medicine and prevention screening

Youth Mental Health
The party advoates:
– increased funding for mental health services in schools, as part of a $600 million investment in Mental Health, in order to improve the lives of children while reducing the long-term health costs associated with unaddressed mental health problems

Healthy Lifestyles

The party advocates:
– creation of a leading-edge Healthy Lifestyle Program that includes banning junk food from schools and fully-funding comprehensive healthy lifestyle training

Elder Care
The party states that:
– seniors have built the province, and helped create the prosperity the province enjoys today
– the number of seniors in Alberta will double in the next 20 years. The province must be prepared to provide top quality services even with the extra demand on services this will create

The party advocates:
– adding to 2,200 more long-term care spaces and $150 million in funding over four years for homecare and assisted living
– creating a dedicated Ministry for Seniors Services.  In order to address the upcoming demographic bomb, baby boomers aging, a Minister dedicated full-time to both the seniors issues of today and planning for the challenges of tomorrow is needed
– In order to keep spouses together as their care needs diverge, examining strategies to keep seniors living together, including in long term care facilities
– discontinuing the Seniors Property Tax Deferral Program and reinstating the Seniors School Property Tax Assistance Program, in order to save seniors money
– making provisions for same-sex couples in nursing homes and long-term care, to help them enjoy the same rights and privileges as opposite-sex partners

Education
The party advocates:
– in order to end overcrowded classroom conditions, implementing flexible classroom size caps and hiring more teachers
– in order to improve the academic performance of students, and in view of statements of Alberta’s Auditor General that money spent on reducing class-sizes has been poorly tracked and failed to create results, introducing mandatory class-size caps and hiring as many teachers as needed to meet the class-size requirements
– phasing in class size caps over time, focusing on grades K-3 first, where class size is most strongly tied to performance
– working with school boards and educators to make sure class-size caps make sense locally
– ensuring that money allocated for reducing class sizes goes towards that goal
– funding enrollment growth, the curriculum review and infrastructure needs
– increasing funding for supports for students with extra needs by 50%
– providing more teaching assistants, more training and more professionals with specialized qualifications
– funding for cognitive testing and Individualized Education Plans
– ensuring that funding for special needs students follows the student it is intended for, including for those students who are homeschooled due to difficulties they’ve encountered in the public school system
– banning the use of seclusion rooms and mandating closer monitoring of all funding directed towards inclusive education

Curriculum

The party advocates:
– improving the current curriculum review by:
– teaching K-12 students about emotional and mental wellness
– expanding financial literacy education
– updating age-respectful early education on LGBTQ2S+ issues
– phasing out school fees for all public schools, including Charter Schools

Charter Schools

The party advocates
– because Charter schools are part of the public system and provide valuable, specialized programs, elimination of school and bussing fees for Charter school students, and ensuring that Charter school infrastructure is funded in an equal and fair way

Culture, Arts & Tourism
The party states that:
– it views arts and culture as a celebration of life that forms the basis of Alberta’s strong standard of living and makes the province an attractive place to invest in
– they are also an important contributor to the province’s economy
– it recognizes the significant challenges that many artists face when pursuing employment as an artist
– it is committed to maintaining current funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts

The party adovcates:
– because the current grant-based system is too complex and is not retaining and attracting film & TV productions, adding a tax credit system to the existing grant-based system and streamlining applications
– Status of the Artists Legislation to formalize Alberta’s commitment to the arts and artists and make clear its support for the important role they fulfill in our society and our economy
– proclamation of an annual Month of the Artist in Alberta, and recognizing the importance and value of this educational initiative in encouraging greater public awareness and recognition of artists and the arts
– launching a committee to explore the creation of a campus for the Alberta University of the Arts, which currently shares a campus with SAIT

The Role and Development of the Family
The party states that its priorities include:
– ensuring that Alberta’s children get the best education possible and that all Albertans receive the care they need, when they need it
– making life better and more affordable for all Alberta families, and to make Alberta communities stronger and safer

…and that during its prior term in office it:
– improved housing options for families
– created new, more affordable child care spaces
– introduced and expanded the $25 per day child care pilot to more than 100 centres, with over 7,000 new spaces province wide
– cut child poverty in half since 2015, giving Alberta the lowest child poverty rates in Canada
– created the Alberta Child Benefit, supporting 130,000 low income families
– raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour
– placed a cap on electricity prices to make sure families are not gouged by power companies
– reduced school fees by $50 million per year
– launched a school nutrition program to help 30,000 kids get a healthy meal to fuel their day

The party advocates:
– developing a comprehensive Alberta Affordable Child Care Program, with a phased-in expansion of $25-a-day child care to all current child care spaces and adding 13,000 new spaces over 5 years
– to help Alberta families buy their first home, establishing Attainable Homes Alberta to build 4,000 affordable housing units
– over 5 years, phasing in expansion of $25-a-day child care so it will be made available to every child care and family day home spot, and adding 3,000 child care spaces
– improving the quality of child care delivered through enhanced staff training, full implementation of the new curriculum and promotion of non-standard hour care and other innovations
– creating an online portal for families to find child care providers in their communities and make informed decisions about their child care needs
– regulating the amount a child care centre can charge for placement on a wait list

Health Care
The party states that during its prior term in office it:
– funded the Calgary Cancer Centre, and built new hospitals and healthcare facilities across the province
– added 1,200 doctors and 1,200 nurses across the province to address the needs of a growing population
– scrapped a previous government’s plan to charge Albertans health-care premiums
– reduced wait times for breast cancer surgeries, stroke treatment centres and radiation therapy
– built 2,100 long-term and dementia care spaces and opened a new mental health clinic for Edmonton children
– passed legislation to prevent harassment at abortion clinics
– put more ambulances on the road
– contained health costs by negotiating new deals with doctors and pharmacists that keep costs in check
– published a new dental fee guide that saves Albertans money

The party advocates:
– ensuring that hospitals, schools, colleges and universities have the funding they need to meet growing demand
– addressing challenges such as long wait times in emergency rooms to overcrowded classrooms in our schools
– providing stable health care funding to meet the province’s growing population’s needs, while containing administrative and managerial costs
– lowering wait times in emergency rooms and for cataract, heart and cancer surgeries
– completing and ensuring appropriate operating funding for the Calgary Cancer Centre, the Edmonton South Hospital and the Red Deer Hospital expansion
– funding for school enrollment growth
– implementing new emergency room procedures to get ambulances back on the street faster
– building an additional 2,000 long term care and dementia beds to make sure seniors who are suffering are well cared for
– strengthening regulations governing private clinics to prevent double-dipping and queue-jumping
– preventing any costly and reckless privatization experiments
– piloting two storefront mental health clinics in Edmonton and Calgary
– continuing to implement the recommendations of the Valuing Mental Health report to strengthen Alberta’s mental health system
– launching a lawsuit against the manufacturers of opioid medication to recoup the costs of tackling the opioid addiction crisis, and expanding access to addiction treatment programs so fewer Albertans are at risk of overdose
– expanding access to reproductive health services for women living in smaller centres and rural Alberta
– developing online health tools, so Albertans can access health professionals remotely to address routine medical matters such as prescription refills and referrals

Elder Care
The party states that during its prior term in office it:
– appointed Alberta’s first Seniors’ Advocate to help seniors navigate provincial programs and to tackle issues such as elder abuse and ageism
– built more than 2,000 new long term care and dementia beds while increasing funding for homecare so people can be treated at home if they choose
– implemented the Seniors Home Adaptation and Repair Program which helps seniors stay in their homes longer by making them more accessible
– created and funded the Aging Well program, supporting initiatives to keep seniors in their homes and engaged in their communities
– protected and strengthened Alberta seniors’ benefits

The party advocates:
– to save the average eligible senior $200 per year, removing all co-payments for seniors who earn less than $75,000 per year
– to save the average senior $200 per year, removing all prescription drug co-payments for seniors who earn less than $75,000 per year
– building 2,000 new long term and dementia care beds in five years
– piloting mobile teams who will have a mandate to attend seniors’ centres and drop-ins to assist seniors with accessing services they need, such as informing them of their eligibility for programs and assistance completing applications

Education and Young Workers
The party states that:
– its priority is to give children the best education possible and ensure all Albertans get the care they need, when they need it,

…and that during its prior term in office it:
– invested in 244 new and modernized schools across Alberta
– hired 4000 new teachers and support staff through enrollment funding
– implemented a successful new school nutrition program, serving a daily healthy meal to more than 30,000 kids, helping them to focus on their studies rather than their hunger
– launched the province’s first comprehensive curriculum review, updating an outdated 30 year old curriculum, to make sure our kids learn today’s basics and have the problem-solving skills they need to be successful in a fast changing world
– passed a law that ensures every student in every school can form a Gay Straight Alliance without fear of being outed
– piloted a $77-million a year Classroom Improvement Fund to hire new teachers and put more resources and supports into Alberta classrooms
– reduced school fees for Alberta families, saving them $50 million annually
– launched a pilot program to fund playgrounds in older neighbourhoods
– developed an Arabic language program and began developing a Filipino language program

The party advocates:
– funding for school enrollment growth
– building and modernizing an additional 70 schools across the province, including much needed high schools
– making the Classroom Improvement Fund permanent and supplementng it with additional in-class resources
– continuing to build playgrounds for every new school built and assisting mature neighbourhoods to replace aging and outdated school playgrounds
– continuing to expand new language programs in Alberta schools, including creating new provincial Filipino, Punjabi, Somali and Cantonese offerings

Post-Secondary Education
The party states that:
– higher education and advanced skills training are increasingly necessary to succeed in the modern economy
– a highly skilled workforce is essential in every part of our economy, from energy to farming to research and development

and that during its prior term in office it:
– reversed cuts proposed by a previous government and invested in colleges and universities while reducing the cost of post-secondary education for Albertans
– implemented a 5-year freeze on tuition fees, to save students and their families up to $2000 over the course of their program
– legislated a cap on the amount tuition fees can go up in the future, ensuring post-secondary education remains affordable for Alberta families
– began creation of 3,000 new technology-focused seats in post-secondary institutions
– made Red Deer College, Grande Prairie College, and Alberta College of Art and Design degree granting universities
– added more students to the Board of Governors at colleges, to give students more of a voice in decisions that affect them

The party advocates:
– providing provide stable, consistent funding to post-secondary institutions to ensure higher education remains accessible and affordable for all Albertans
– eliminating tuition fees for high school upgrading and English Language Learning programs
– working with post-secondary institutions to renew the funding formula and focus resources on creating new spaces, to ensure that a lack of seats doesn’t bar qualified students from education

Culture, Arts & Tourism
The party advocates:
– working with professional artists to address the precarious, feast or famine nature of their work by exploring options to smooth out artistic income, that may include income averaging, income annuities or refundable tax credits

The Role and the Purpose of the Family
The party states that:
– its mandate is simple and straightforward: it is committed to promoting pro-life public policy in Alberta, through politics

To help both mothers and babies, the party advocates:
– adoption: boosting support for women with unexpected pregnancies, easing the challenges of putting a child up for adoption, by supporting women through all 9 months of pregnancy; and expanding the influence of Alberta Adoption Services to better assist prospective parents who want to adopt a child
– informed choice and consent: because a women’s right to information about medical procedures should not be disregarded, requiring that patients considering abortion be given full information on fetal development, including an ultrasound and all the possible psychological and physical health effects the procedure might have prior to the abortion being performed. They should also be given the full range of information about abortion alternatives and support available from various agencies and groups within the community. Most medical procedures require patients be fully-informed about the possible complications and side-effects before they consent; why is not the same for abortion?
– requiring a parent’s (or guardians) right to give consent, or be informed, before their minor child undergoes an abortion procedure, just as is already the case when minors undergo medical treatments; or even body modifications such as piercing or tattooing
– parental notification for minors: just as is currently the practice with invasive medical-procedures or treatments performed on minors, requiring that the legal guardians of a person under the age of 16 receive notification when an abortion is scheduled for their child
– increasing the emergency allowance for pregnant women escaping domestic abuse, in view of the enormous stress women faced with unplanned pregnancies can experience

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– education and young workers
– culture, arts and tourism

Role of the Family:
The party states that:
– every child is unique and that parents, not politicians, know what is best for their children
– a full life includes work that provides not only a living, but dignity. Therefor its first priority is to boost the economy and bring quality jobs back to Alberta
– however, “the good life” includes much more than material well-being
– while government can’t guarantee a good life, it has a central role in establishing many of the conditions for it like health, safety, education, and support for the vulnerable

To make life better for Albertans, the party advocates, among its top 5 commitments, protecting quality health care and education, in particular
– a Patient-Centred Health Care System that will use innovative reforms within the Canada Health Act while maintaining or increasing health care funding
– to strengthen education, working with parents, teachers, principals, and trustees to protect school choice, improve accountability, and deliver the best possible outcomes for children
– supporting Post-Secondary Education as critical both to Alberta’s future economy and to a vibrant Alberta
– promoting workplace skills through experiential and vocational learning from high school through post-secondary and into the workplace
– promoting arts and culture through facilitated collaboration with philanthropists and private businesses

Education
The party states that:
– under the prior government provincial class sizes continued to increase, math and reading scores declined, Alberta’s successful tradition of school choice has been under attack, the carbon tax has taken valuable resources away from classrooms, and curriculum changes have been taking place largely in secret
– every child is unique and that parents, not politicians, know what is best for their children

To ensure that education is a key advantage for Alberta, the party advocates working with parents, teachers, principals, and trustees to make Alberta’s schools divese and excellent educational institutions, the party advocates:
– maintaining or increasing education funding while seeking greater efficiency by reducing administrative overhead and pushing resources to front line teachers
– continuing to build new schools, while ordering an immediate audit of class sizes to determine what happened to previous funding dedicated to class size reduction, and prioritizing public infrastructure funds for schools and health care
– ending the focus on so-called “discovery” or “inquiry” learning, also known as constructivism, by repealing Ministerial Order #001/2013 and replacing it with a new Ministerial Order which focusses on teaching essential knowledge to help students develop foundational competencies
– pausing the current curriculum review, and broadening consultations to be open and transparent, including a wider range of perspectives from parents, teachers, and subject matter experts, and beginning curriculum reform by determining the key knowledge and skills that Alberta students should possess by the time of their high school matriculation, written in plain language that students, parents, and teachers can understand
– ensuring that teaching methods should focus on those that produce the best outcomes, such as phonics and proven math instruction methods
– ensuring that the social studies curriculum is taught without political bias, offering an objective understanding of Albertan, Canadian, and world history, geography, and civic literacy
– making financial literacy a mandatory element woven throughout the curriculum
– teaching consent as an essential part of the sexual education curriculum

Student assessment:
In order to ensure that students, parents, and teachers can clearly identify areas of strength and weakness in student performance, the party advocates reforming assessment mentods, including:
– bringing back the Grade 3 Provincial Achievement Test
– returning to a 50/50 split between Diploma and school grades for Grade 12
– implementing language and math assessments for students in grades 1, 2, and 3 to help both parents and teachers understand and assess progress in the critical early years, and remedies where necessary
– requiring clear, understandable report cards
– focusing on excellence in outcomes, with measures that include: benchmarking the Alberta education system against leading global jurisdictions; ensuring that teachers have expertise in subject areas by introducing teacher testing; expanding options for schools to facilitate expertise; requiring that the education faculties in Alberta’s universities themselves require that teachers take courses in the subjects they will one day teach in schools; support for safe schools that protect students against discrimination and bullying; reinforcing the need for open, critical debate and thinking as key to lifelong learning

Choice in education
The party advocates, in acknowledgement of the hard work done by those who created the 2012 Education Act, proclaiming that legislation, already passed by the Legislature, and introducing a Choice in Education Act which will:
– affirm parents have primary responsibility for the education of their children
– add to the preamble of the Education Act recognition of Section 26.3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children”
– protect the status and funding of independent schools in legislation given that they save the public education system $168million annually
– facilitate the creation and operation of new charter schools by lifting the cap on the number of charter schools; lifting charter school enrolment caps; allowing charter schools to own property
– treat charter schools as priorities above other possible uses for surplus public-school infrastructure
– support and encourage an expansion of alternative programs in the public system
– respect the constitutional right to separate schools
– maintain funding for independent schools and home schoolers at current levels
– encourage the sharing of busing and infrastructure where appropriate, while respecting the distinctive nature of both systems
– ensure that requests from parents for blended homeschool programs are facilitated
– amend the Education Act to implement the Leadership Quality Standards
– reduce paperwork burdens on teachers, principals, and other school staff, and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens throughout the system
– review and implement selected recommendations from the Task Force for Teaching Excellence including: establishing alternative pathways to teaching certification for those in specialized areas of knowledge; introducing more regular assessment of teacher performance; ensuring subject matter competence
– review the current funding formula to ensure that rural schools have adequate resources to deliver programs in an equitable way

Post-Secondary Education
To support and reform post-secondary education, the party advocates:
– reducing provincial red tape and mandates on universities and colleges, freeing them to innovate and compete more and comply with bureaucratic mandates less
– measuring labour market outcomes of post-secondary programs to identify the correlation between provincial subsidies and economic returns for taxpayers
– encouraging efforts by Alberta universities and colleges to attract more qualified foreign students, in order to address a labour shortage in the information technology sector
– establishing the most effective intellectual property framework for the commercialization and entrepreneurial application of innovative research and development from Alberta’s universities and colleges
– working with universities and industry associations to measure Alberta’s performance against leading global research and government networks in key innovation hubs like California, Texas, Israel, London, and Hong Kong
– requiring all universities and colleges to develop, post, and comply with free speech policies that conform to the University of Chicago Statement on Principles of Free Expression

Vocational training
The party states that:
– apprenticeship learning has every bit as much value as academic learning, and skilled trades have every bit as much value, merit, and worth as a university degree
– Alberat faces the dual challenge of retirement among skilled workers and the worst youth employment in decades. The Department of Labour predicts that from now to 2025, more than 3,000 skilled workers will retire every year creating a steady demand for apprentices and skilled tradespeople

To help young Albertans learn practical job skills that meet the demands of the labour market and that will help them succeed and build prosperity for all Albertans, the party advocates reinventing the vocational high school, including:
– double the number of schools that CAREERS: Next Generation currently works with, from 500 to 1,000, and quadrupling the number of students and full-time apprentices from 1,567 to 6,000 by 2023 by providing CAREERS with over $6 million annually by 2022/23
– dedicating $1 million for trades scholarships for 1,000 students who show promise in trades in high school
– supporting the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s new collegiate in Edmonton with a $28 million contribution, and budget for $28 million to expand that model in Calgary and eventually to other centres as well
– reforming teacher certification to enable qualified tradespeople to teach and bring their skills to the classroom without requiring a full Bachelor of Education degree
– modernizing the Alberta Employment Standards Code to enable junior high school students to work in co-op programs on job sites
– appointing a Skills for Jobs Task Force to report to the government on how to reform education in order to expand opportunities for vocational education and the skilled trades
– increasing support for Skills Canada Alberta with funding of $2 million over four years, so that young Albertans can participate in its Skills Canada National Competition and demonstrate their skills and talent on the national and world stage
– supporting the creation of an Alberta Trades Hall of Fame to honour Albertan tradespeople who have left their mark on our province through their work
– expand the Women Building Futures program with $10 million over four years to support women who wish to pursue opportunities in the skilled trades
– working with other provinces and territories to better harmonize provincial mobility for apprentices and skilled tradespeople
– expanding the apprenticeship model to other careers with emerging demand such as coding and green technologies
– inviting applications for vocation-focused charter schools
– creating a Premier’s Council comprised of vocational education leaders, trades unions, and other stakeholders to meet regularly with the Premier and relevant ministers to advance vocational education as a government priority

Health Care
Noting comments released by the provincial Auditor General in 2017, the party states that:
– in recent years wait times have increased: for open-heart surgery, by nearly 50%, from 14.9 weeks to 22.2 weeks; for cataract surgery by nearly 30%, from 29.9 weeks to 38.4 weeks; for hip replacement by nearly 30%, from 28.7 weeks to 36.7 weeks; for knee replacement, by 23%, from 33 weeks to 40.7 weeks
– the percentage of patients from the Emergency Department (ED) treated and admitted to hospital within eight hours has declined from 46% to 43.9%
– the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in its 2005 Chaoulli decision that “access to a waiting list is not access to health care,” and that unreasonable surgical wait times imposed by governments may constitute a violation of the “security of the person.”
– in proposing social health care, Dr Tommy Douglas referenced the need for such care to be ‘Effective, Efficient, and Responsible’
– despite recent investment, Alberta’s system is the most expensive health care system in Canada, and one of the most expensive publicly insured systems
– a contributing factor to the province’s opioid addiction crisis the fact that many people waiting for surgery are being prescribed powerful pain killers which turn into debilitating addictions

The party advocates:
– maintaining or increasing health spending and maintaining a universally accessible, publicly funded health care system
– reducing surgical wait times to no more than four months in four years, by replicating elements of the highly successful Saskatchewan model, including inviting specialized private day surgical clinics to bid on providing government insured surgeries (the party states that data demonstrates that such clinics completed surgeries for 26% less than government hospitals on average

Opioid crisis
To address the opioid crisis, the party advocates:
– appointing a dedicated Associate Minister for Mental Health and Addictions
– investing $40 million over four years to expand support for opioid treatment centres to deal with wait times and increase access, including additional detox beds, mobile detox programs, and a new Virtual Opioid Dependency Program
– establishing a dedicated Opioid Enforcement Team within the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) to target aggressive investigation and disruption of opioid manufacturing and dealing at a cost of $10 million over four years
– expansion of Drug Treatment Courts, including new ones outside of Calgary and Edmonton, with an investment of $20 million over four years
– calling on the federal government to increase resources for drug interdiction and to restore mandatory minimum penal sentences for drug traffickers; ensuring that provincial funding programs are determined based on evidence – including ensuring eligibility for successful faith-based models
– working with physician groups to understand what more can be done to reduce the prescription of powerful opioid drugs that have a high incidence of addiction and ensure general practitioners have training in opioid replacement therapy

Mental health and addictions

The party advocates investing $100 million over four years toimplement a Mental Health and Addiction Strategy based in part on the report of the Alberta Mental Health Review Committee, including:
– increasing earlier access to addiction and mental health services through primary care centers
– expanding home care to support those who identify addiction and mental health as a primary concern
– supporting Albertans in crisis by expanding programs to more communities including police and crisis teams, provincial family violence treatment programs, diversion programs and drug treatment courts, and by developing mental health court models
– increasing access to mental health services and reducing recidivism as well as use of emergency departments for those in contact with the criminal justice system
– support for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people and communities by establishing a continuum of addiction and mental health services, ensuring service provision is not disrupted by jurisdictional disputes and increasing access to services to manage the impact of Indian Residential Schools on mental health

Supervised Consumption Sites
In order to both help those with addictions and ensure that parks, neighbourhoods, and communities remain safe, the party advocates taking a sensible, targeted, and compassionate approach to the issue of supervised consumption sites, including:
– endorsing new supervised consumption sites if there have been extensive consultations with affected communities, including residents and business owners, and if there is a robust evidence-based analysis of the socio-economic impact of a potential drug consumption site
– only endorsing new Overdose Prevention Sites if they have clear plans to provide treatment services
– conducting an evidence-based socio-economic analysis of the impact of existing drug consumptions sites
– consulting with local communities, police, municipalities, and others on the location of existing sites to determine if they are optimal, or if better locations could be found that would reduce the impact of crime, discarded needles, and other negative social and economic impacts on local neighbourhoods

Palliative Care
The party states that the 2016 legalization of assisted suicide underscores an urgent need to educate Albertans about palliative care, why it matters, and which services are available, and that now more than ever, the health care system needs to ensure access to high quality palliative care to alleviate suffering

The party advocate investing $20 million over four years, to:
– continue to shift from hospital to community-based home and hospice care
– establish and implement palliative care education, training, and standards for health professionals
– develop effective caregiver supports to support patients in their homes and community
– raise public awareness of palliative care and how and when to access it

Primary Care
The party advocates expanding already successful innovations in the health care system, in particular the “medical home” care model of the Crowfoot Village Family Practice. The Health Quality Council of Alberta studied ten-year outcome data from Crowfoot and found that:
– Crowfoot’s patients visited the emergency department 13% less than the Calgary average, and were admitted to hospital 17% less than the provincial average
– Crowfoot achieved same-day/next-day access for patients in the year it was reviewed (2013)
– Crowfoot’s physicians see an average of 1,650 patients compared with the provincial average of 1,200 patients
– 20% of patient encounters were provided by multidisciplinary teams

Finding Efficiencies in the System
The party advocates:
– conducting a Health Services Performance Review to identify administrative savings, and move that money to front-line services
– increasing the budget of the Alberta Health Quality Council (HQCA) by $1 million annually to establish more measurements and increase health care quality outcomes for patients
– providing Albertans with increased choice of medical practitioners by increasing the number and scope of nurse practitioners in Alberta and  allowing nurse practitioners the ability to bill directly to Alberta Health
– expanding the scope of practice of other health professionals, such as opticians, optometrists, and paramedics
– lifting the cap on midwifery services, in order to increase the number of expectant mothers able to access the services, reduce costs for the health care system and increase the standard of care
– reviewing the Connect Care contract and My Health Care Records to reduce potential duplication of services and ensure maximum effectiveness
– modernizing paper health care cards to be combined with either driver’s licenses or provincial photo ID cards as a multi-use Personal Identification Card
– in order to save $200 million, stopping a current plan to buy laundry machines for AHS by maintaining more efficient, competitive contracting for these services
– in order to save $640 million, cancelling the unnecessary ‘Superlab’ and nationalization of laboratory services

Elder Care
The party states that:
– in recent years wait times for admission to both continuing care and acute care have risen significantly
– the previousgovernment did not fulfill a promise of adding 2000 beds for long-term care, and costs for beds it has added are 10-15 times higher than prior contract costs

The party advocates:
– prioritizing capital funding for the immediate creation of new long-term care beds to community, non-profit, and independent providers
– returning to use of Affordable Supportive Living Initiative (ALSI) partnerships to ensure more units are built more quickly and cost-effectively
– allowing for the creation of innovative community options (more care at home, and new personal care homes (PCHs) with a maximum of 15 people) for seniors who need more care than can be provided at home alone but who require less care than provided at supportive living facilities
– maintaining all seniors’ benefits

Culture, arts & tourism
The party states that a strong tourism sector can create jobs and growth in Alberta, and that destination Marketing and Management Organizations, such as Travel Alberta, play an important role in creating such growth

The party advocates innovative approaches to sustaining funding for tourism promotion and marketing through partnerships with the private sector, including:
– direct Travel Alberta to work with tourism stakeholders to develop a new 10-year Tourism Strategy recognizing the role that the private sector can play in assisting government in promoting Alberta as a tourist destination
– reorienting the mandate of Travel Alberta towards more active facilitation of private sector funding and public-private partnerships for its tourism marketing and promotion activities
– reprofiling a portion of existing government funding for tourism into a Tourism Partnership Incentive Fund (TPIF), managed through Travel Alberta, to attract and identify sources of private sector support for tourism
– removing intrusive laws, rules, and regulations which impede the development of Alberta’s tourism sector
– working with the federal government and airport authorities in Calgary and Edmonton to expand air transport agreements and get more flights to Alberta from tourist source countries
– establishing a target to double tourism spending in Alberta to $20 billion by 2030
– making tourism the responsibility of the Minister of Economic Development and Trade
– implementing a stable and predictable funding formula for Travel Alberta and facilitating private sector partnerships to get Albertans back to work

Culture, Arts & Tourism
The party states that
– as culture is an expression of civil society and makes importaant contributions to the community, it should be supported but not directed by government
– the province’s vibrant cultural industries make an important and growing to the provincial economy, therefore getting Alberta back to work and diversifying the economy will require supporting the growth of cultural enterprises

The party advocates:
– continued funding support for arts and cultural organizations
– converting the Alberta Screen-Based Production Grant into a tax credit with greater flexibility to allow Alberta to compete for major media projects with provinces like British Columbia and Ontario, including consultation with stakeholders in the film, television and digital media industries to create an optimal tax credit designed to attract large productions and series
– incentivizing media production in rural areas, following the lead of Manitoba’s film tax credit
– adopting an Arts Professions Act modelled on the 2009 Saskatchewan statute, to give formal recognition to artists, their representative associations, their freedom of expression, and their economic – including contractual – rights
– supporting the recommendation of the Canadian Artists’ Representation to have the federal Parliament amend the Copyright Act to require that a 5% royalty be paid to visual artists on the resale of their work
– reprofiling a portion of Alberta Lottery Fund revenue to support a Creative Partnerships Alberta program, emulating the success of Creative Partnerships Australia to: mentor and assist artists and arts organizations in generating income and support from the private sector; build partnerships between the arts, philanthropy, and business sector; establish a goal of growing Alberta cultural industries by 25%, or $1.5 billion over, the next decade

As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the party states that it believes that:
– private enterprise and entrepreneurship are the keys to Alberta’s economic success
– the government should foster an environment which facilitates economic investment, reduces red tape and encourages creativity

The party further states that:
– the key to social justice is the equitable distribution of resources to ensure that all have full opportunities for personal and social development

Poverty Reduction
The party advocates:
– conducting a thorough review of existing poverty reduction programs and producing a comprehensive plan to support Alberta’s working poor
– as part of such a plan, introduction of a wage top-up program that will provide the working poor with targeted benefits while maintaining the incentive to work
– enacting a provincial poverty and homelessness elimination strategy, which would seek to address the root causes of poverty
– implementing a policy to have financial literacy as part of the core curriculum in schools, including the lessons on the impacts of financially related social issues
– evaluating the adequacy and effectiveness of the current curriculum in teaching financial literacy

Industries and Corporations
The party advocates:
– promotion of economic development policies based on efficient markets, the removal of barriers for both large and small businesses, collaboration with industry, and an entrepreneurial ecosystem reflective of Alberta’s strengths and natural assets
– diversifying the economy through tourism, green energy, and emerging industries
– creating strategies for implementation of value-added products and processing in forestry, agriculture, and other key industries in the province
– collaborating with all levels of government to secure market access for oil and gas resources through pipelines

Infrastructure
The party advocates:
1) a comprehensive transportation, social, and electronic infrastructure plan which satisfies the needs of Albertans
2) use of a wide range of funding methodologies
3) prioritization and execution of projects in an open, consultative, and transparent manner

The party states that:
– the six principles of the Global Green movement include a commitment to social justice
– the key to social justice is the equitable distribution of resources to ensure that all have full opportunities for personal and social development

As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the Alberta Green party believes that:
– private enterprise and entrepreneurship are the keys to Alberta’s economic success
– the government should foster an environment which facilitates economic investment, reduces red tap and encourages creativity

Poverty Reduction
The party states that:
– inequality is growing in Alberta and people with lower incomes are falling further behind
– poverty and inequality cause human suffering but also impact all Albertans through less vibrant and inclusive communities, higher costs for health care and the justice system and lost economic opportunity
– it will work together with communities to implement a comprehensive strategy to end poverty and to achieve a more equitable distribution of resources

The party advocates:
– automatic annual increases to all financial social supports, indexed to changes in the provincial Low-Income Cut Off measure (LICO)

Guaranteed annual income
The party advoates:
– implementaation of a Guaranteed Annual Income in the province. Implementing this program would eliminate many of the current bureaucratic, highly administrative interventions that now exist; their ineffectiveness only exceeded by the humiliation they perpetuate. The current income tax system can administer this program without any additional bureaucracy
– it supports supplementing the guaranteed annual income where needed

Housing
The party states that:
– it takes very seriously the need of Albertans forbaffordable, suitable to their needs and sustainable, for example, energy efficient, housing

The party advocates:
– support for a new small house philosophy and development of policies to help accommodate this style of housing
– adoption of a building code for straw and earth structures
– revision and updating of current provincial social housing regulations, including development of a long-term capital plan for additions to, and maintenance of, that portion of the social housing stock that is owned by the province and municipalities
– encouragement of affordable cooperative housing
– support for the the approach to ending homelessness known as “Housing First.” A Green Party of Alberta government will recognize that Housing First is an empty slogan and cannot be successful anywhere in the province unless there is an adequate supply of affordable and supported housing for those needing it
– ensuring there is an adequate supply of both affordable and supported housing and other required resources throughout the province
– requiring all municipalities to facilitate alternative approaches to more sustainable housing, such as housing cooperatives and co-housing, in order to assist groups wanting to build or retrofit existing buildings for cooperatives, co- housing or other alternative approaches to housing, in getting through the approval process successfully and as quickly as possible
– requiring all municipalities to review their bylaws, regulations and procedures so as to remove unnecessary or unreasonable barriers to meeting the need for affordable and alternative forms of housing, including for cooperatives and co-housing

Jobs, Unions & Employment
The party recognizes that:
– for most ordinary Albertans employment – a good job – is key to their financial security and sense of well-being
– the move to a smart, greener economy will provide more good work, not less, and thus will improve the lives of Albertans and that of newcomers to the province

Foreign and out-of-province credentials
The party advocates:
– establishing a commission to review the processes whereby foreign-trained and out-of-province professionals are certified to practice in Alberta

Flexible Work Hours
The party advocates:
– reasonable access to flexible work practices, including telecommuting and flexible work hours in order to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by unnecessary commuting, heating empty offices and homes, and rush hour idling
– requiring employers to justify refusing a request for flexible work arrangements. And stipulating occupational health and safety standards for staff who work off-site

Non-discriminatory hiring
The party states that respect for human dignity and individuality lies at the heart of human rights, and it advocates:
– robust legal protection for the human rights of all Albertans, including ensuring that the Alberta Human Rights Commission functions effectively to promote respect for human rights in the province
– amendment of the Alberta Human Rights Act to require prospective employers to eliminate names, gender, and age from initial hiring and application processes in order to reduce discrimination
– amendment of the Alberta Human Rights Act to make it illegal to discriminate in employment on the basis that a person has been convicted of a criminal or summary conviction offence that is unrelated to the employment, or to the intended  employment, of that person
– amendmento f the Alberta Human Rights Act so that a. it is illegal for an employer to ask for a criminal record check until a job offer has been made, and b. where an offer is made and a criminal record is shown to exist, it would be illegal for the employer to withdraw the job offer, unless the offence for which there is a conviction is related to the intended employment of that person

Industries, Corporations, and Consumers

Agriculture
The party advocates:
– ensuring that a resilient food system is a main provincial priority. A resilient food system is one that is biodiverse, decentralized, decarbonized and regenerative; based on local production and processing, small and medium organic farms, and co-operatives and local markets, including farmers markets
– dialogue with farmers and ranchers to assist them in shifting to an agroecological system, meaning farming in harmony with nature, in order to create a resilient food system that strengthens food security and sovereignty, enables sustainable farmer livelihood, supports rural economies, and helps to resolve the climate and biodiversity crises
– subsidies, tax breaks and other financial incentives for agroecological practices, including but not limited to maintaining and planting shelterbelts, protecting wetlands, conserving native-grass prairie, regenerative soil practices, non-industrial no-till methods, use of natural fertilizers that benefit both crops and soil, complex crop rotation and inter-cropping, and by assisting farmers and ranchers who wish to obtain organic or regenerative organic certification
– assistance for all producers to certify under the existing Alberta Environmental Farm Plan process and to continue applying the prescribed environmental protection measures
– engaging with producers to restructure the farm product commissions into producer member-led producer commissions to facilitate their voice in policy and advocacy
– improvement of marketing options for farmers by encouraging competition, increasing training for butchers, bakers, millers and processors, and encouraging local sourcing within publicly run operations (farm to hospital, farm to school, etc.)
– providing a subsidy to farmers to support transitioning to organic/permaculture, agroecology and other sustainable agricultural practice
– creation of a land bank commission to preserve agricultural land for small, family and locally owned co-op farms, assist retiring farmers to pass on their land to new farming families, support environmental stewardship and ensure resilience of rural communities and our food supply
– guaranteeing the right of farmers to save and replant their seeds, promote seed saving to increase diversity in crop genetics and to develop region specific cultivars and promote seed exchange and heritage seed use
– funding of public research on seed varieties
– banning of terminator gene testing, use or imports
– freeing farmers from seed royalty payments

Forestry
The party advocates:
– sustainable conduct forest management practices that prioritize the ecological services of forests in water retention and management, air purification and cleaning, and maintaining species diversity
– treating the economic values of timber extraction, food foraging reserves, and recreational use of as important secondary considerations
– banning the practice of clear-cutting of forests
– phasing out all logging practices that do not meet standards of sustainability and preservation of forest ecosystems

Infrastructure
The party advocates:
– application of sustainability principles to proposals for new infrastructure; for example, the question of new transmission lines would have to be evaluated in light of the need to transition to production of electricity from renewable sources which by their very nature tend to be more dispersed than huge coal-burning plants
– treating broadband internet access as a human right, and working to provide Albertans with wired broadband internet access to the premises wherever feasible, in order to ensure internet access that is fast, reliable, cyber-secure, and economically affordable, while also protecting the environment
– development and implementation of a government-funded job creation program called the Alberta Resilience Corps (ARC), having three main components:
1.  (DM) Disaster Management jobs that provide mitigation and recovery for areas suffering from natural and man-made disasters such as flood, fire, drought and unsafe drinking water
2. (CM) Conservation Management jobs that expand park trail systems and support ecotourism. Also, preserve our environment, water, soil, and biodiversity by regenerating our natural areas and bolstering our water and food security
3. (RM) Reclamation Management jobs that restore areas damaged and polluted by industry and repurpose abandoned infrastructure for sustainable uses such as solar or geothermal optimization
– vigorous opposition of all P3, that is, public-private partnership, initiatives
– assessment and regulation of the density of all linear developments (roads, utility corridors, pipelines, railways, power lines, telecom infrastructure, right of ways, etc.) in order to minimize their negative impact on watershed health
– developingment and promotion of essential green energy infrastructure, including a variety of solutions for communities such as distributed smart grids, microgrids, district heating and cooling, community-owned energy, renewable energy generation, distributed generation, energy storage, electrification of transportation systems, and a network of high voltage direct current transmission lines
– democratization and decentralization of energy

Transportation
The party advocates:
– forms of transportation that are consistent with the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and development and expansion of such public transit systems wherever feasible in the province
– creation of a provincially funded Public Transportation Agency responsible for coordinating the delivery of Interurban and rural sustainable public transportation within the Province of Alberta
– prioritization of the development of low emission ground-based public and mass transportation systems over air and private automotive transportation

Poverty Relief

Social Assistance
For those who do not qualify for worker assistance, or who are unemployable, the party advocates:
– providing assistance under an Alberta Social Assistance Program (ASAP)
– providing, as a part of such assistance, coverage for childcare, special dietary needs, lodging, education, healthcare, and other necessities
– providing all persons collecting assistance with a life coach to ensure they reach their full potential and to ideally ensure their mental health and physical wellbeing is improved
– for assistance beneficiaries with long-term physical or mental disabilities that preclude them from employment, the services provided shall be sufficient to guarantee the beneficiary a reasonable standard of living
– including senior citizens who meet the current eligibility criteriawith the necessary services to provide them with a reasonable standard of living

Jobs, Unions and Employmet

Worker benefits
The party advocates:
– providing occasional and temporary income support to unemployed workers seeking employment or upgrading their education in approved areas of competence, if they have paid premiums in the past year and meet eligibility requirements
– providing benefits to workers taking time off work due to specific life events, including illness, pregnancy, caring for newborns or newly adopted children, or caring for a critically ill or injured person
– assistance for workers caring for a senior citizen
– providing  may be eligible to receive assistance services or benefits under the WA program
– unless mentally or physically unable to do so, requiring assistance recipients to work at an assigned job, participate in community projects or be enrolled in approved training programs focused on building skills for full-time employment
– providing for workers who need retraining to remain competitive in industry and meet eligibility requirements meetings with a career coach and access to a series of qualifying aptitude tests. For qualitied applicants, providing such necessary training free of charge
– allowing self-employed individuals to participate in the WA program if they meet individualized qualifying conditions
– requiring no waiting periods after approval

Pensions
The party advocates creation of an Alberta Pension Plan (APP) to supersede the current Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) benefits:
– all current recipients of CPP and OAS would see no change in benefits, as the Canadian government continues to provide benefits to citizens residing in foreign countries
– Albertans who have not begun claiming CPP and OAS benefits would see their investments rolled over into the APP program
– the APP would operate at arm’s length from the government and would be directed to maximize revenue for beneficiaries
– all working Albertans and employers would contribute six percent (6%) of wages up to an established limit to the APP and would be eligible to begin receiving benefits at the age of sixty-five (65)

Trades and Labour
The party advocates:
– encouraging the education of more skilled tradespeople to provide a strong foundation for our industries
– creating an improved and streamlined equivalency testing system for non-resident trade specialists
– ensuring that trade-affiliated organisations work seamlessly with employers to improve worker education, productivity, labour outcomes, and efficiency
– banning the use of union dues for political and social advocacy, and ensuring that labour groups are held to the highest standards of professionalism
– limiting the portion of tax-deductible union dues to the amount spent on negotiations with employers
– ensuring that all labour organisations adhere to strict privacy and voting standards
– banning use of intimidation tactics in labour organisations, and strong prosecution of all individuals and entities employing similar labour strategies
– ensuring businesses that have become insolvent due to the activities of labour organisations have a mechanism to obtain expedient redress and relief

Industries, Corporations & Consumers

Agriculture
The party advocates:
– in order to bring accountability to producer groups, requiring adoption of a “one member one vote” or loss of rights to an automatic check-off system
– ensuring that seed companies may only collect royalties for five (5) years and may only own a variety outright for ten (10) years if they choose to enact Plant Breeders’ Rights. If the company does not invoke Plant Breeders’ Rights, they may own and market that variety indefinitely
– implementation of “Right to Farm” legislation to protect farmers from activists, nuisance lawsuits, and other threats to their businesses by anti-agricultural elements. People who wish to live in a rural environment must accept that noise, dust, and smells will be a part of their lives
– ensuring priority for agricultural operations on arable land
– binding of mineral rights to land ownership
– phasing out foreign ownership of agriculturally viable land in Alberta
– allowing farmers to purchase routine medicines for stock once again without a prescription
– allowing farmers to drive large trucks with a regular class five licence so long as they are no more than one hundred fifty (150) kilometers from their farm
– exempting vehicles and heavy equipment being driven in a reasonably safe manner from check stops
– introducing special vehicle fleet licensing and rates for farm equipment on a per operating hour or per kilometer basis
– replacing all the federal and provincial Business Risk Management Programs with new alternatives that work better for our farmers and the taxpayer
– ensuring that the cost of administration of Business Risk Management Program alternatives do not exceed 2% of the total cost of the programs
– replacement of all supply management and quota systems with free market alternatives that strive to promote the interests of all Albertans, safeguard the family farm, improve productivity, and increase our agricultural competitiveness in relation to foreign markets
– covering liabilities incurred by farmers during the abolition of supply management systems where established criteria are met, with a maximum payout of $750,000 per farm
– working with industry stakeholders to bring more agricultural processing plants to Alberta
– increasing the number of agricultural product processors to eliminate the current 90% production deficit
– encouragement of partnerships with Albertan corporations and investors that explore innovative forms of agricultural product processing
– development of a business atmosphere that can support a pulse fractionation facility in Alberta
– provision of capital for Alberta-owned agricultural start-ups through at-cost-interest Alberta Treasury Branch (ATB) loans and the purchasing of shares by crown corporations
– reduction of red tape in order to entice Albertan investors and make access to funding more accessible for Alberta companies and farms
– increasing trade missions to help get provincial products to market
– partnering with agriculture industry stakeholders to develop new export programs to sell more products abroad
– increasing agricultural market access outside of our traditional trading partners
– ensuring that the provincial agricultural industry maintains access to markets through rail, highways, and ports
– creation of a common-sense safety licensing program for farms that wish to sell sensitive food products directly to market
– allow farmers to sell produce, eggs, and other agricultural goods to local restaurants and grocery stores without government intrusion
– permitting farmers to harvest their own livestock and sell the meat without government intrusion, insofar as they are properly licensed to ensure food safety standards are maintained
– allowing direct sale of raw milk to the consumer and will taking steps to ensure this is done in a safe manner
– encouraging studies on holistic agriculture techniques and taking a results-based approach to economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture
– encouraging research into more efficient organic farming practices without harming conventional farming operations. Agribusinesses will be expected to take good care of the land they own and operate, to ensure it remains productive for future generations
– encouraging research into vertical farming and greenhouse technology
– ensuring that Alberta maintains a healthy bee population and encouraging the continued development of our apiculture industry
– promoting diversity in local agriculture to become self-sustaining as a country, with the goal of rendering agricultural imports unnecessary. This includes traditional agriculture (beef, poultry, swine, sheep, goats, grain, dairy, etc.) as well as greenhouses (non-traditional fruits and vegetables) and aquaculture
– providing an “Agricultural Education” online course to Alberta High School students, integrated with in person sessions and practical experience provided by famers who volunteer
– development of educational greenhouses and farms in each region of the province to encourage the development of a production-focused, entrepreneurial mindset in our youth
– promoting an “Alberta First” agricultural philosophy and striving to limit and regulate foreign investment in Albertan agribusinesses

Manufacturing
The party advocates:
– striving to make Alberta completely self-sufficient with regards to its manufactured products and services
– to that end, starting a process of systematic and results-based deregulation to increase the feasibility of manufacturing in Alberta
– creating and evaluating streamlined, quick, efficient, and automated systems of product safety testing to reduce government-imposed overhead costs
– productivity- and efficiency-oriented approaches to labour relations to quickly build a modern industrial base
– preventing takeover of Albertan industrial companies and services by foreign companies and inviduals
– building up manufacturing infrastructure in northern Alberta with private sector driven initiatives and crown corporations
– reviving the aerospace industry in Alberta through research, the promotion of aerospace entrepreneurship programs, improved engineering practices and standards, and increased access to advanced manufacturing processes

Computers and electronics
The party advocates:
– leveraging cutting edge technologies to better compete with other nations, produce value more efficiently, and solve social challenges
– striving, as an ideal, to technologically eclipse all other nations through self-improvement rather than anticompetitive sabotage
– ending subsidization of private research companies, and preferring contract-based or in-house approaches to research
– encouraging research into dual graphite battery technology to combat battery minerals shortages with a cheaper, less energy intensive and more sustainable alternative
– encouraging development and manufacturing of domestic battery technologies that can utilise Alberta’s rich carbon and lithium reserves
– providing free market incentives to tech start-ups in Alberta and will work towards the development of a strong tech industry in Alberta
– encouraging research into the health risks associated with electronics
– use of crown corporations and at-cost ATB loans to encourage the development of quantum computing technologies through Albertan entities
– use of corporations and at-cost ATB loans to encourage the development of machine learning technologies as a matter of national importance
– working with private sector partners to implement this technology in public sector departments to drastically reduce costs, improve health services outcomes, provide fairer and more expeditious court rulings, and increase the labour pool available to private sector industries
– leveraging machine learning technologies to increase the productivity of industries, improve the chances of success for entrepreneurs, and to improve the productivity of all Albertans

Forestry
The party advocates:
– promotion of sustainable logging practices that preserve the natural structure and habitats of Alberta’s forests
– ensuring that reforestation activities mirror the land’s former natural condition
– encouraging the use of selective logging and cut blocks to decrease reforestation expenses and protect our forest’s natural environment
– changing the current leasing structure to allow the development of small forestry companies
– promoting an “Alberta First” forestry philosophy and will limit and regulate foreign investment in Alberta’s forestry-related industries.

Financial sector
The party advocates:
– drafting of “Alberta First” banking regulations to ensure that banking services are used to enrich and strengthen Albertans
– encouraging ATB to become the bank of choice for Albertans by increasing their services to exceed those of major Canadian banks
– promoting and encouraging ATB to be the lender of choice for major projects in Alberta
– working with ATB to offer at-cost interest loans to businesses that are completely Albertan owned and operated
– promoting, encouraging, and supporting ATB in establishing a global presence
– working with ATB to provide lower than par interest mortgage rates with a five percent (5%) of principal down payment for qualifying Albertans wishing to purchase their first homes
– working ATB to provide all forms of routinely used insurance policies for Albertans at the lowest possible rates, and continuing to guarantee ATB deposits
– ensuring that are not subject to “no fault insurance” to ensure that responsible Albertans are not penalized for the poor habits of others
– striving to ensure that vulnerable Albertans are not taken advantage of by predatory insurance schemes
– creating an Alberta Stock Exchange (ASE) as a crown corporation, and striving to ensure that the exchange has a full and robust set of Policies and Procedures that will be applied equally to all companies participating in the exchange.
– classifying companies listed on the ASE into two tiers based on their market capitalization and other factors that are outlined and defined within the exchange’s policies and procedures
– ensuring that ASE’s trading seats are owned and overseen by the exchange
– striving to ensure that secure computerized trading systems are utilized, allowing the exchange to be logistically competitive with international markets
– allowing the exchange to set trading fees will be set by the exchange, and using fees to sustain operations, encourage corporate listings, and to attract capital investment to Alberta
– strengthening the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) to ensure it becomes a leader in securities market oversight and reporting issuer management
– closing loopholes in financial legislation to fight white collar crime and corruption, ensuring investors and companies can have confidence in investing in Alberta

Entrepreneurialism
The party states that:
– the entrepreneurial spirit is a key factor in a person’s ability to improve themselves and contribute more to our society
– the strongest societies have strong, collaborative individuals

The party advocates:
– provide all Albertans with an affordable, solid educational foundation on the art and science of entrepreneurialism
– working Albertan educational institutions to offer courses that provide the prerequisite knowledge to succeed in competitive markets, at a cost of fifty dollars ($50.00) per seat in 2020 dollars, with the cost difference being covered by public agencies, to ensure that all Albertans have access to basic entrepreneurial skills
– such courses would delivered on an online medium, to maximize cost efficiency and promote standardization, would be prepared to the highest standard of professional excellence, have a heavy emphasis on simulation projects to give participants an accurate and authentic industry experience, while promoting creative problem solving, and be tailored to different sectors, such as online businesses, the service industry, heavy industries, etc.

Small business start-ups
The party advocates:
– providing at-cost loans to small business start-ups through ATB
– eliminating subsidies and grants to private businesses, to ensure the wealth of Albertans is not being used to decrease industry competitiveness
– greatly simplifying the registration and incorporation process, leveraging online forms to greatly decrease processing times
– during a transition to national independence, ensuring that internet-based businesses providing online services that do not use public infrastructure will be exempt from municipal business fees, since there is no interaction with the municipality

The party states that:

Among its core values are commitments to:
– deliver prosperity and protect the environment
– improve the economy and provincial public services
– support vulnerable Albertans and encourage entrepreneurs
– with its pro-growth tax shift, create jobs and get Alberta’s economy back on track
– put more cash into the pockets of Albertans by eliminating income tax for two out of three Albertans
– provide funding to help Albertans retrain and learn new skills to grow our economy
– create an investment-friendly province to bring capital and companies to Alberta
– boost equality of opportunity for all Albertans; and that

Its economic strategy is based on three foundational principles:
– improving market access
– creating an investment-friendly climate
– creating a World-Class Workforce

Poverty Reduction
The party states that:
– it is committed to making sure no one falls through the cracks
– a compassionate society takes care of their vulnerable, creates opportunity for all and strives to free all citizens from poverty

Basic Income
The party states that:
– it supports creation of a Basic Income, as the future of social assistance programs
– rather than a sprawling bureaucratic system that leaves many Albertans behind, a basic income promises every Albertan security and does so in a cost-efficient and flexible manner
– as a policy, basic income has the potential to change our society for the better and help us adapt to a changing world where jobs are threatened by automation and globalization
– however, any policy so bold is complex, and shouldn’t be rushed in. It will also require support from the federal government

The party advocates:
– pushing for the eventual implementation of a Basic Income, including lobbying the federal government and other partners in confederation to achieve this goal and launch an exploratory committee to study how to best implement the policy
– launching a pilot program to study the implementation of a Basic Income policy in a region of Alberta

Affordable Housing
The party states that:
– addressing homelessness frees up health care beds and reduces mental illness, crime, addiction and violence
– if we fail to invest in its eradication today, the result will be considerably higher social costs down the road

The party advocates
–  doubling the funding for new affordable housing over the next five years, and putting forward an additional $50 million directed towards repairing and upgrading existing affordable housing facilities
– in recognition of the invaluable work done by Family and Community Support Services in the fields of advocacy and preventative social support programs, maintaining its current funding levels

Jobs, Unions, & Employment
The party states that:
– oil and gas will be critical to Alberta’s economic future for generations. We need to make sure our industry can compete for investment and get full market value for our product. We need to make sure we get the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion and other pipeline projects built
– yet, the province can’t rely on oil and gas alone. The world is changing and we need to change with it. Alberta needs to grow other sectors like technology, agriculture, and our film industries
– The best way to grow these industries is to invest in education and training to ensure Alberta has a highly-qualified and flexible workforce

The party advocates:
– rather than pursuing giveaways to industry and picking economic winners and losers, investing in people
– providing $80 million annually in grants to out-of-work Albertans who want to pursue job training and post-secondary studies, including up to $2500 each to as many as 32,000 out-of-work to help them train for new job opportunities, and prioritizing applicants based on their period of unemployment or underemployment and on where there are skilled labour shortages in Alberta
– expanding the number of new post-secondary spaces to train the next generation of technology workers, increasing the number of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates in Alberta by 25% within the next five years
– in order to assist small and medium-sized businesses, which are harmed by late payments, particularly from large companies, amending the Judgment Interest Act to increase the penalties for late payments to creditors
– streamlining the corporate registry process and cutting the cost of incorporation in half by moving to an online model to reduce overhead
– committing generally to the reduction of red tape and unnecessary regulation, but not at the expense of environmental, safety or other important standards
– reversing overly restrictive and punative statutory holiday pay rules in order to relieve both workers and employers

Support for women entrepreneurs
The party advocates:
– working with economists to ensure an Alberta Liberal Government’s economic and fiscal policies support women entrepreneurs, as part of our Gender-Based Analysis Plus (“GBA+”) of our public policy

Continuing Adult Education
To help Alberta compete for the high-paying jobs of tomorrow’s economy and reverse the trend that has seen a 10,000-person decrease in technology and trade programs since 2015, the party advocates:
– protecting existing continuing education programs and making post-secondary education more accessible to lower-income Albertans
– making financial supports for post-secondary students more progressive, modeled on changes made federally and in Ontario to ensure the Albertans who need the most help receive the most financial assistance
– working with universities to address the billion dollars in deferred maintenance currently faced by them
– launching a committee to explore the creation of a campus for the Alberta University of the Arts, which currently shares a campus with SAIT
– working with industry to reverse the trend of shrinking trade enrollments, including identification of labour shortages—present and upcoming—and creating education opportunities for both young Albertans and out-of-work Albertans looking for a new career
– to help compete with other jurisdictions, offering ambitious postsecondary education plans, including by expanding the number of new post-secondary spaces to train the next generation of tech workers, increasing the number of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates in Alberta by 25% within the next five years
– mandatory fair students fees to fund vital student services that enrich and improve campus life
– improving the lives and training of student workers by transformi ng the Summer  Temporary Employment Program (“STEP”) into a year-round program whereby employers are eligible to receive a $7-per-hour wage subsidy to provide students with work experience in one of three four-month periods during the year

Workers
The party states that:
– it believes n fairness for workers: Albertans work hard and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and to be adequately compensated
– it seeks to strike a balance between the needs of workers and businesses to ensure all Albertans prosper

The party advocates:
– amending the Labour code to ban double-breasting, which is a practice that enables unionized employers to escape the obligations of their collective bargaining agreements and to operate non-union
– improving the lives and training of student workers by transforming the Summer Temporary Employment Program (“STEP”) into a year-round program whereby employers are eligible to receive a $7-per-hour wage subsidy to provide students with work experience in one of three four-month periods during the year
– reversing new “banked overtime” rules, which allows workers who could previously bank up to 3 months’ worth of overtime and use the banked time to cover vacation or study periods, thereby destroying flexibility for both employers and workers
– undertaking a proper and thorough stakeholder consultation on the Employment Standards Code and the Labour Relations Code, including recent additions to the Code
– shortening the 10-day pay-delay period to five days, to help ensure that employers pay employees the wages they’ve earned in a timely fashion
– uphold the recently-gained and hard-fought inclusion of waged, nonfamily employees of farms and ranches under Alberta’s occupational health and safety and workers’ compensation legislation
– maintaining the $15/hour minimum wage, including support for the concept of a living wage through use of the minimum wage
– banning the practice of “tip skimming” by restaurant management

Industries, Corporations, and Consumers

Oil & Gas
The party states that the province needs access to new markets. The price differential we’re seeing on our oil is hurting our economy and is hurting Albertans

The party advocates:
– fighting to make sure the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion is responsibly built
– working constructively on building a Canada-wide coalition dedicated to reviving the Energy East Pipeline and displacing foreign oil imports in eastern Canada
– encouraging First Nations and Indigenous economic participation in/ownership of resource development projects, to share in the prosperity

Small Businesses
The party states that:
– as small businesses inject over $100 billion into our economy every year, the province should support them

The party advocates:

– focussing on supporting small businesses during the first few years, to help them get off the ground, become profitable, and employ more Albertans

– to that end, exempting any new small businesses from paying small business corporate income tax for the first three taxation years after incorporation

Agriculture

The party states that agriculture is a major contributor to the provincial GDP and the pauarty is committed to helping the industry thrive

The party advocates:
– because issues around  water quality and supply for agricultural uses are now of such critical importance that public policy decisions in this area can no longer

afford to be motivated by politics, using evidence-based, expert opinion to inform and guide water and irrigation policy in Alberta
– working with farmers to promote soil health and regeneration, boosting organic matter and reducing the use of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides by encouraging more producers to use multi-species cover crops where feasible
– to protect Alberta’s livestock and meat industry from the serious risks posed by chronic wasting disease, an infectious and incurable brain disease found in deer, elk and moose, akin to Mad Cow Disease, adopting appropriate measures to control and eliminate the potential for it to be transmitted to livestock and/or human populations
– expanding market access for the agriculture industry, including not allowing the risky oil-by-railcar plan jeopardize rail access for the agriculture industry
– addressing shortages in the agriculture labour market by making immigration a high priority in labour programming and immigration policy in part

through reforms to Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (“AINP”)

Transportation
The party advocates:
– safe, affordable and efficient transportation, with a focus on both rural and urban needs
– building new infrastructure, maintaining existing infrastructure and making travel safer and more affordable
– investing in public transit and infrastructure, as a critical part of the fight against climate change and in order to provide a cheap alternative to driving for low-income Albertans, including support for projects like the Calgary Green Line and the Edmonton West Valley LRT projects
– monitoring market reaction to issues pertaining to the demise of Greyhound and stepping in to address gaps in a way that minimizes government overreach while protecting the rural way of life
– to ensure winter safety, requiring all insurance companies in Alberta to provide drivers a discount for buying and installing winter tires. This

will make our roads safer while saving Albertans money.
– preventing future tragedies by making bus seat belts mandatory in Alberta
– investigating the feasibility of a high-speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary, in order to grow our economy, create jobs and improve Albertans’ lives
– to prevent tradegies such as the Humboldt Bus accident, instituting more stringent regulations for truck drivers and trucking companies

The party states that:
– its purpose is to promote the principles of democratic socialism in Alberta and to establish and maintain a democratic socialist government in Alberta through the electoral process
– socialism is essentially the application of democracy to the economy. Economic democracy, i.e. democratic socialism, assures production to supply the needs of all people. Decisions about what shall be produced, when and where, and decisions about where we shall make our living and under what conditions, are now left largely in the hands of private interests. The market economy produces transnational corporations, who give private profit priority over public interest, social justice and workplace democracy. Through the efforts of many, we have achieved a degree of social and political democracy.  Economic democracy demands a co-operative rather than a competitive system
– its priorities centre on diversification, including $75 billion in new investment and creating 70,000 new jobs by 2030.

Poverty Reduction
The party advocates:
– helping families buy their first home by establishing Attainable Homes Alberta, modeled on successful programs
– providing mobile home owners with additional rights to resolve disputes with mobile home park owners without having to go to court
– providing additional resources to more actively enforce new consumer protections on door-to-door sales, payday loans, auto sales and repair and unfair contract provisions
– enacting new rules requiring auto repair shops to provide reasonable warranties to consumers
– building 4,000 new affordable housing units to make sure low-income Albertans have access to safe, quality housing, and work with municipalities to plan for future needs
– increasing support for Family and Community Social Services organizations

Jobs, Unions and Employment
The party advocates:
– ensuring Alberta’s employment and labour laws are modern, up-to-date and fair to both employers and workers in all sectors

Industries, Corporations & Consumers
The party states that:
– its priority is to build a stronger, more diversified economy, to get pipelines built and to create good jobs in every sector of the economy
– its priorities centre on bringing $75 billion in new investment and creating 70,000 new jobs over the next ten years
– since it assumed office, it has attracted $13 billion in private investment with its Made-in-Alberta program to support upgrading and refining, bringing 10,000 new jobs in the coming years. These new investments will include two new petrochemical facilities
– it introduced strategic investment tax credits that spurred more than $1 billion in new investments in manufacturing, processing, clean energy and health technology
– it cut small business taxes by 33%.6
– it worked with the craft beer industry to help it thrive, so that today more than 100 craft breweries, representing a five-fold increase from 2015, create jobs and made-in-Alberta beer
– it started a pilot project to create $25-a-day child care to include more women and families with children in Alberta’s economy

The party advocates:
– remaining steadfast in our commitment to get additional pipeline capacity, including the Trans Mountain expansion, built
– implementing $25-a-day child care in order to reduce Alberta’s labour force participation gender gap
– working with industry to deliver a major expansion of refining, upgrading and petrochemical production capacity, targeting $75 billion in new private investment
– attracting and retaining high-tech investment, including artificial intelligence and health technology
– spuring growth in value-added agriculture, food processing, interactive media and film and television production
– creation of a a Small Business Investment Office to streamline small business regulation and support new and growing businesses
– creation of 3,000 new post-secondary spaces dedicated to technology education
– attracting and retaining high-tech investment, building the province’s reputation as a national leader in new technologies through ongoing support of Alberta Innovates and creative programming such as GreenSTEM, the Alberta Entrepreneur Incubator Program and regional innovation networks
– building a global reputation for excellence in artificial intelligence and health technology, bringing investment and jobs through a five-year Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Initiative
– working with the film and television industry to capitalize on growing production demand, increase Alberta’s share of production, and make Alberta a creative economic hub in western Canada
– creation of a Small Business Investment Office to streamline small business regulation and support new and growing businesses, and we’ll keep small business taxes low
– continuing to fight against punitive U.S. tariffs, including lumber and steel

Oil & Gas
The party advocates:
– support for the oil industry and for new pipelines
– significant changes to Bill C-69, which threatens future projects, and scrapping of C-48, which ignores decades of safe shipping from Canada’s coast
– moving Keystone XL and Enbridge’s Line 3 forward
– acquisition of a supply of rail cars to increase the amount of crude oil that can be transported by rail, to shore up the price of Alberta oil without displacing grain capacity, bringing a profit of $2.2 billion to Alberta
– pressuring the federal government to re-approve Trans Mountain and to move promptly on getting it built
– to ensure that the province gets full value for its resources, carefully managing curtailment to prevent the price differential from artificially rising
– in the medium term, ensuring that the crude-by-rail plan generates profits for the province
– completion of the High and Heavy Load corridor network to facilitate moving large industrial equipment around the province
– a series of reforms to speed up and streamline regulatory processes for oil and gas projects without undermining environmental and safety standards, including full implementation of the One-Stop online platform for applications by the end of 2020, and establishing the Alberta Regulatory Competitive Task Force, led by the Department of Energy and comprised of industry representatives and all applicable government ministries
– reviewing transportation regulations related to oil well drilling, including considering re-classifying rigs as off-road vehicles, creating an annual provincial road permit, and pushing the federal government to harmonize rig classification standards to improve cross-border operations.

Agriculture
The party states that:
– farmers are the backbone of Alberta, and a major contributor to Alberta’s economy
– during its term in office it improved efficiency programs for farmers, ranchers, and food processors to help the industry succeed against competition in other provinces
– it worked with industry to promote Alberta’s agricultural products worldwide and to create greater food processing capacity within the province
– it addressed a culture of waste and entitlement at Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC)
– it provided $81 million to farmers from the carbon levy to transition to lower energy and energy efficient equipment
– it introduced the Local Food Act to raise the profile of local food industry
– it doubled loan limits to livestock providers, allowing farmers to invest in new stock

The party advocates:
– streamlining of processes and reduction of wait times for farmers applying for government approvals related to farmland, including environmental permits and lease transfers, and creation of a one-stop portal for farmers to access government programs and services
– helping farmers reduce waste with a new system for recycling agricultural plastics
– directing the Agriculture Finance Services Corporation to extend financing for non-traditional crops and livestock
– developing a unit to assist retiring farmers in succession planning and to encourage younger farmers into the industry
– maintained funding for local 4-H societies and agricultural societies, and working with 4-H to improve governance to ensure it remains a vital part of agricultural communities

Small and Medium Businesses
The party advocates:
– enacting prompt payment legislation to ensure construction sub-contractors get paid in a timely fashion

Transportation and Infrastruture
The party advocates:
– incorporating Community Benefit Agreement (CBAs) plans into larger government infrastructure projects, ensuring projects create tangible benefits for the local community, including encouraging local hiring, training and jobs for groups under-represented in construction, and design features that enhance the community’s quality of life.

The party has published no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– the dignity and importance of work
– poverty reduction
– jobs, unions, and employment
– industries, corporations, and consumers

The party states that:
– a full life includes work that provides not only a living, but dignity. Therefore its first priority is to boost the economy and bring quality jobs back to Alberta
– however, “the good life” includes much more than material well-being
– while government can’t guarantee a good life, it has a central role in establishing many of the conditions for it like health, safety, education, and support for the vulnerable

To make life better for Albertans, the party advocates:
– supporting Post-Secondary Education as critical both to Alberta’s future economy and to a vibrant Alberta
– promoting workplace skills through experiential and vocational learning from high school through post-secondary and into the workplace
– building more affordable housing for those who need it, including seniors in need of specialized housing

The party states that:
– at the last election, 183,000 Albertans were out of work, and there existed nearly 25,000 fewer private sector jobs than four years earlier
– over the last several years Alberta’s labour force participation rate for ages 15-24 dropped from 69% to 62%
– since 2014, the average duration between jobs for workers rose from 14 weeks to 22 weeks
– in the same period, average take-home pay went down by $6,400 a year, and bankruptcies have risen by more than 25%, insolvencies by more than 75%
– home sales in many parts of the province are at least 18% below their 10-year average
– in addition to the energy sector, investment has also fallen by:
* 7% in agriculture and forestry
* 10% in manufacturing
* 21% in construction
* 27% in finance, insurance, and real estate
*  35% in transportation
* 36% in utilities
* 65 % in retail trade

 The party advocates, among its top 5 commitments
– enacting a Job Creation Tax Cut by reducing the tax on job creators by 1/3 from 12% to 8% over four years, in order to create at least 55,000 new fulltime jobs
– cutting red tape on on job creators by 1/3 over four years
– passing an Open for Business Act to make it easier for job creators to hire workers
– repealing the carbon tax and suing the federal government if it tries to impose a carbon tax on Alberta
– standing up against the federal government and special foreign interests that are trying to block pipeline development, to complete pipelines
– a referendum on equalization payments

Poverty Reduction
The party advocates:
– retaining the $15.00 minimum wage
– Introducing a Youth Job Creation Wage of $13.00 for workers who are 17 years of age or younger to encourage job creators to hire young Albertans
– appointing a Minimum Wage Expert Panel to: analyse and publish all of the available economic data on the labour market impact of the recent 50% increase in the minimum wage; assess whether hospitality industry workers who serve alcohol would likely generate higher net incomes (i.e. by working more hours) with a wage differential similar to those that exist in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia; returning to a regular / irregular workday distinction for calculating holiday pay; returning to a holiday pay qualifying period of 30 work days in the 12 months preceding a general holiday; and reversing the change in 2018 that eliminated the option for workers and employers to develop straight-time banked hours arrangements

Affordable Housing
The party states that although provincial home prices are lower and home ownership is higher than in other major provinces, and while Alberta’s rents are low compared to Ontario or British Columbial, affordable housing is a critical issue for some Albertans, particularly those on low incomes, seniors on fixed incomes, and young people entering the housing market

The party advocates:
– reducing red tape burdens on home builders to lower the regulatory cost that has increased the price of new housing
– repurposing some of the capital funding for new and refurbished affordable housing projects into public-private partnership (P3) projects when we can be assured of getting more housing per tax dollar
– expanding use of mixed-income housing that enables people, including seniors, to continue to reside in their communities, including allowing for the creation of innovative community options (more care at home, and new personal care homes (PCHs) with a maximum of 15 people for seniors who need more care than can be provided at home alone but who require less care than provided at supportive living facilities)
– terminating the inefficient Building Communities of Care grant program and restoring the Alberta Supportive Living Initiative (ASLI) to build more community care facilities for fewer dollars
– ensuring that local municipal bylaws and rules provide flexible and affordable housing options for seniors, including unrelated seniors who want to live together and support each other in a single dwelling, as provided for in Ontario’s Golden Girls Act
– revising Municipal Government Act as needed to streamline the planning approval processes for affordable housing projects at the local level
– seeking an exemption from the Canada Home and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC) stress tests
– encouraging provincially-regulated financial institutions such as credit unions to return to pre B-20 mortgage underwriting standards, which are more appropriate for Alberta’s housing market

Jobs, Unions & Employment
The party states that the evidence is clear that competitive tax rates, private property rights, and sensible regulation create growth and jobs

To put Albertans back to work, the party advocates:
– repealing the carbon tax, which represents a $1.4 billion tax on everything
– lower the taxes on employers from 12% to 8%, to creating 55,000 jobs and grow the provincial economy by $12.7 billion
– restoring workers’ right to a secret ballot
– protecting workers from being forced to fund political parties and causes without explicit opt-in approval
– reversing the replacement worker ban in the public sector
– requiring the Labour Relations Board to provide legal support to all union  workers in order to better understand and exercise their rights
– strengthening new provisions in the Labour Relations Code that have reduced the duplication of employment claims in multiple forums (such as labour relations, employment standards, arbitration, and privacy)
– cutting red tape by one-third to reduce costs and speed up approvals
– repealing and replacing Bill 6
– building public infrastructure to support services like health care and education
– implementing a Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Fund to achieve real greenhouse gas emission reductions while encouraging investment across industries
– ensuring that the provincial electricity market is affordable for consumers and job creators and produces market-driven green energy
– retaining the current essential services legislation
– retaining new forms of leave adopted in recent legislation including:
* Personal and Family Responsibility Leave
* Long-Term Illness and Injury Leave
* Bereavement Leave
* Domestic Violence Leave
* Citizenship Ceremony Leave – A new unpaid leave that provides up to a half-day of job protection for employees attending a citizenship ceremony
* Critical Illness of an Adult Family Member
* Critical Illness of a Child
* Death or Disappearance of a Child

Industries, Corporations, and Consumers
The party advocates:
– to promote job creation in the tourism sector, promoting a stable and predictable funding formula for Travel Alberta that links its funding and performance to tourism industry outcomes as a whole
– standing up for forestry jobs to ensure that the industry thrives as a s sustainable sector

Small and Medium Businesses
In view of a review by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) indicating that the province received low marks for business regulation, the party advocates:
– passage of a Red Tape Reduction Act to measure, report, and reduce the province’s regulatory requirements for busineses, including:
+ appointing a Minister for Red Tape Reduction to lead the Action Plan and meet the one-third reduction target
+ forming industry panels to help the Minister identify unnecessary red tape in every sector of Alberta’s economy
+ implementing a “One-In / One-Out” rule requiring ministries to identify at least one offsetting regulation to be revokeded for every new regulation created
+ creating a Red Tape Challenge Website at StopRedTape.ca to replicate the United Kingdom’s successful Red Tape Challenge by crowdsourcing input from businesses, organisations, and the public on which regulations should be improved, kept, or scrapped
+ cutting red tape within government to allow the public sector to focus on serving the public
+ moving from a process to outcome-based regulatory approach
+ fighting for an end to interprovincial barriers to free trade

Agriculture
The party states that:
– provinical farmers and ranchers are challenged by the carbon tax, higher WCB premiums, new labour regulations, power prices, and market access failures, particularly with respect to the sustainability of multi-generational farms and ranches
– in recent years, employment in Alberta’s agriculture sector has fallen by 19%, meaning that 11,300 jobs no longer exist

The party advocates:
– immediate and comprehensive consultations with farmers, ranchers, agriculture workers, and others on how best to balance the unique economic pressures of farming with the need for a common sense, flexible farm safety regime, including development of recommendations for the introduction of a Farm Freedom and Safety Act (FFSA) to:
+ repeal Bill 6 (i.e. the 2015 Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act)
+ require employers to maintain workplace insurance for farm workers, but allow employers to choose whether to purchase insurance from the market or from the WCB as long as basic standards of coverage are met for such things as medical and return-to-work support services, and protection against loss of income
+ exempt small farms from employment legislation, following the example of New Brunswick that exempts farms that “employ three or fewer employees over a substantial period of the year (not including family members)”
+ ensure basic safety standards
+ recognize that operating a farm is unlike operating a conventional business and that farmers and ranchers require much greater flexibility in meeting employment standards, minimizing red tape for farmers
+ strengthen property rights by pursuing the constitutional entrenchment of property rights and adopting an Alberta Property Rights Protection Act
+ fight for market access and reduce interprovincial trade barriers
+ streamline the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation to improve services and responsiveness to farmers
+ eliminate the carbon tax and reduce the corporate tax and red tape burden on farmers and ranchers by one-third
• fight back against attacks on agriculture by well-funded special interests, which in many ways resemble campaigns targeting thes energy industry in recent years
+ ensure that farmers, not government, set key agriculture research priorities
+ perform a comprehensive review of risk mitigation programs
+ consult on land sales in order to replace good agricultural land lost to urban expansion by cooperating with municipalities seeking auctions on parcels of Crown land for agricultural use, where appropriate, including consultation with First Nations communities and others

Transportation & Infrastructure
The party advocates focusing on infrastructure investments that support key public services, like health and education, and our economy, like roads:
– maintain the existing Government of Alberta Capital Plan for 2019/20 through 2022/23
– passing the Alberta Infrastructure Act that will provide transparency o prioritization criteria, establish predictable funding levels, and ensure adequate maintenance of existing assets
– using alternative financing, i.e. public-private partnerships (P3s), design and build, construction management, etc., for procurement of capital projects when there is a solid business case and value for money can be achieved for taxpayers
– limiting the use of “cost plus contracts” for procurement of capital projects
– preparing and publicly releasing an annual Government of Alberta Infrastructure Report as part of the province’s Annual Report to provide detailed information to Albertans on the progress made in meeting the various commitments in the Five-Year Capital Plan
– preparing and publicly releasing a 20-year Strategic Capital Plan for Alberta

Oil & Gas
The party states that Alberta’s energy sector is a global leader in environmental standards, labour standards, and technological innovation.

In order to create jobs in the energy sector, the party advocates:
– guaranteeing in law that the royalty regime in place when a well is permitted will remain in place for that project in perpetuity
– in order to increase the number of rigs n the field, (i) reclassify service rigs as off-road vehicles, such as farm equipment; (ii) replace rural road permits with an annual provincial permit; (iii) reclassify service rigs as provincial carriers even when crossing provincial boundaries; (iv) extend BOP Level IV certification from three to five years; (v) extend mast and overhead equipment level IV certification from 1,000 to 2,000 operating days
– ensuring that Alberta intervenes at all National Energy Board hearings that affect Alberta oil and gas interests
– to take advantage of opportunities to attract private sector capital investment to leverage inexpensive feedstock into petrochemical diversification and upgrades, respecting agreements made by the current government under the Petrochemical Diversification Program (PDP) and being open to extension of the PDP royalty tax credit model to incentivize future projects
– to preserve Alberta’s reputation as a world leader in responsible development of resources while also respecting the province’s reputation with investors as a leader in predictable and efficient regulation, (i) appointing a new Board of Directors to the AER that will focus on improving approval times and cutting red tape, and (ii) etablishing clear benchmarks for approval times  and maintaining a public dashboard of the AER’s key performance metrics, (iii) aiming to have the fastest approvals in North America
– to protect provincial gas production, (i) appointing an Associate Minister for Natural Gas, (ii) appointing Associate Deputy Minister for Natural Gas in the Department of Energy, (iii) reviewing and implementing key recommendations of the 2018 Roadmap to Recovery (aka the Kvisle Panel), (iv) increasing regulatory efficiency and streamline project approvals to increase the pace of activity, (v) working with producers, the National Energy Board, and TransCanada to evaluate changes to regulations and policies pertaining to the NGTL system, including tolls and tariffs, and interconnection to the TransCanada Pipeline System through to the export points in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and to increase pipeline throughput, reduce price volatility, and lower shipper tolls on major natural gas pipeline systems,and (vi) working with the natural gas industry to facilitate infrastructure for shipping Alberta gas to Asian markets through Liquified Natural Gas projects
– to address the number of suspended or inactive oil and gas wells and associated facilities in Alberta that have reached the end of their economic lives, (i) streamlining the process for well and facility abandonment and environmental reclamation, (ii) working jointly with the AER and industry to overhaul the liability management framework in Alberta, ensuring liabilities are covered without unduly discouraging new investment, (iii) propose that the federal government provide tax incentives and financial support such as “green” flow-through shares for the abandonment and environmental reclamation of oil and gas wells and associated surface facilities, and (iv) urging the federal government to establish alternative financial vehicles that focus on environmental reclamation in the oil and gas industry, such as adapting Qualifying Environmental Trusts (QET) to include well decommissioning costs 

Foreign interests
The party states that:
– journalists have reported that over a period of more than a decade millions of dollars have been spent in a complex international effort to stymie the oil industry in Canada
– decisions about the provincial economy and the development of its natural resources should rest with the people of Alberta

The party advocates:
– establishing an ‘Energy War Room’ to respond in real time to lies and myths told about Alberta’s energy industry through paid, earned, and social media, with a $30 million budget ($20 million from carbon charges on large emitters and $10 million re-profiled from the existing government advertising budget)
– using the persuasive power of the Premier’s “bully pulpit” to tell the truth in both official languages across Canada and around the world about how Albertans produce energy with the world’s highest environmental, human rights, and labour standards
– creating a $10 million litigation fund to support pro-development First Nations in defending their right to be consulted on major energy projects
– asking the energy industry to significantly increase its advocacy efforts
– seeking out and supporting Alberta energy companies that are willing to challenge the campaign of defamation by anti-Alberta special interests, similar to for $300 million in damages
– boycotting, by the provincial government, of multinationals who boycott Alberta products, and working with like-minded allies to challenge the campaign seeking to have institutional investors boycott Alberta oil
– challenging the charitable status of groups that are funneling foreign money into anti-Alberta campaigns
– ending any and all provincial government funding for groups involved in the “Tar Sands” campaign
– launching a public inquiry under the Inquiries Act into the foreign sources of funds behind the anti-Alberta energy campaign, and ensuring that the inquiry has power to compel witness testimony and a $2.5 million budget
– – approving a law banning foreign money from interfering in Alberta politics, making it illegal for foreign entities to finance third party advertisers (also known as political action committees)
– actively supporting and seeking of adoption of Senator Linda Frum’s Bill S-239, which would ban foreign money in federal Canadian politics
– removing Ed Whittingham from his position at the Alberta Energy Regulator

Forestry
The party states that:
– Alberta’s forestry sector employs over 16,000 Albertans directly and another 23,000 indirectly
– provincial forest companies and workers are world leaders in sustainable forestry practices and in managing Alberta’s land base for future generations
– policies of the current government are costly and threaten long-term timber supplies
– while it recognizes the federally mandated need to propose a caribou range protection plan, that plan must be done in close collaboration with all who are affected and must be based on science and common-sense conservation policies

The party advocates protecting, promoting, and partnering with Alberta’s forestry workers and companies to expand the sector’s economic opportunities at home and abroad, including:
– ensuring that forest companies have long-term access to a sustainable fibre supply with our Forest Jobs Guarantee, including current quotas and forest management agreements
– offesetting federal or court-ordered policies that inhibit access to fibre with access to an equal or larger area for forestry in the same region
– supporting environmentally sustainable forestry practices by working with Alberta’s forestry companies to optimize land management practices
– restoring funding for the fight against the mountain pine beetle by increasing funding by $5 million to $30 million annually
– defending Alberta’s forest sector and fighting for Alberta’s proper national share of trade-allocated export quotas
– directing Alberta’s foreign trade offices to work with forestry companies to improve export opportunities, especially in Asia
– immediate formation of a Caribou Range Task Force of local municipal governments, the Northwest Species at Risk Committee, forestry and other industries, Indigenous representatives, and habitat scientists to review the Alberta Caribou Draft Plan
– ensuring that that the province’s land use consultations and planning are completed before any new long-term decisions are made on habitat protection
– including Alberta’s forestry sector in our “fight back strategy” against foreign funded attacks on Alberta’s resources
– ensuring that the caribou range plan, and any other environment policies affecting the forestry industry, are subject to a comprehensive social-economic impact assessment

 Innovation

The party states that
– the province has recently received a D- grade in the Conference Board of Canada’s most recent innovation report card in research and development outcomes. Alberta also received an overall grade of D in early stage R&D support, patents, and venture capital investment
– at the same time, 67% of employers in Alberta say the lack of access to digitally skilled talent is the biggest obstacle to growth. Companies are forced to move out of the province, or country, to fill these needs
– entrepreneurs and businesses looking at different potential jurisdictions to set up a new business find the Alberta government extremely hard to navigate
– government has an important role to play in fostering innovation, particularly through ensuring that Albertans are receiving proper training

The party advocates:
– driving innovation by creating the best business environment in Canada
– fixing the current approach to innovation funding by simplifying the way starts-up and growth companies secure public – and private – funding, including by reducing duplication and coordinating efforts of the many investment agencies in the province and requiring that investments of public money meet a clear ‘return on investment’ criteria
– apllying technology and processing improvements to the government itself, including active engagement in pilot projects to test global ‘best practices’ that can help deliver public services faster, more securely, and at lower cost
– to make Alberta a destination for global entrepreneurs, creating streams within the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program

The party undertakes to:
– defend the rights of all Albertans regardless of race, religious belief, colour, sex, gender identity, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation.

The party states that the six principles of the Global Green movement include:
– a commitment to participatory democracy, and that in a healthy democracy all citizens have the right to express their views and are able to directly participate in the environmental, economic, social and political decisions which affect their lives
– respect for diversity, for example, racial, linguistic, ethnic, sexual, religious and spiritual, within the context of individual responsibility toward all beings

Human Rights

Food Security
The party advocates:
– enforcement of the legal right to food as set out in the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights
– increasing food security by supporting small and medium-sized agroecological mixed farms, encouraging the diversification of food crops and farm animals, stewarding nature on the farm, and fostering a culture of growing, eating and preserving healthy local foods
– amending the school curriculum to ensure that every child has the knowledge and skills to grow food to feed themselves, and understands the current global food system

Non-discriminatory hiring
The party states that respect for human dignity and individuality lies at the heart of human rights, and it advocates:
– robust legal protection for the human rights of all Albertans, including ensuring that the Alberta Human Rights Commission functions effectively to promote respect for human rights in the province
– amendment of the Alberta Human Rights Act to require prospective employers to eliminate names, gender, and age from initial hiring and application processes in order to reduce discrimination
– amendment of the Alberta Human Rights Act to make it illegal to discriminate in employment on the basis that a person has been convicted of a criminal or summary conviction offence that is unrelated to the employment, or to the intended  employment, of that person
– amendmento f the Alberta Human Rights Act so that a. it is illegal for an employer to ask for a criminal record check until a job offer has been made, and b. where an offer is made and a criminal record is shown to exist, it would be illegal for the employer to withdraw the job offer, unless the offence for which there is a conviction is related to the intended employment of that person

Gender Identification
The party advocates mandating that all governmental departments and agencies include an option to specify “other” wherever gender is to be specified in forms or other procedures.

Civil Liberties

Responsible Gun Ownership
The party advocates:
– reform of existing firearms legislation to provide Albertans with fairer, safer, and simpler gun laws,. i.  including elimination of the restricted firearms list and greatly reduced numbers of prohibited firearms, migrating these firearms to the non-restricted list
– harsher penalties for the possession of illegal firearms
– penalties for violent and organised criminal activities
– free, mandatory mental health screenings upon the renewal of a license
– educating licensees on the complications of mental illnesses
– ensuring that Albertans suffering from mental illnesses receive the care they need.  If it is found that the individual’s mental health could pose a danger to themselves or society, ownship licenses will not be issued or renewed. The license holder will be required to surrender his firearms or produce proof of appropriate disposal of them
– striving to greatly reduce license processing times for new licenses and renewals, capping the period at one month
– ensuring that Albertans who use firearms defensively are not punished unfairly. The party believes that it is deeply immoral to deprive Albertans of the ability to defend their own lives and property and will strive to ensure that mentally sound Albertans retain that ability, and that it is not reasonable to expect Albertans to sacrifice their own life or the lives of their loved ones for the sake of a criminal’s actions

The party states that among its core values are commitments to:
– create a tolerant, inclusive and free Alberta
– stand with the LGBTQ2S+ community
– give dignity and freedom to people trapped in poverty, including a hand up, not a hand out
– protect human rights at all costs
– boost equality of opportunity for all Albertans

Civil Liberties
The party states that a just society provides equal opportunity to all citizens, letting them succeed or fail on their own merits

Gender Equality
The party states that:
– Canada has the largest gender pay gap among OECD Nations, and that Alberta has the largest gap in Canada
– Alberta is the province in Canada without pay equity legislation

The party advocates:
– implementation of Pay Equity Legislation that requires companies to prove they are paying men and women equally and fine those who are not
– boosting funding for women’s shelters in Alberta to address the 10% increase in crisis calls to shelters over the last two years – 54% of women who enter shelters face “severe” or “extreme” danger
– enactment of budgets that have a special focus on examining and assessing their impacts on women and minorities, to ensure policies, programs, initiatives and funding support the goal of equality of opportunity for all
– introduction of free birth control for women, because birth control is important to a woman’s health, freedom and happiness and access to birth control creates significant savings in healthcare, boosts the economy and improves health outcomes for women
– ensuring support for female politicians and their childcare responsibilities, and ensuring rules and procedures are updated to ensure women can participate as fully as men in our Government
– because there have been some glaring instances where some police officers and judges have shown that they do not understand issues pertainng to sexual assault, sexual harassment, or sexual consent, mandating appropriate training for all police officers and judges
– exploring portable housing as a tool to help women fleeing domestic violence, including direct financial assistance to women seeking a home while fleeing violence.

Universal Child Care
The party states that:
– providing subsidized child care improves labour participation for women, injecting billions into our economy annually
– when you invest in child care, you invest in women; and when you invest in women, you invest in Alberta

So that every parent has an opportunity to participate in the workforce and be a parent, the party advocates:
– implementing universal subsidized child care for all Albertans
– testing the system to make it cost-effective and ensure the Albertans who need it the most will pay the least. Families earning $40,000 and under will pay $0 a day, scaling up to $45 a day for high-income families
– creating an income-tested Refundable Child Care Tax Credit for low- and middle-income families who have a stay-at-home parent or pursue other child care options
– providing funding to create new child care spaces to address space shortages

Reproductive rights
The party advocates:
– making sure all women have full access to abortion
– making sure abortion procedures are more easily available in rural communities
– funding one cycle of in-vitro fertilisation treatment for women and families who have infertility issues and want to start a family

Transgender supports
The party states that it is committed to funding medical procedures for transgender Albertans, including elimination of gate-keeping and fully funding hormone treatments for trans women

Human Rights
The party states that:
– it believes in the equality, autonomy and worth of every individual, and has led the charge on these issues in the past
– it will continue to fight for the freedom and dignity of every human being

The party advocates:
– since the last comprehensive review of Alberta’s Human Rights Act was over 22 years ago, modernizing the legislation with a comprehensive review and expanding it to prevent discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy, social condition, Indigenous heritage, political belief, language, addiction, HIV-positive status, physical size or weight
– guaranteeing non-discrimination in employment through financial and administrative support for those bringing complaints

Socially-Assisted Death (SAD)
– requiring all health facilities, including Covenant Health facilities, to provide MAID services on site. Individuals have conscience rights, facilities do not. Public health facilities must provide this service to prevent undue suffering for MAID patients and respect their constitutional right to MAID

Racism
The party states that:
–  it is committed to a safe and inclusive Alberta, and will work with Albertans from all backgrounds to fight against racism and hate groups.
– diversity is Alberta’s strength, and it stands with the province’s multicultural communities.

Inclusion
The party states that:
– it sees inclusion as a universal human right
– the aim of inclusion is to embrace all people irrespective of race, gender, age, disability, medical or other characteristic. It is about giving equal access and opportunities and eliminating discrimination, intolerance and barriers to full participation in society, and affects all aspects of public life

The party advocates:
– ensuring that policy decisions are made with an inclusive lens, and engaging with citizens, families and stakeholders on policy that affects their lives, and defend and support inclusion and accessibility

LGBTQ2S+
The party advocates:
– updating the Alberta Curriculum with age-appropriate content about the history of LGBTQ2S+ populations in Canada and the world, and their struggles to achieve equality
– as the the first party in Alberta to support GSAs and introduce GSA Legislation, it supports mandatory GSAs in all schools where they are requested, and it fundamentally opposes informing parents that their child has joined a GSA without their consent
– ensuring that the hateful and medically-reckless practice of conversion therapy is banned in Alberta imediately, based on initial legislation on that in place in other provinces

Civil Liberties

The party states that during its term in office it:
– developed a comprehensive anti-racism strategy and created an anti-racism advisory council to lead this important work
– began creation of a Provincial Hate Crimes Unit that will work with police and law enforcement, including Crown prosecutors, to improve the specialized training they receive to fight hate crimes
– created new community grants for grassroots organizations working to combat racism
– worked to ensure Alberta students learn about racism and about the modern, diverse make-up of the province through the curriculum review
– passed An Act to Support Gay Straight Alliances into law to protect a student’s right to form a gay-straight alliance at their school without fear of being outed
– produced LGBTQ Youth Housing and Shelter Guidelines to help ensure youth feel safe when accessing housing and homeless shelters and services
– added gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination in the human rights code
– made changes so Albertans can now choose Female, Male or “X” on their driver’s licences, ID cards and vital statistics records, such as birth certificates and death certificates
– announced a Conversion Therapy Working Group that will make recommendations to the Minister of Health on how to most effectively ban this dangerous and harmful practice
– raised the Transgender Pride flag at the Alberta Legislature for the first time in Alberta’s history

The party advocates:
– reforming government hiring practices to eliminate bias
– creation of a Ministry of Multiculturalism to educate and promote diversity, inclusion and mutual respect among all Albertans
– working with communities that have experienced hate crimes at their places of worship to increase security and to restore a sense of safety

Responsibilities, participation and subsidiarity
The party advocates:
– reviewing and modernizing grants to community groups and non-profit organizations, giving consideration to multi-year, sustainable funding arrangements, reducing the time between funding decisions and money flowing, and flexible forms of funding to allow a broader range of organizations to be eligible

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– civil liberties
– human rights
– responsibilities, participation and subsidiarity

The party states that:
– a full life includes work that provides not only a living, but dignity. Therefore its first priority is to boost the economy and bring quality jobs back to Alberta
– however, “the good life” includes much more than material well-being
– while government can’t guarantee a good life, it has a central role in establishing many of the conditions for it like health, safety, education, and support for the vulnerable

To make life better for Albertans, the party advocates:
– partnering with Non-Profits, Charities, and Volunteers will help create a brighter future for Albertans who need a hand up by assisting the groups best positioned to help Albertans in their communities
– promoting municipal autonomy and predictability while ensuring transparency for voter
– providing thorough protection for Albertans’ property rights through new legislation and a review of all existing legislation

Civil liberties

Freedom of Speech
The party advocates:
– requiring all universities and colleges to develop, post, and comply with free speech policies that conform to the University of Chicago Statement on Principles of Free Expression

Property Rights
The party states that within the Canadian Constitution there exists no explicit right to private property, and that this has led to government abuse of property owners, including:
– false premises for expropriation
– low compensation offers and devalued property
– compensation offers that do not account for improvements, and
– government “freezing” part or all of a private property with regulation but offering no compensation

The party advocates ensuring just compensation when necessary public projects require access to, or use of, private property, including compensation when a government imposes regulatory costs or takes action that significantly devalues property through passage of a new Alberta Property Rights Protection Act that will further entrench the right not to be deprived of enjoyment or use of property without due process of law, including:
– proposing an amendment to the Constitution to enshrine property rights in Alberta
– amending the Land Titles Act to bar adverse possession claims so that Alberta no longer allows squatters to make legal claims to someone else’s property
– treating government regulation of real property the same as government expropriation for the purposes of compensation
– allowing private property owners to convert government attempts to regulate property into an expropriation action if desired
– preserving the right of governments to expropriate and regulate for the public good
– tasking a Legislature Committee with reviewing relevant legislation and government policies to determine what changes are needed to ensure compliance with property rights
– ensuring government departments and agencies, boards, and commissions account for any potential costs and/or loss of value to private property in new regulatory proposals
– creating a Property and Farmer’s Rights Advocate Office out of the existing two offices to reduce duplication of roles and operations and to provide more support for Albertans

Participation and subsidiarity

In view of difficulties faced by organizations trying to aid society in the face of administrative and infrastructure problems, the party advocates:
– adopting a Freedom to Care Act that allows for charitable and non-profit groups to apply for a “common sense exemption” from regulations that are designed primarily for commercial application where those regulations have the unintended consequence of preventing a social good from being performed
– creating a Premier’s Charities Council to advise the government on how best to assist the efforts of civil society groups
– creating a weekly Points of Light Award to recognize outstanding groups or individuals who exemplify Alberta’s spirit of volunteerism
– creating a $20 million Civil Society Fund supported by the Alberta Lotteries Fund to support innovative cost-shared programs delivered by community groups
– wherever possible, partnering with civil society organisations to deliver government programming and services where they can achieve results more efficiently and effectively
– ensuring that faith-based charities and non-profits have equal access to government grants and contributions
– supporting projects like the Alberta Social Venture Initiative, and the Trio Foundation’s Social EnterPrize, a national award that celebrates the best and brightest of Canada’s social entrepreneurs
– reducing bureaucratic burdens such as renewal obligations for proven civil society groups that deliver results for Albertans, including moving to five-year funding agreements if and where possible
– maintaining the most generous charitable tax credit of any province in Canada to incentivize charitable giving

Support for the Marginalized

As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the party believes that:
– every Albertan deserves the opportunity to succeed
– the provincial government should aspire to provide excellent and innovative public education, public health care, and infrastructure, as well as a compassionate helping hand in times of need
– this can be accomplished through responsible use of public funds

The party undertakes to:
– defend the rights of all Albertans regardless of race, religious belief, colour, sex, gender identity, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation

Students with Special Needs
The party advocates:
– increasing supports for students with special needs with additional appropriately trained staff and funding
– targeted funding for educational assistants to increase the human supports for students with special needs

Indigenous Peoples
The party advocates:
– implementing recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report that fall within Provincial scope
– encouraging the Federal Government to consider the specific and unique needs of Alberta’s Indigenous people when implementing all federal TRC recommendations
– support for municipal Governments in implementing TRC recommendations
– implementation of social programs to support healing and success for intergenerational residential school survivors, including those that have not yet been identified
– providing education to public servants on the history of Indigenous peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the UNDRIP, Treaties and Indigenous rights, Indigenous law, and Indigenous-Crown relations
– seeking the guidance and participation of Indigenous Albertans in educating the public service, as a pillar of reconciliation and a precursor for action
–  working with the Métis Nation of Alberta and the Métis Settlements General Council to develop legislation that will protect the harvesting rights of the Métis as Indigenous peoples, in alignment with their rights under s. 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– rural communities
– immigration and newcomers

Rural Communities

The party advocates:
– balancing the needs of all Alberta communities and ecosystems
– discouraging urban sprawl, and working with municipalities and communities to protect and preserve prime agricultural land and natural landscapes
– promotion of local food systems, and support for local community processing facilities such as mills, bakeries, canneries, abattoirs, butcher shops, creameries, breweries, and distilleries, as well as natural fibre mills and artisan workshops

Indigenous Peoples
The party advocates:
– acknowledging the genocide of Indigenous peoples of Canada, inclusive of First Nations, Metis and Inuit
– recognizing the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples of Canada, which requires the duty to consult and obtain consent in regard to the consequences of genocide and the healing required
– ensuring that the commitment to the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples will permeate all policy development, lawmaking and day-to-day operations
– ensuring that the provincial government abides by both the letter and the spirit of the constitutional duty to consult and accommodate Indigenous peoples when the Crown’s conduct impacts Indigenous or Treaty rights
– negotiation of revenue sharing agreements and co-management regimes with Indigenous communities affected by resource developments
– enforcing compliance with conditions attached to licenses and permits, issued by government, that allow projects to proceed
– making loans and advances against shared revenue available to Indigenous communities
– mandating that all government properties where provincial or national flags are flown also fly, not in an inferior position, the applicable Treaty flag and/or flag of the local First Nation(s) on whose traditional territory the property is found
– ensuring that local First Nations elders and leaders are properly engaged, with appropriate recognition and compensations (such as, but not limited to, ceremonial tobacco), prior to the first raising of such flags, for the purpose of having appropriate and inclusive ceremonies at the first raisings

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
Whereas the Government of Canada is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the party advocates:
– formally acknowledging a provincial obligation to uphold the Declaration
– commissioning a review of existing Alberta laws and policies to identify laws and policies which are non-compliant with the Declaration for the purpose of bringing forward amendments or replacements or revoking such legislation, and ensuring that such a commission is constituted of a majority of Indigenous members

Reconciliation
The party states that:
– whereas reconciliation between Indigenous and other Albertans will require that trust be built between the two groups, and
– whereas building trust with Indigenous people will require that other Albertans and Albertan institutions, including the government of Alberta, will have to show they are sincere about changing their behaviour towards Indigenous people, and
– Indigenous people are less likely than most other Albertans to come forward with evidence of wrong-doing against them, because historically they have not been believed or their evidence has been discounted when they have come forward,

The party advocates:
– formal acknowledgement and acceptance of each of the calls for action of the TRC
– take proactive steps to determine whether systemic abuses against Indigenous people, such as coerced sterilizations (e.g., against Indigenous women in Saskatchewan) or police abuse of power (e.g., against Indigenous women in Quebec), that are documented to have occurred in other provinces have also occurred in our province
– recognition of traditional Indigenous hunting rights, and ensuring that Provincial Laws and Regulations do not supersede those rights

Refugees and newcomers
The party advocates:
– establishing a commission to review the processes whereby foreign-trained and out-of-province professionals are certified to practice in Alberta

Immigration and Newcomers

The party states that it believes that:
– citizenship is a privilege, not a right
– the health, welfare, and happiness of Albertans are of greater importance than external humanitarian efforts
– immigrants should complement the culture, social fabric, and industries of Alberta, allowing immigration to strengthen our nation

The party advocates:
– during the transition period to provincial independence, recognizing no new Albertan residencies
– after separation, granting citizenship in the following cases:
i. All persons holding an Alberta residency and Canadian citizenship at the time of separation will receive their Albertan citizenship
ii. Children born to a parent with a current Alberta residency and Canadian Citizenship during the transition period will automatically receive their citizenship
iii. Children born to two parents with Alberta citizenships will be granted citizenship
iv. Former residents of Alberta holding Canadian citizenships will be granted citizenship after the successful completion of a qualifying examination
v. Canadians will be granted citizenship after the successful completion of a qualifying examination for the first five (5) years after separation
vi. Residents or citizens of regions which have held a successful, verified referendum to have their region amalgamated into Alberta will be granted citizenship, provided that such referenda are properly scrutinized and follow all established procedures; election officers from Alberta verify results; and every resident of the region is informed of the referendum and entitled to vote
– recognition of referenda that fit the following criteria:  Regions need not have a provincial or state status; Residents within the region may refuse Alberta citizenship until amalgamation proceeds; Residents or citizens of regions where an unsuccessful referendum to amalgamate with Alberta has taken place will be granted citizenship after completing a qualifying examination within three (3) years of said referendum;
– immigration applicants who have skills or expertise that is currently unavailable or limited in Alberta will be granted work permits after meeting approval criteria
– residents and non-citizens may only reside in Alberta if they have a valid work permit and shall be deported if it is revoked or allowed to expire
– residents and non-citizens will have their work permit revoked if they are convicted of a crime or misdemeanor
– residents and non-citizens must hold consecutive work permits for a five (5) year period before they are eligible to apply for their citizenship and participate in qualifying examinations
– applicants must reside in Alberta for the first four (4) years of their citizenship, or their citizenship shall be revoked
– Alberta citizens holding foreign citizenships must sign a document renouncing them
– ensuring that illegal aliens who trespass on Albertan soil are deported immediately, irrespective of circumstances. Upon the appeal of a deportation order, the individual will be arrested and held at a secure facility for a period not exceeding ninety (90) days while the appeal is processed. No further appeals will be entertained.
– securing Albertan borders diligently and neither honoring nor respecting “sanctuary city” motions. Individuals complicit in cross border trafficking, trafficking labour, or running fraudulent immigration rackets will be prosecuted criminally
– tourists and visitors will not be eligible to hold work permits under normal circumstances
– performers, athletes, and others with similar event-based careers may be eligible to receive a temporary work permit after prepaying applicable taxes and meeting established criteria
– taking measures to prevent “birth tourism”

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– supporting the marginalized
– Indigenous peoples
– rural communities

The party states that among its core values are commitments to:
– support vulnerable Albertans and encourage entrepreneurs
– prioritize sustainable and preventative healthcare to improve outcomes and drive down long-term costs
– create a tolerant, inclusive and free Alberta
– protect human rights at all costs

Persons with Disabilities
The party states that persons with disabilities must be given the same opportunities to fully participate in society that many of us take for granted

The party advocates:
– creating an Associate Minister of Disability, to be tasked with finding ways to make Alberta more inclusive and more accessible for Albertans with disabilities, and
– commiting more funding to help them accomplish this goal
– implementing policy directives including:
+ assisting persons with disabilities in finding gainful employment through partnership programs
+ hiring more persons with disabilities as Government of Alberta employees
+ expanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (“FASD”) public awareness education and supporting Albertans living with FASD
+ creating Post-Secondary Scholarships for persons with disabilities
– indexing Alberta Income for the Severely Handicapped (“AISH”) to inflation, and increasing the base AISH funding to compensate for inflationary losses Albertans on AISH have suffered since the last AISH increase in 2012
– putting and end to clawbacks on AISH, including exploring options for putting and end to this practice or, if necessary, increasing AISH payments to compensate

Indigenous Peoples
The party states that rconciliation with Indigenous peoples must be a sincere and conscious goal present in all aspects of government and society

To build a relationship of respect with Indigenous peoples, the party advocates:
– directing, in consultation with Indigenous people and organizations, revisions to the curriculum to accurately explain the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada and the injustices of the residential school system
– funding for Indigenous language school immersion programs so more Indigenous Albertans can retain their language heritage
– funding start-up of new regional Indigenous child protection offices, to be organized by, gifted to and run by First Nations in Alberta, and thereby to ensure Indigenous children are cared for by their own communities and organizations controlled by them, and stay connected to their communities and way of life
– ensuring that the Gladue Principle applies to Provincial offences and violations of the law, thereby requiring the court to take into account circumstances facing Aboriginal peoples, and where the crime is anything other than severe, considering Aboriginal-based sentencing principles such as restorative justice
– studying and implementing solutions to make our justice system fairer, including amending the Jury Act, RSA 2000, c J-3, to make juries more diverse and representative of the community
– adding six new seats to the Alberta Legislature for Indigenous Peoples representation: four for First Nations, and two for Métis Councils
– specifically committing to respect First Nations’ Treaty rights
– negotiating resource-sharing agreements with First Nations in advance of negotiated Treaty land entitlement agreements
– increasing supports for urban Indigenous youth
– implementing mandatory training for all civil/public servants—in consultation with First Nations and Indigenous authorities
– ending the practice of “carding”—police randomly stopping Indigenous people and people of colour and demanding their I.D., without lawful probable grounds to do so

Immigrants and Newcomers
The party states that:
– new Canadians are vital to Alberta, helping unlock the province’s economic potential
– the diversity immigrants create create enriches the multicultural fabric of our nation
– its plan will help new Canadians settle into their life as Albertans while unlocking their economic potential
– Alberta attracts some of the most talented and educated immigrants in the world, but too often these new Canadians are not working in their field of expertise. This wastes their potential and hurts our economy

The party advocates:
– working with professional organizations and immigrant communities to make it easier for new Canadians to upgrade their foreign credentials to Alberta standards
– increasing settlement funding to help new Canadians settle into the province as productive, tax-paying members of the community
– since language is often the most significant barrier for new Canadians, increasing funding for ESL education and establishing a telephone service that allows new Canadians to speak to government agents with the help of a translator

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– rural communities

Immigration and Newcomers
The party states that during its term in office it:
– updated and streamlined the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program to reduce wait times and make it more fair for applicants to apply for permanent residency
– introduced new grants to support immigrant business owners and increased supports for settlement services
– created Sikh Heritage Month, Pakistani Heritage Month, Philippine Heritage Month and Black History Month to honour these important communities
– developed a comprehensive anti-racism strategy and created an anti-racism advisory council to lead this important work
– started a foreign qualification recognition fund, and undertook to work with regulatory bodies to develop new tools that measure skills and experience and not credentials alone, and make sure newcomers know about these changes to help them better prepare for work in Alberta
– changed rules to the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program to stop abuse of temporary foreign workers

The party advocates:
– implementation of new employment programs to make sure newer Albertans are able to fully share in our prosperity, including a Newcomer Advocate, expanded bridging programs and a provincial government internship program
– creation of a Ministry of Multiculturalism to educate and promote diversity, inclusion and mutual respect among all Albertans
– working with communities that have experienced hate crimes at their places of worship to increase security and to restore a sense of safety
– pushing the federal government to allow more family reunification entries in Alberta and to create more paths to permanent residency so more newcomers can make their homes here
– modernization of charitable gaming rules to remove unfair barriers for multicultural groups accessing casino and bingo revenue
– increasing the number of language programs in Alberta’s schools so more students can stay connected with their family’s culture and language

Indigenous Peoples
The party states that during its term in office it:
– worked to build bridges, move reconciliation forward, and to make life better for Indigenous peoples in Alberta
– strengthened partnerships with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and people. For example, Minister of Indigenous Relations Richard Feehan became the first Minister to visit every First Nation in Alberta
– worked diligently to renew the province’s relationship with Indigenous peoples and to ensure that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is considered in all policy deliberations
– became the first government in Canada to adopt Jordan’s Principle to ensure children at risk on reserve receive the same care and protection as other Albertans
– signed a long-overdue treaty with the Lubicon Cree
– signed protocol agreements with Treaty 8 and the Blackfoot Confederacy, and continued work on a framework agreement with the Métis Nation of Alberta
– invested $120 million in affordable housing for Indigenous peoples
– invested $100 million to improve drinking water in First Nations communities
– apologized for Alberta’s role in residential schools and joined the call for a public inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women
– introduced training for all public service employees on the history and unique needs of Alberta’s Indigenous population
– launched a process to engage with survivors of the Sixties Scoop to develop and craft a meaningful apology, and delivered that apology in the Alberta Legislature with a promise to continue working to make amends to the victims and heal the wounds of the past
– funded a job training program for Indigenous women to build skills as heavy equipment operators
– signed an agreement with the four Maskwacîs Cree Nations to outline the role of the government in providing education to the community
– created the first Indigenous Languages in Education grant in Canada, funding programs that assist and promote Indigenous Language Education in schools
– acted to ensure that all students in Alberta are taught about the legacy of residential schools in a way that reflects and respects the voices of survivors
– mandated that Indigenous partners be a part of our renewable energy plan. 25% of new capacity being brought onstream have Indigenous equity

The party advocates:
– continuing o build a relationship of trust, respect and mutual benefit with Indigenous peoples, knowing that it takes time to do so
– entering into negotiations with First Nation and Métis peoples to explore a renewed fiscal relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Government of Alberta
– working with Indigenous groups that are seeking to purchase equity partnerships in pipeline projects by linking them with investors
– accelerating the schedule to extend drinking water infrastructure to reserves
– increasing financial support to Native Friendship Centres to support lndigenous Albertans living off-reserve
– continuing to prioritize building of Indigenous affordable housing to make sure more Indigenous Albertans have access to safe, quality housing

Rural Communities
The party states that:
– it knows that strong rural communities and a strong rural economy make for a strong province
– it is committed to ensuring that the province’s rural communities have the tools they need to keep contributing to the well-being and prosperity of Alberta

and that during its term in office it:
– put jobs and economic diversification first, while investing in the services and supports to help smaller communities remain strong and vibrnant
– provided historic investments in infrastructure to give communities across Alberta needed resources for growth and job creation
– built dozens of new schools in smaller communities across the province
– invested in key emergency and health facilities including continuing care in Fort McMurray, a new Emergency Services Centre in Kananaskis, urgent care for Sylvan Lake, expanded urgent care for Airdrie and Medicine Hat’s regional hospital
– invested $10 million in additional funding to combat rural crime by hiring 39 more police officers, 40 more civilian staff, and 10 additional Crown prosecutors, leading to an 11 per cent decrease in rural property crime
– stepped in to ensure continued bus services for communities affected by Greyhound’s closure
– updated the Municipal Government Act to ensure Albertans have access to safe and affordable housing by giving municipalities the option to reserve a portion of a new development for affordable housing
– empowered municipalities to charge off-site levies on developers to build firehalls, rec centres, police stations, and libraries
– provided dialysis services in Lac La Biche and High Prairie
– invested $22 million in local flood and drought resilience programs and equipment
– improved 911 standards to deliver consistent services in all communities across the province
– made Red Deer College and Grande Prairie College degree granting universities, so rural residents can get a degree close to home
– launched a new program within the Alberta Jobs Plan to promote long-term economic growth and prosperity in Alberta’s communities and regions
– continued building the new Fort Saskatchewan bridge and twinning Highway 15, and undertook to will twin Highway 60 in Acheson and build an overpass to ease traffic congestion at a rail crossing

The party advocates:
– negotiating a long-term stable funding agreement with Alberta’s small and medium-sized municipalities on par with those negotiated with the big cities
– implementing a 10-year strategy to get high speed internet to every Albertan, partnering with municipalities and industry to facilitate the construction or upgrading of broadband infrastructure across rural communities
– creating Hometown Alberta, a program to help smaller communities renovate their aging hockey arenas, swimming pools and recreation centres
– providing financial support for rural crime watch organizations so they can be more effective in keeping their communities safe and to create an advisory system to share information within communities
– enhancing coordination between the RCMP and provincial enforcement officers to make better use of their presence in communities to maximize rural household protection strategies

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– supporting the marginalized
– Indigenous peoples
– rural communities
– immigration and newcomers

The party states that:
– a full life includes work that provides not only a living, but dignity. Therefore its first priority is to boost the economy and bring quality jobs back to Alberta
– however, “the good life” includes much more than material well-being
– while government can’t guarantee a good life, it has a central role in establishing many of the conditions for it like health, safety, education, and support for the vulnerable

To make life better for Albertans, the party advocates:
– creating an Inclusive Disability Agenda to support Albertans with disabilities to live full lives with dignity and equal opportunities
– partnering with Alberta’s Indigenous Peoples to secure adequate supports and pursue opportunity

Protecting Vulnerable Albertans
The party states that a core government responsibility is to protect the vulnerable, including:
– victims of human trafficking: Statistics Canada reports that between 2009 and 2016, there were 1,099 police-reported incidents which involved a human trafficking offence, the rate of human trafficking incidents has risen steadily since 2010, and that 95% of human trafficking victims were women, with 70% of these women under the age of 25
– children:  in 2018, in one investigation alone, a sub-agency under the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) which investigates the sexual exploitation of children through the internet, laid charges in 56 child pornography cases against 16 men in Calgary, Red Deer, Airdrie, and Strathmore
– women: an ALERT sub-agency recently conducted 222 threat and risk assessments based on referrals from school boards, universities, police, and government agencies

Human Trafficking
The party advocates launching a nine-point Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, including:
– adoption by the Legislature of the 2002 Protocol to Prevent Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons (the Palermo Protocol) definition of human trafficking, followed by an effort to have other provinces and the federal government adopt the same standard definition to create a common understanding across Canada of what constitutes human trafficking
– creation of a provincial Human Trafficking Task Force that will bring together representatives of relevant ministries, agencies, police forces, and community groups to share information and coordinate action on an ongoing basis
– increasing efforts to educate the public, particularly vulnerable groups, about the reality of human trafficking, and to report tips to a new National Human Trafficking Hotline
– ensuring appropriate training for judges, prosecutors, and first responders including police officers, nurses, and doctors, to enhance detection of human trafficking and the prosecution of human traffickers, as well as improving support for victims
– ensuring that the Department of Labour provides information to Temporary Foreign Workers in Alberta about their rights under Canadian law, assuring them that if they report an instance of human trafficking, they will not be subject to removal for the duration of their work permit
– working with community groups, other provinces, and the federalgovernment to collect and share better data on human trafficking, and to ensure coordinated action as part of the National Action Plan To Combat Human Trafficking
– beginning the naming and shaming of traffickers by publishing the names of businesses that have been found to have knowingly facilitated human trafficking
– lobbying the federal government to strengthen penalties against human traffickers by bringing into force Bill C-452, which amends the Criminal Code to impose consecutive sentences for trafficking in persons, and creates a presumption regarding the exploitation of one person by another (it also adds human trafficking to the list of offences to which the forfeiture of proceeds of crime applies)

Women and Children
– passing the Saving the Girl Next Door Act modelled on Ontario legislation introduced by Hon Laurie Scott, MPP, to: establish a process for victims (or potential victims) to obtain restraining orders against their traffickers; establish a tort of ‘human trafficking’ so that victims may bring a civil action against traffickers who are or have preyed on them, and sue for damages; proclaim February 22 annually to be Human Trafficking Awareness Day, as part of a broader effort to raise awareness about the scourge of modern day slavery
– passing an Alberta version of ‘Clare’s Law’ to ensure that in defined circumstances people at risk of domestic violence may have fuller awareness of an intimate partner’s previous history of domestic violence or violent acts
– investing $2 million in expanding the use of specialised electronic monitoring technology to more fully prevent those serving sentences in the community from having contact with those they were convicted of victimising
– commiting $5 million in new funding to combat sexual assault and provide services to survivors of sexual violence.  $3.5 million will be new funding directed to sexual assault service centres that  provide counseling, support, and advocacy.  $1.5 million will be directed to maintaining a 24 hour crisis line monitored by a sexual assault nurse examiner and to ensuring that all police stations have sexual assault evidence kits
– providing an overall funding increase of 69% ($50 million over four years) to the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), who deal with children’s exploitation, domestic violence, stalking, and gang issues, specifically to: double the funding for the Integrated Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit; double the funding over four years to the Integrated Threat and Risk Assessment (I-TRAC) unit that helps combat domestic violence and stalking; work with ALERT to create a charitable foundation (akin to the Calgary and Edmonton Police foundations) which can then attract additional funds from the public; ensure mandatory anti-harassment training for members of the Alberta public service, agencies, boards, commissions, and Legislature

Hate Crimes
The party advocates:
– establish a Security Infrastructure Program, which will be modelled after a similar program Jason Kenney helped establish at the federal level
– making religious and ethno-cultural groups at risk of being victimized by hate-motivated crime will be eligible for matching grants of up to $100,000 for the purchase of: alarm systems; fences; gates; lighting; security film for windows; closed-circuit television systems; exterior cameras; anti-graffiti sealant; motion detectors
– increased funding specialized law agencies that combat gang activity

Support for the Disabled
The party states that:
– roughly 400,000 Albertans report having a disability
– persons with disabilities tend to have much lower incomes, higher unemployment rates, and lower labour participation rates
– of the 11,000 Albertans available for employment supports through the Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) Program, 84% are unemployed

The party advocates:
– updating the 2004 Standards for Special Education to reflect new technologies and practices, to ensure accountability for quality inclusive education, and to protect a vision of parental choice
– restoration of the Wellness Resiliency and Partnerships program (ended by a previous government) to support children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in schools with funding of $1 million/year
– expanding the successful Family Managed Supports (FMS) model by establishing four new family governed resource centres to serve St. Paul, Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, and Edmonton families at $1.5 million/year
– working with First Nations, other Indigenous communities, and the disability community to increase access to supports for Indigenous families who have children with disabilities, partnering with First Nations and the Government of Canada to extend Alberta’s PDD supports to adults with developmental disabilities on reserves using, federal dollars as has been done for children’s FSCD supports
– working with the disability community to develop an approach to personal and individualized disability-related supports by restoring the Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) program to its pre-2009 eligibility criteria or by eliminating the existing division of age and access by incorporating PDD, the Brain Injury Initiative, FASD Networks funding and Family Supports for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) into comprehensive programming that is family and individual-centered
– making the Government of Alberta a leader in hiring Albertans with disabilities
– building on successful partnerships like Abilities at Work and the Rotary Employment Partnerships by providing $5 million/year for new partnerships to create job opportunities for persons with disabilities
– porviding $2 million for planned growth of the number of students with developmental disabilities supported to study in inclusive post-secondary education at Alberta universities, colleges, and technical institutes
– convening a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) Action Group with members from the financial services industry, government, and the disability community, and allocating $500,000 annually to help Albertans open RDSPs and access the thousands of dollars in federal government grants and bonds available to them
– supporting Albertans with disabilities to stay in their homes by reducing wait times and expanding access for Self-Managed Care and increasing funds available under the Residential Access Modification Program

Immigration & newcomers
The party states that:
– Alberta has always been a magnet for immigration, and all Albertans benefit from the entrepreneurial drive and skills that newcomers bring
– however, too many immigrants arrive with the great hopes and skills that Canada needs, only to become trapped in survival jobs because it can take years for Canadian businesses and professional licensing bodies to recognize the credentials new Canadians have earned elsewhere
– new Albertans must often navigate these challenges while at the same time working to put food on table. This “doctors-driving-taxis” syndrome is an enormous waste of potential
– according to the Conference Board of Canada, some 524,000 new Canadians would earn as much as $12.7 billion more, and pay more taxes, if their learning credentials were fully recognized

The party advocates:
– imediately launching consultations to seek input from immigrants, employers, settlement organizations, municipalities, policy experts, and study best practices in other provinces, with the goal of ending large backlogs, speeding up processing times, proactively attracting talented newcomers from overseas, and welcoming job-creating entrepreneurs
– creating a Rural Entrepreneur Immigration Program to invite entrepreneurs to start new businesses in smaller Alberta communities
– creating a Rural Renewal Immigration Program to prioritize AINP applications from foreign nationals who are committed to living and working in smaller communities throughout Alberta
– creating an International Student Entrepreneur Program to encourage foreign student graduates of Alberta post-secondary institutions to start a business and stay in Alberta permanently. Data shows that young foreign student grads with Canadian degrees and strong English language skills become major contributors to the economy
– creating a Foreign Graduate Startup Visa Program to target brilliant foreign grads of top universities in the United States who want to launch a start-up enterprise in North America but cannot get immigration status in the USA.  There are hundreds of thousands of such graduates. The majority are experts in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Many have well developed start-up business concepts, plus venture capital lined up. This program would be modelled in part on Chile’s highly successful Startup Visa, providing qualified applicants with an immediate work permit, followed by permanent residency if they demonstrate a commitment to operating their business in Alberta

To remove unfair barriers to the full economic inclusion of new Albertans, while maintaining the province’s high professional, the party advocates:
– introducing a Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act to help ensure that regulated professions and individuals applying are governed by registration practices that are transparent, objective, impartial, and fair
– creating a Fairness for Newcomers Office with a $2.5 million budget, and oversight from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, work with trade and professional licensing bodies to streamline, simplify, and accelerate foreign credential recognition with a goal of giving applicants for licensure a clear answer within six months or less of their application, including to:
+ publicly identify and hold accountable those regulatory bodies that have unreasonable barriers to credential recognition
+ organize a Premier’s Summit on Fairness for Newcomers
+ put foreign credential recognition on the agenda of the First Ministers Meeting to push for faster action on the Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications, which is an effort to get regulatory bodies across Canada to harmonize their credentialing procedures
+ create an Alberta Government Mentorship for Newcomers Program to match immigrant professionals with mentors in the public service who can help to guide them through the process of credential recognition and finding employment at their skill level
+ support and expand the work of the International Qualifications Assessment Service that assesses foreign degrees against the Canadian post-secondary standard
+ work with non-profit groups like Windmill Microlending (formerly the Alberta Immigrant Access Fund) to expand access to low-interest loans to immigrant professionals who need bridge financing to upgrade their skills and pay for certification exams
+ support the work of immigrant settlement agencies to offer skills upgrading to underemployed foreign professionals
+ work with the federal government to offer pre-arrival orientation to foreign nationals selected for permanent residency in Alberta to encourage them to apply for credential recognition and educational assessments before they arrive in Canada

Indigenous Relations
The party states that:
– Indigenous peoples in Alberta deserve a government that will be a true partner in helping them address economic and social issues
– A previous government actively opposed the Northern Gateway pipeline, although it was supported by 30 of 42 First Nations along the route, including Alberta First Nations
– Indigenous groups were ignored Indigenous on the creation of Bighorn park, rather than included as genuine partners

The party advocates:
– support for legal action for pro-resource groups in Indigenous communities with a $10 million fund
– including Alberta’s Indigenous communities in developing a strategy to help energy projects and Indigenous communities both succeed and prosper
– advocating for a federal Aboriginal consultation process that provides clear timelines and legal certainty for project proponents, consistent with the federal government’s constitutional obligations
– adding economic development rights to the preamble of the Alberta Aboriginal Consultation policy to explicitly consider support from Indigenous communities for projects that affect them
– working with the federal government to streamline how Indigenous people access key services such as education and health care, including ensuring Indigenous students have access to a provincial education system (paid for with federal dollars) that enables students to succeed
– replication of the successful education partnership in the agreement between Whitecap Dakota First Nation and Saskatoon Public Schools signed in 2014, following which the percentage of Whitecap students in grades 1-4 reading at or above grade level rose to 76% from 40%
– facilitating First Nations financial participation in major resource projects
– partnering with Alberta’s Indigenous peoples in pursuit of reconciliation, inclusion, and opportunity

Democracy
As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the party states that it believes that:
– public business should be conducted in public
– government should ensure that the legislative process is open, fair, transparent, and inclusive of the people it governs
– our government should foster debate, actively engage citizens, and make itself accountable to the people it serves

Stewardship & Reform
As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the party states that it believes that:
– government must use public dollars as effectively and efficiently as possible
– the government should balance the books and set money aside for a rainy day
– this is best accomplished through long-term planning, common sense, and transparency

The party advocates:
– providing stable financial management through a review of government expenditures and the implementation of a balanced and sustainable taxation model to maintain a consistent and reliable revenue stream for the public services Albertans need
– legislation of a renewed savings framework which would commit a portion of resource revenue into funds for revenue stabilization and long-term savings
– making public information accessible to Albertans through an “open-data” framework
– ensuring that government departments are appropriately funded to support “open-data” processes
– implementing policy so that surveys, reports or research paid for by the Government of Alberta will be made public
– ensuring that records of meetings between Government and Lobbyists are public
– legislation to regulate the use of “robocalls” or high volume or other automated calling by political parties, or agents, surrogates or volunteers

Representation
The Party states that it requires its MLAs to:
– engage their constituents in person through community conversations or regular citizen engagement events, such as town halls, regularly throughout their term
– conduct themselves in a professional manner and with integrity, both within and outside the Legislature, and specifically in a manner that is respectful to other members of the legislature and the public
– use technology to engage their constituents, including use of a comprehensive website, which a) will be designed to facilitate communication among constituents and between constituents and the MLA; and b) include content which will make it easier for their constituents to obtain easy access to information about public policy issues; and
– engage their constituents on commonly used internet platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, where appropriate
– vote of their own free will after considering the views of their constituents, the Alberta Party Caucus, the Alberta Party Policies, the merits of the issue, and what is in the best interest of Albertans, with the exception of two scenarios: a) a vote to approve a proposed Money Bill, should the Alberta Party form Government; and b) a vote to support a pre-communicated policy platform issue, promised to Albertans during the preceding election campaign.

The party recommends that:
– MLAs should publish the rationale for the manner in which they cast their vote on major issues

Taxes
The party advocates:
– implementation of a progressive personal income tax in Alberta
– investigation of models for alternate sources for government revenue
– phasing out, over time, Alberta’s small business tax

Intergovernmental Relations
The party advocates:
– supporting regional collaboration between urban municipalities and rural areas
– consulting with municipalities to explore opportunities to improve the Municipal Government Act of Alberta and affiliated regulations to ensure future municipal and regional economic sustainability for all Albertans

Criminal Justice & Public Safety
To improve access to justice, the party advocates:
– providing Legal Aid Alberta with a stable and predictable base of funding, while maintaining its independence from government
– working with the Government of Canada to create and fill more judicial positions at the Court of Queen’s Bench
– assessing Alberta’s courtroom infrastructure and staffing levels to identify specific areas of need and take decisive action to remedy them

The party states that the six principles of the Global Green movement include commitments to:
– non-violence and cooperation between states, inside societies and between individuals
– participatory democracy.  In a healthy democracy all citizens have the right to express their views and are able to directly participate in the environmental, economic, social and political decisions which affect their lives

Stewardship
The party states that its principles of social justice and sustainability bear on public finance policy; and that therefor it advocates:
– avoiding incurring debt that would limit the ability of future generations of Albertans to meet their needs
– making personal income tax rates more progressive, including the following tax brackets and rates, which would be adjusted annually at the rate of Inflation, and to reflect increases or decreases in federal income tax rates:
> $0 to $20,000 0%
> $20,000 – $40,000 4%
> $40,000 to $80,000 7.5%
> $80 000 to $130,000 12%
> $130,000 to $190,000 17%
> $190,000 to $300,000 23%
> $300,000 to $1,000,000 30%
> Over $1,000,000 40%
– reinstatement of 2001 corporate tax rates, which are higher than current rates
– introduction of a sales tax for Alberta
– replacing fines of fixed dollar amounts with day fines that are proportional to the fined individual’s daily income, subject to a basic minimum fine
– imposition of Carbon Taxes on all hydrocarbons, at levels sufficient to discourage consumption of them, and implementation of equivalent taxation of other sources of greenhouse gas emissions insofar as evolving technology for monitoring makes it practically possible to do so
– such a Carbon Tax price level will Include a plan for defined annual escalations over five year horizons; be based on the intention that the pricing plans will be regularly reviewed to balance achieving required reductions in emissions with the intention of being consistent with the efforts of the developed world in general
. use of revenue from the Carbon Tax to offset the impact of the Carbon Tax on lower income individuals; fund research and development of sustainable technologies and governance; pay down debt or add to the Heritage Fund; and reduce taxation from other sources
– action to revise, improve, and reincorporate the Carbon Competitive Incentive Regulation (CCIR) legislation that creates industry standards, based on product and technology for allowable levels of GHG emissions, to create a common ‘best practice’ benchmark for industry participants upon which all GHG costs or credits available are calculated for their facility
– continual monitoring of the status of royalties payable to the provincial government, to optimize Albertans’ share of production
– ensure contribution of 35% of royalties to the Heritage Fund

Social Services
The party advocates:
– automatic annual increases to all financial social supports, indexed to changes in the provincial Low-Income Cut Off measure (LICO)

Democratic Reform
The party advocates:
– a healthy participatory democracy in which all citizens have the right to express their views and are able to directly participate in the environmental, economic, social and political decisions which affect their lives
– respect for all forms of diversity – for example, racial, linguistic, ethnic, sexual, religious and spiritual – within the context of individual responsibility toward all beings
– striking a Citizens’ Assembly to advise and consult on how all dimensions of provincial government operations can be made more genuinely participatory and transparent to Albertans
– making it easier for Albertans to vote by mail ballot, including establishment of a commission to determine how the opportunities for voting by mail can best be increased, and subsequent enactment of legislation to that end.

The party advocates:
– an annual payment of $2 to each registered party for each vote cast for that party in the most recent general election
– replacing the winner-take-all First Past the Post voting system with one that produces results significantly more proportional to the way Albertans cast their ballots
– striking a Task Force to study alternative proportional systems, consult with the public on those options and make recommendations to the Legislature
– ensuring use of any proportional system adopted by the Legislature for at least two general elections after which time a referendum would be held to determine if Albertans are satisfied with the change or want to go back to the old system
– lowering the voting age in provincial, municipal and school board elections to 16
– limiting individual political contributions to a maximum amount to be determined on the basis of further research, such amount being lower than $4000
– adoption of the federal government’s donation framework with a 75% credit available for donations up to and including $400, 50% for the next $350, and 33.3% for the following $525 to a total credit limit of $650 for donations up to and including $1275
– requiring that third- party spending regulations for provincial elections be applied to all municipal and school board elections and by-elections, in addition to any further constraints imposed by municipal election bodies
– making all charges, findings and penalties imposed under the Election Act, as well as any subsequent, related legal proceedings (for example, appeals) publicly available immediately on the web site of the Chief Electoral Officer

Transparency and Accountability
The party advocates:
– implementation of citizens’ initiative and recall legislation, similar to the Recall and Initiative Act put into effect by the Province of BC, thereby encouraging Albertans to have a stronger, healthier voice within our political system
– amending the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to maximize the availability of government-held information to Albertans and remove all unjustifiable exemptions
– amending the Conflicts of Interest Act so that responsibility for reporting meetings between government officials and others would fall on the shoulders of those government officials. (With this change made there would be no need for a Registrar of Lobbyists.) Government officials would be required to display all such meetings in their daily agendas which would be posted in real time on their web sites. Monthly summaries of these meetings with participants and topics discussed included would also be posted
– with the objective of enhancing the free flow of information to the public about what government is doing, establishing an independent, non-ad hoc process for setting MLA and Cabinet Ministers salaries, benefits, and compensable expenses, following a of review how these issues are handled by other Canadian jurisdictions, such as Manitoba, Ontario and PEI
– adopting the “open by default” approach in the gathering, compiling, and processing, of new data. This would require explicit action to be taken by government workers or officials to designate data to be withheld from public disclosure
– in the absence of such action, requiring that data systems and practices would automatically make the data available through “Open Data” processes in accordance with personal privacy legislation

Conflicts of interest
Since the position as currently defined has only to do with conflicts of interest, not ethics, the party advocates renaming the Ethics Commissioner the “Conflict of Interest Commissioner.”

School board elections
The party advocates:
– tightening of the campaign finance and expenditure rules which apply to school board elections
– as a first step, making school board elections subject to campaign expenditure rules that are at least as rigorous as those which apply to municipal council elections

Intergovernmental Relations

The party advocates:
– support for law and public finance reform that will better recognize the key role that city governments play in meeting the needs of Albertans
– amending the Municipal Government Act to give Alberta municipalities the power to require that developers make a certain percentage of their projects affordable housing, including research needed to establish the precise criteria for implementing inclusive zoning
– providing meaningful discussions with the municipalities to develop a definition of grey water leading to further discussions on the secondary use of grey water and storm water runoff
– whereas third-party spending in municipal elections is unregulated, and whereas this allows forfor semi-anonymous, including potentially non-local or foreign, funding to interfere in local democratic processes, legislation of third- party spending regulations for provincial elections to be applied to all municipal and school board elections and by-elections, in addition to any further constraints imposed by municipal election bodies

Sustainable municipalities
The party advocates:
– adoption of a framework which sets and supports sustainability targets for the province including our municipalities
– the framework would be enforced by provincial law, including by means of amendments, if necessary, to the Municipal Government Act

Public Safety:  Courts and Police
The party states that a well-functioning and fair legal system lies at the heart of Canadian democracy, including democracy in Alberta

The party advocates:
– keeping Alberta’s legal system strong where it is still in good shape and improving it where weaknesses are developing or are already evident
– provision of adequate funding for legal aid in Alberta
– banning use of non-disclosure agreements in any situation where victimization of persons or communities have been raised as a formal complaint against a corporation, government body or institution as a means of contributing to a broader culture of democratic transparency

Role & Purpose of Government

The party states that it believes in Five Principles of Governance:
i. Meritocracy – Government by those who have demonstrated their worthiness to use authority well, and who have earned the office that they are entrusted with
ii. Technocracy – Government by those who have great technical knowledge and experience in their area of authority
iii. Efficiency – Producing the most value for Albertans with as little waste as possible
iv. Social Strength – Facilitating the development of a strong, cohesive, undivided nation through a common vision and a shared sense of responsibility
v. Individual Strength – Ensuring members of society are as robust, personally responsible, and well-rounded to ensure that society is exponentially stronger

The party advocates:
– to ensure efficiency, create accountability and promote unity, embracing a unitary system of governance, where authority is delegated from a single government entity, the entity basing its policies and actions on the needs of all Albertans
– ensuring that all members of the Alberta government and public sector are subject to regularly scheduled performance reviews consisting of results-based objective metrics, regardless of position
– ensuring that public servants found to be consistently underperforming are automatically discharged from duty
– ensuring that elected officials found to be consistently underperforming will be sanctioned, up to and including removal from office

Structure of Government
The party advocates establishing three branches of government – Executive, Operational, and Participatory:

The Executive Branch comprised of:
1) The President, who shall serve as head of state and head of government, and who shall be the Chief Executive Officer of Alberta
2) The Director of Justice, who shall serve as the head of the Justice Department, and who shall oversee the administration of justice and legal affairs in Alberta
3) The Director of Finance, who shall be responsible for the Alberta Reserve Bank and mint and shall be the Chief Financial Officer of Alberta
4) The Director of Defense, who shall be responsible for Alberta’s external security, and shall preside over the Defense Department
5) The Director of Industry, who shall serve as the head of the Economics and Productivity Department, and who shall oversee the administration of industrial and corporate affairs in Alberta
6) The Director of Regional Governance, who shall serve as the head of the Regional Governance Department, and who shall oversee the governance of Alberta’s Administrative Regions
7) The Director of Public Services, who shall serve as the head of the Public Services Department and shall oversee the administration of all publicly funded services in Alberta

The Operational Branch comprised of the following departments:
1) The Justice Department, which shall include all police, judges, courts, and other infrastructure and personnel necessary to create order and uphold the rule of law and shall perform all activities necessary to ensure Alberta’s internal security and eliminate corruption
2) The Defense Department, which shall include Alberta’s armed services, shall assist other government departments, strengthen Alberta’s social cohesion through education, defend Alberta against external threats, and assist in providing public services efficiently
3) The Economics and Productivity Department shall be responsible for drafting common sense regulations for industry, creating budgets and economic strategies in conjunction with the Director of Finance, removing barriers to productivity, transportation, infrastructure development, increasing Alberta’s economic resilience, resolving labour issues, striving to ensure a free and orderly market for Albertan industries, and driving forward an Alberta First approach to economics
4) The Regional Governance Department will ensure services and governance are provided at a regional level with qualified experts responsible for ensuring the highest quality of life for all Albertans, while ensuring minimal administrative harassment and greatly reduced taxation levels:
– members of the Regional Governance Department responsible for the administration of each region shall be called the Regional President
– members of the public may submit questions for the government to their local administrative office
– local offices will direct the questions to the appropriate government office for response  The government will respond in writing to the question within two (2) months
– questions and answers will be kept on open file, accessible to the public, for one year
– personal information about the questioner, with the exception of their name, will be omitted
– questions that are identical in intent, even if worded differently, will receive the same response
– abusive questions will not be answered but will be kept on open file, accessible to the public, for one (1) year
4) The Public Services Department, which will oversee health care, mental wellness, education, registries and licensing, and all other public spending on social projects and services.

The Participatory Branch comprised of the following:
1) Regional Administrative Councils, which shall be organised under the Regional Governance Department. Each of Alberta’s Administrative Regions shall have a Regional Administrative Council.  Regional Administrative Councils shall be composed of all interested members of the public residing in a region and shall be chaired by a representative of the Director of Regional Governance.   The purpose of the Regional Administrative Councils shall be to obtain public feedback, provide information and reports to members of the public, use performance-based metrics to vet individuals for the Operational Branch, strengthen the local communities within the region, and undertake regional development and charity projects.
2) Regional Corporate Councils, which shall be organised under the Economics and Productivity Department. Each of Alberta’s Administrative Regions shall have a Regional Corporate Council. Regional Councils shall be composed of all interested members of the public residing in a region who are employed or self-employed and shall be chaired by a representative of the Director of Industry.  The purpose of the Regional Corporate Councils shall be to obtain market feedback, productivity feedback, and predict industry needs; to provide information and reports to members of industry; to facilitate corporate networking and improve management-employee relations; to handle labour disputes in an equitable setting; and to undertake regional economic development projects.

Council Elections
– elections for members of the Executive and Directors of Regional Councils will be held every five (5) years on a fixed date
– every Albertan citizen eighteen (18) years of age or older will be entitled to vote
– voting shall take place at physical polling locations within the province
– secure mobile polling locations with accommodations will be provided for disabled Albertans. iii. Electors will vote for the Executive nominees of their choice on the ballot
– each nominee for a director position must meet published training criteria that are specific to each portfolio, as set by the Policy Audit Office
– each candidate must publish a high-level program document, which must be used as a basis for their yearly program commitments, at least two months before the election
– electors who are a member of a party will put forward the program developed by their party that corresponds to the office they seek to hold
– each Regional President shall be elected from qualified nominees on the general election ballots provided in their specific local Administrative Region

Accountability Office
The party advocates establishment of Accountability Office (AO), to be staffed by politically independent professionals and support staff to provide the public with information relating to the performance of the Executive
– members of the Office will be randomly selected from a pool of qualified candidates within the Operational Branch and will serve for a three (3) year term. ii. The AO will publish a publicly available report on the formal actions taken by the Executive
– the report will provide a written explanation, provided by the Executive, detailing the reasoning for each departure from the yearly program
– the PAO will set an appropriate salary for members of the executive, which will vary depending on the ability of the Executive to meet their yearly program commitments
– the government will create a Chief Auditor’s Office, which will be staffed by politically independent professional and support staff
– the Chief Auditor’s Office will report annually to the people of Alberta on the government’s financial management
– the report shall include a commentary, written by the Executive, to explain points raised in the report.

Stewardship and Reform

Taxation
The party states that:
– taxes should not remain a barrier to innovation or the financial wellbeing of Albertans
– Alberta should maintain an attractive tax rate to re-energize our economy

The party advocates:
– a 25% flat individual income tax rate, with no tax being applied on the first $30,000 of personal income each year
– a standard corporate tax rate of 8% for fully Albertan-owned businesses
– efforts to combat tax evasion through jurisdictional accounting manoeuvres by international companies

Provincial debt
The party states that Albertans should have the opportunity to live and work in a nation that is debt free

The party advocates:
– until the debt burden of Alberta due to past federalist policies is repaid, application of a surtax

Tax reduction
The party advocates:
– eliminatation of the Fuel Tax
– elimination of the Education Property Tax
– once Alberta becomes a nation, abolishment of carbon taxation
– application of a Health Cost Recovery Tax to addictive recreational substances and paraphernalia to offset related health and social costs
– creation of a childcare tax deduction of $10,000 per year per child from birth to age 15
– increased disability tax deductions to help cover homecare costs and home modifications
– creation of a program to allow postsecondary students taking certain programs where a skill shortage exists to deduct the cost of their tuition from their taxes, including allowing students to transfer the remaining portion of their deduction to a parent or guardian after the deduction has been applied to their own taxes
– creation of a retirement savings plan that will function similarly to the current RRSP system
– reducing the number of available tax deductions and exemptions to simplify the tax code and will replace them with lower income and corporate tax rates
– maintenance of continuity and predictability in resource royalty rates

Tax collection
The party advocates:
– creation of a new government agency to collect Alberta’s taxes during the pre-independence phase
– creation of a new secure online option for completing tax forms, including tutorials and other educational materials on subjects such as tax law and the form system
– simplification of all tax forms

Social Services
The party states that:
– financial assistance and social programs should be primarily focused on strengthening the ability of Albertans to produce value and contribute to society
– financial assistance and social programs should compassionately mitigate the effects of extraordinary circumstances and provide beneficiaries with the education and experience needed to better care for themselves in the future
– the resources entrusted to authorities should not be squandered haphazardly and must be treated as funds held in trust for the people of Alberta

Intergovernmental Relations
The Party advocates:
– securing Albertan borders diligently and neither honoring nor respecting “sanctuary city” motions. Individuals complicit in cross border trafficking, trafficking labour, or running fraudulent immigration rackets will be prosecuted criminally
– tourists and visitors will not be eligible to hold work permits under normal circumstances
– performers, athletes, and others with similar event-based careers may be eligible to receive a temporary work permit after prepaying applicable taxes and meeting established criteria
– taking measures to prevent “birth tourism”

Independence from Canada
The party states that:
– Alberta is politically, socially, and economically incompatible with Canadian systems and power structures
– history has definitively proven that any sort of union with Canada, even if constitutional changes take place, will result in the continued political, social, and economic exploitation and continued colonization of Albertans
– the existing system of government in Canada and many other democracies is not working and fundamental change will be necessary to produce a government that can successfully implement independence and effectively manage an independent Alberta
– independence holds many great opportunities for Alberta, and thus it views independence as a “coming-of-age” rather than as a political divorce
– throughout Alberta’s history, Alberta has repeatedly rejected political orthodoxy and created its own unique systems
– therefore, the political, social, and economic processes should be perfected and reimagined in a way that is uniquely Albertan

The party advocates, upon the election of a majority government led by the Party and as first act of government, passing an Alberta Independence Act, which will lay out the framework for a referendum on independence and which:
– includes measures to prevent federal and foreign funding of referendum advertisers and groups, federal and foreign campaigning, and other forms of federal and foreign electoral interference from taking place, ensuring the decision on independence is made by Albertans alone
– protection of the self-determination of Albertans
– a clear question solely related to Alberta’s independence from Canada, which will be sent to the Canadian House of Commons for approval. 1. If the federal government does not approve a question within three (3) months, the referendum will proceed regardless of approval
– the threshold for a successful referendum will be a simple majority of participants (50%+1). A. The requirement under the Clarity Act that the House of Commons determine whether a clear majority has expressed itself after the referendum results are made public can most certainly be abused. The wishes of the people of Alberta shall be respected, notwithstanding the opinion of the federal government or federal courts
– allowing the Federal Government to post scrutineers at each polling station and the main count
– protecting Scrutineers shall be protected from coercion, intimidation, and other attempts to contravene the democratic nature of the referendum. No other federal staff or interference will be tolerated
– inviting a non-partisan foreign nation, such as Switzerland, to post scrutineers at each polling station and at the main count
– permitting only permit in-person voting locations, including secure, mobile polling facilities for people with disabilities, that will follow pre-approved routes
– requiring that the citizenship and residency of each participating Albertan be verified at the polls
– striving to pursue the legal separation process as outlined in the Clarity Act. 1
– during the transition period, all persons participating in negotiations between Alberta and the Federal Government shall conduct themselves professionally and in good faith. If it becomes clear that the federal government is acting in bad faith, royal assent is denied to the Alberta Independence Act, or military or police action is taken against the legislature, de facto unilateral secession will be achieved through a declaration of independence signed by the Premier
– negotiating with the federal government for no longer than one (1) year to develop an agreement in principle
– beginning the transition period will begin upon the receipt of a successful referendum result, and concluding it six (6) years after that date
– pausing provincial elections during the transition period, in order to ensure that a stable separation occurs
– beginning the transition to the new form of government, as set out above, during the transition period

Trade Agreements
The party states that:
– Alberta should seek to become as self-reliant as possible, while participating in international trade insofar as such trade can improve the economic and social prospects of Alberta
– the needs of Albertans should be considered paramount. As such, we will not honor or enter into trade agreements that have the potential to harm the wellbeing of Albertans

The party advocates:
– developing free trade agreements with countries where it is in the national interest to do so, while striving to ensure that such agreements do not negatively impact the earnings of Albertans or their businesses
– considering nations outside Alberta’s normal sphere of influence as potential trading partners, helping Albertan businesses gain access to the raw resources they need at the lowest prices while increasing their customer base
– increasing the amount of Alberta First trade occurring with our neighbours
– avoidance of being bound by existing Canadian trade agreements

Foreign Relations
The party states that:
– Alberta should seek to become as self-reliant as possible, while becoming the best possible ally to nations that respect our interests
– Alberta should take a noninterventionist policy internationally, out of respect for other nations and the belief that Alberta should achieve greatness through its own volition
– direct intervention in the affairs of other nations is unethical

The party advocates:
– reducing or eliminating foreign intervention in Alberta’s affairs
– preventing diplomatic discussions or international organisations from encroaching on Alberta’s sovereignty
– not requesting membership in the United Nations, and participating only as an observer
– preventing the intrusion of international organisations into the lives of Albertans
– prohibiting Albertan charities, non-profit organizations, and corporations from directly or indirectly subsidizing any nation or group which is actively engaged in or supporting an armed conflict or terrorism
– participattion in and initiating international research projects, non-financial international organisations and other transnational cooperation groups that align with Albertan interests and do not require members to surrender any portion of their national sovereignty
– establishing embassies as Alberta sees fit, irrespective of diplomatic norms, including making Albertan ambassadors responsible for large geographic regions, rather than individual countries, and directing national diplomatic missions from Alberta
– establishment of eight (8) ambassador positions
– expecting Albertan diplomatic staff residing in a foreign nation to obey the law of the land, respecting the sovereignty of the receiving nation
– establishing no diplomatic missions in nations where laws may require diplomatic staff to commit espionage, treason, or act against the interests of Alberta
– permitting no Albertan diplomatic staff members to engage in treasonous acts or espionage activities directed towards the receiving nation
– granting immunity to recognized diplomats residing in Alberta, while holding their countries of origin accountable for their actions and for compensation for illegal activities or breaches in protocol
– depriving diplomats found guilty of espionage of their immunity
– allowing Alberta to join alliances (in the absence of an ongoing military conflict in which Alberta is a participant) only with nations considered trustworthy, which have consistently shown respect for Alberta’s national sovereignty and customs for a suitable period

Pre-Separation Municipal Accountability
The party advocates:
– freezing municipal tax increases until the separation process is complete
– auditing municipal governments to strive to ensure efficient operation, accountability to the taxpayer and transparency

Currency
The party advocates:
– creation of a national mint under the jurisdiction of the treasury
– creation of an Alberta Reserve Bank, which will be incorporated under the Treasury Department
– creation of a new currency, the Alberta Prosperity Certificate, with the following dollar currency denominations available: i. $10, $25, $50, and $100 notes, ii .$0.10, $0.25, $1, $5, and commemorative coinage
– the Alberta Reserve Bank will not routinely engage in currency value manipulation and may not use said practices to influence the spending or saving habits of Albertans

Criminal Justice & Public Safety

Courts and Legal System
The party states that:
– justice should be consistently applied without exception, free from the biases and experiences of its arbiters
– justice should be dispensed quickly and efficiently.
– justice should be a dispassionate and objective weighing of evidence

The party advocates:
– transitioning the legal system from a Common Law system to a Civil Law system, since (a) all Albertans should have the right to know the standard by which they will be judged, which is possible in a Civil Law system, not in a Common Law system; that judges and justices are beholden to the people of Alberta to enforce the rule of law as it is written; and Judges and Justices would make judgements based on a literal reading of the civil code. If the civil code is insufficient to cover the circumstances of a case, the Director of Justice would provide direction and provisions for a ruling. If the Director of Justice provides such direction, an automatic review of pertinent legislation would initiated by the Department of Justice
– enabling the Department of Justice to: amend or create pertinent legislation to address shortcomings; and/or overturn the ruling of the court and request a retrial
– prohibiting justices and judges from being members of political parties or organisations, barring them from speaking publicly on matters of personal opinion, and binding them to the principles of duty and professionalism while in office
– subjecting all courts to revue by the Department of Justice
– using automated systems, where applicable, to increase the efficiency of our justice system by increasing its speed and lowering its associated costs
– reorganizing the current court system into three courts: the Lower Court, the Upper Court, and the Supreme Court:

The Lower Court shall preside over civil litigation, minor criminal cases, and other routine cases which only affect the citizens and operations of its local Administrative Region.
1) The Lower Court shall use electronic communication where applicable to reduce wait and travel times for straightforward cases
2) A single judge shall preside over all Lower Court cases
3) Appeals shall be elevated to the Upper Court
4) Cases which are deemed by the court to have potential implications on multiple Administrative Regions shall be elevated to the Upper Court

The Upper Court shall have two locations: Edmonton and Calgary
1) The Upper Court shall preside over major criminal cases and cases with the potential to impact the citizens or operations of multiple Administrative Regions
2) A panel of three experienced and distinguished judges shall preside over all Upper Court cases
3) If the Upper Court finds the accused guilty of a crime as described in Section 2.3.j.iii, the case shall be heard by the Supreme Court
4) All appeals shall be final and shall be heard in the Upper Court location where the original trial did not take place

The Supreme Court shall be located in Edmonton
1) The Supreme Court shall only preside over the cases described in Section 2.3.j.iii and cases referred to it by the Director of Justice and shall advise the Executive on legal matters
2) The Supreme Court shall consist of five justices, who shall serve on the court for a period of ten years
3) Justices will be appointed by a majority vote of the Executive

– Justices found to be acting unprofessionally, engaging in political campaigning, donating to political parties, participating in judicial activism, or committing miscarriages of justice may be suspended from office by the Executive.  Judicial appointments may not be financially motivated
– Public servants found guilty of cronyism or patronage appointments shall be discharged of their duties and prosecuted. A trial for the suspended justice shall be presided over by the President.   A minimum of five legal experts shall provide their professional opinions at the trial.  A jury consisting of three Upper Court judges, three Supreme Court judges, and the Director of Justice shall, by a majority vote, convict or acquit the justice.  The results of the trial shall not be subject to appeal. If convicted, the justice shall be removed from their position
– reform of criminal law, creating systems intended to eliminate the root causes of criminal behavior while ensuring offenders fairly compensate those they harm
– rebuilding the criminal justice system around three main principles: 1) Rehabilitation and Education; 2) Repayment of Social and Material Damage; and 3) Prevention of Future Harm to Society
– to address cruelty and counterproductivity due to inactive prison sentences, requiring every offender, where feasible, to pay back the social cost of their crimes through labour
– replacement of the current prison system with secure Justice and Employment facilities for offenders who have the potential to be rehabilitated
– estimating the monetary value of each crime will be estimated as a monetary value, and ensuring that the primary responsibility of the offender is to pay back the cost to their victims or the families of the victim
– victims should be compensated before society as a whole; the secondary responsibility of the offender is to pay back society
– using funds due to society only for the purpose of rehabilitative social programs
– ending the labour sentence when the monetary cost of the crime has been repaid
– refusing payment of money lieu of labour for those convicted of crimes
– access to training for offenders serving sentences, to help them reintegrate socially at the end of their sentences where appropriate
– prioritizing development of value-added skills for instructors and staff where appropriate
– increasing mental health care and treatments to increase the success of reintegratio
– no tolerance for the formation of “prison gangs” and other activities that compromise the rehabilitative atmosphere of Justice and Employability facilities or denigrate industry affiliates
– more severe sentences where it is certified beyond a reasonable doubt that rehabilitation efforts and contrition will not adequately protect society from the social consequences of an individual, such as inmates who have proven to be a danger to other inmates and justice system employees, reoffending sexual predators, reoffending criminals where psychological treatment is found to be unfeasible, and terrorists
– in such cases, requiring a majority verdict by the Alberta Supreme Court and the approval of the Director of Justice
– encouring the development, where applicable, of local programs to prevent youth involvement in gangs and to prevent sexual exploitation
– formation of community crime monitoring and prevention programs
– assuring victims of crimes privacy from media inquiry, personal safety, restitution from perpetrators, updated information concerning the status of all related legal proceedings and shall be informed of available support services
– assuring Albertans of the ability to use their own means to protect themselves and others from bodily harm without exception

Civil cases
The party advocates:
– a mediation-focused approach to civil and commercial law, including mandatory mediation processes prior to entry into the civil and commercial dispute system
– allowing the Upper and Lower courts overseeing civil and commercial cases to award damages

Youth and Family Law
The party advocates:
– creation of a separate Youth and Family court system with separate justices and staff, operating in select Lower Court facilities, to handle cases involving marriage, divorce, separation, emergency protection, child delinquency, child welfare, adoption, foster care, child and spousal support, property division, youth rehabilitation, and other similar areas
– reviewing and, where necessary, revising the practice of Family Law in the Youth and Family court system to support and enhance the wellbeing of all family members
– requiring Young offenders to serve work terms in different Justice and Employment facilities than adults, such facilities being located in rural environments to ensure the best possible rehabilitation setting
– as research has indicated that youth participating in socially destructive behaviors are more likely to become young offenders, unwavering support children in early grades and troubled families and shall provide alternative education for troubled youth
– creation of robust child protection legislation, and doing everything possible to eliminate the sexual exploitation of children through the creation of programs, the commissioning of a specialised police taskforce, and increased cyber-security operations

Administrative and Tax Law
The party advocates:
– creation of more efficient administrative and tax law systems, to ensure conflicts regarding taxation, collection, regulation, committees, registrars, panels, and other bodies associated with the Operational Branch are held accountable while disputes are mediated quickly
– ensuring that the public and the government are represented on an equal footing in administrative hearings

Policing
The party advocates:
– as a temporary measure prior to separation, using existing provincial legislation to give the Alberta Sheriffs Branch (ASB) policing authority within the province
– providing additional training for ASB personnel, which will be staggered over a two-year period
– creation of a militarised division of the Alberta Sheriffs Branch to defend Alberta against external threats during the transition period
– after separation, establishment of an Alberta Policing and Security Agency, which shall serve as the sole police force and internal security agency for Alberta
– each Administrative Region will be assigned its own Sheriff and officers for routine law enforcement activities
– requiring that all assigned officers and the Sheriff reside in their assigned community, and would not normally be transferred to a different community by APSA, and would be required to perform a certain number of hours of community service in their Region each year
– ensuring that all intelligence, cybersecurity, policing, and investigations within the province are carried out by APSA

Border Enforcement
The party advocates:
– formation of an Alberta Border and Immigration Management, under the Alberta Policing and Security Agency, to handle immigration, border incursions, customs processing, excise fees and border security
– enforcing borders between Alberta and the rest of Canada in the same way as the international border with the United States
– providing traffic between Canada and Alberta with access to a “fast pass” program upon meeting eligibility criteria, which will be enhanced by sensing and camera technology

Military
The party states that:
– Alberta should not intervene in international military conflicts except when an ally or Alberta’s safety is threatened
– the Alberta military should serve as a strong deterrent to prevent foreign invasions, and that said military should use all non-nuclear means to combat territorial incursions
– nuclear weapons, if obtained, should only be used as retaliation for an attempted nuclear strike on Alberta, and will thus uphold a strict “no first use” policy
– it is the duty of all Albertans, especially their leaders, to guarantee the safety of their nation, and to valiantly defend it
– it is acceptable to use Alberta’s military to protect Albertans abroad, such as in the case of hostage situations or piracy

The party advocates:
– upon separation, creation of an Alberta National Defense Service (ANDS), which shall serve as our military
– a military cmprising four administrative units: the Air Force, the Army, the Space Force, and the Cyber Force

The party states that among its core values are commitments to:
– create an investment-friendly province to bring capital and companies to Alberta
– improve public services, including hiring 2000 new teachers and investing in inclusive education
– protect human rights at all costs
– boost equality of opportunity for all Albertans

 Stewardship & Reform

 Democratic Reform
The party states that:
– big money is circumventing the province’s election finance rules, and marginalized groups are underrepresented
– accessing Government information has never been more difficult
– it is 100% committed to implementing a Proportional Representation (“PR”) voting system.  Our winner-take-all electoral system isn’t fair. It leaves over half the votes cast uncounted, reduces the representation of marginalized groups, and disenfranchises voters
– advantages of PR include:
+ broadening the choices available to Albertans
+ increasing voter turnout
+ electing more women, LGBTQ2S+, and visible minorities, so that our Legislature reflects the diversity of our province
+ ensures that no party gets 100% of the power with 40% of the votes
+ forces parties with differing views to work together in the Legislature

The party advocates:
– implementing a Mixed Member Proportional (“MMPR”) form of proportional representation
– MMPR, which is working successfully in advanced democracies such as Germany and New Zealand, has voters cast two votes on their ballot. They vote once for a local constituency candidate, and again on the same ballot directly for a political party. Votes for constituency candidates work similarly to our current system. The vote for political parties will elect representatives from a published list of party candidates.   Seat counts will more accurately reflect the percentage of political parties’ popular vote under MMPR
– running the next two Alberta elections pursuant to the MMPR system, and before the third election, holding a referendum so Albertans can choose between MMPR and the original first-past-the-post (“FPTP”) system

PAC Legislation
The party advocates regulation of Political Action Committees (“PACs”). PACs are a growing problem, in that political groups are able to solicit unlimited union, corporate, out-of-province donations, with little or no transparency.  Its plan for PACs includes:
– banning corporate, union, out-of-province and foreign donations
– limiting PAC donations to $4,000 per year for individuals
– creating a legal definition for PACs
– increasing PAC donation and expenditure transparency

Freedom of Information
The party states that:
– access to information is crucial to holding Governments accountable
– a recent government has received a ‘D’ grade on access to information from News Media Canada

The party advocates flat-fee FOIP requests, more resources for FOIP offices and creating transparency legislation for all private-public partnerships (“P3s”)

Representation of Indigenous Peoples
The party advocates adding six new seats to the Alberta Legislature for Indigenous Peoples representation: four for First Nations, on a regional basis; and two for Métis Councils

Fixed Election Dates
The party advocates:
– rather than Alberta’s current fixed election period, legislating a fixed election date so Albertans always know exactly when the next election will be held and Governments can’t choose a date to their political advantage

Independent Advocates
The party advocates:
– boosted funding funding for the offices of the Health Advocate, the Mental Health Patient Advocate, the Disabilities Advocate, and the Seniors Advocate
– establishing a Legislature Budget Officer, modeled on the federal Parliamentary Budget Officer, to cut through the political spin and provide Albertans with unbiased, fact-based fiscal and budgetary analysis

Government Advertising and Spending During Elections
The party advocates strict regulation of government spending announcements and advertising in the months leading up to the election (the “election period”) and during the election (the “writ period”), in order to stop government from abusing their power and public money

Taxes & Fiscal Responsibility
The party states that:
– the province’s fiscal situation is unsustainable, that reliance on volatile resource revenue has left Alberta in a crunch after the oil crash
– the province is on track for over $100 billion in debt within four years

The party advocates:
– eliminating most Albertans’ income tax while continuing to support public services with a sustainable, pro-growth 8% HST to provide stable funding for Health and Education
– because Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) is better for job creation, investment and wage growth than income taxes, taxing consumption rather than productivity
– a revenue-neutral shift to an HST, so as to eliminate income tax for two-thirds of Albertans and lower income tax for all Albertans and providing rebates for low-income Albertans.  This includes:  $57,250 per person in Tax Exempt Income for every Albertan ($114,500 for couples)
– through HST, collecting up to $1 billion in new revenue from out-of-province visitors and tourists
– a 2% corporate tax cut to create jobs
– a new Hospital and Schools Tax (HST) to protect public services
– greater tax stability to get off the resource revenue roller-coaster

Efficient tax collection
The party advocates:
– entering into a corporate tax collection agreement with the Canada Revenue Agency to improve tax collection rates and reduce unnecessary duplication while cutting down on bureaucracy and saving money

Heritage fund
The party states that:
– the Heritage Fund is a provincial legacy for future Albertans, but has been treated like a slush fund for politicians
– it supports changing the rules so that the Heritage Fund’ investment income is retained in the fund and not simply diverted to general revenues

Corporate taxes
The party states that despite its reputation of being a free enterprise, open market jurisdiction, Alberta spends the most of all Canadian provinces on business subsidies

The party advocates:
– establishing an experienced, independent panel to assess the value of all existing business subsidy programs and make recommendations on how to reform our system
– diverting $500 million in corporate subsidies to reinvestment in public services
– creation of a public database of all tax expenditures and corporate subsidies in Alberta, so that Albertans know the full cost of all government subsidies

Provincial audits
The party advocates:
– conducting extensive value-for-money audits of Government spending, seeking efficiencies and redundancies in Government and restructuring spending to make sure Albertans are getting full value for their tax dollars

Balanced budgets
The party states that:
– its plan will result in $1.87 billion in new annual spending in Alberta, in addition to $1.4 billion in additional tax cuts and low-income rebates from our promise to make the carbon tax revenue-neutral. This totals to a net $3.27 billion increase the deficit
– over time, its plan will reduce long-term costs for public services and grow Alberta’s economy further reducing the deficit while improving services, not slashing them
– its budget is rooted in sustainability

To offset this deficit, the party advocates:
– $1.6 billion in natural revenue increases projected for the next fiscal year
– $500 million reduction in corporate subsidies
– $400 million in savings from our Value for Money Audits
– $1 billion in new sales tax revenue from out-of-province visitors
– these four factors will total $3.5 billion, resulting in a net decrease of the deficit of $230 million in the first year

Accountability
The party states that a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” (SLAPP) is a lawsuit that is intended to intimidate and put financial pressure on critics until they abandon their criticism or opposition, and that such lawsuits have been made illegal in many jurisdictions on the grounds that they impede freedom of speech

The party advocates passage of Anti-SLAPP Legislation in Alberta to put an end to this unethical practice

Intergovernmental Relations
The party advocates:
– a renewed emphasis on interprovincial trade, as is currently easier to trade with many countries than it is to trade within Canada
– breaking down interprovincial trade barriers to grow the economy and reducing prices for consumers
– reparing damaged relationships with other provinces and building consensus around national infrastructure projects like pipelines

Federal Government
The party states that:
– Canada’s equalization formula is unfair to energy-producing provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan
– however, a “referendum” based on threatening separation will not give Alberta the power to demand changes or amend Canada’s Constitution

The party advocates:
– demanding that the current formula be amended to treat provinces’ hydro revenue the same way Alberta’s oil and gas royalties are treated
– if this demand is not met, establishing an Alberta Crown corporation to collect energy royalties and remove them from the current equalization formula calculations
– demanding an improvement to the mechanism that provides financial help to provinces in time of economic need, whether they are usually “have” or “have not” provinces

Municipalities
To give local municipalities more autonomy and power, the party advocates:
– amending the Municipal Government Act to formally recognize municipalities and their councils as an order of government within their jurisdiction, and include new sections that spell out principles of municipal governance and municipal-provincial relations
– pressing for the formal recognition of municipalities and their councils as an order of government in Canada’s Constitution Act, 1982, beyond them merely being the responsibility of the provinces
– granting Calgary and Edmonton new revenue generating powers, subject to limitations
– granting Alberta cities control over oil and gas drilling within their own municipal boundaries by allowing them to veto, approve or approve with conditions any drilling authorized by the Alberta Energy Regulator. This will give cities a greater ability to plan for growth and development
– introducing a dedicated crisis response line and expanded mental health resources to specifically address the unique challenges of farm and rural life. Mental health is underfunded across the province, but this is particularly true for rural municipalities
– working with the federal government to provide rural data utility internet services directly to rural homes and businesses using the electric grid. This will allow rural communities to participate in the booming information economy and diversify their workforce

Public Safety & Justice
The party states that
– Alberta’s justice system is overburdened and failing to deal with the root causes of crime
– criminals are being released without being convicted because mandatory timelines for trials cannot be met

Crime Reduction
The party states that:
– the province’s economic hardships have come with a rise in crime rates
– it wants to tackle crime in a way that puts results first, including addressing root causes and investing in crime prevention

The party advocates:
– hiring more police officers devoted to establishing a visible presence in the community
– increased support for community watch groups
– creation of a $100 refundable tax credit for home security systems
– investing another $5 million into the regional victims of crime fund
– establishing a task force to consider strategies for reducing court wait times, including:
+ standardizing case management procedures
+ ending the practice of “file ownership” which impedes the efficient functioning of court administration
+ encouraging alternative dispute resolution
+ hiring more clerks, Masters and Provincial Court Judges
+ pressuring the Federal Government to appoint more Queen’s Bench and Appellate Justices by creating and funding more judicial positions
– increased funding for court interpreters to reduce the number of trials delayed by language barriers
– expanding Mental Health and Drug Courts; by addressing the mental health and addictions issues underlying crimes, we can greatly reduce the rate of reoffense in Alberta and keep citizens safe
– in order to fight systemic racism, ending the practice of police
– in order to enable the attorney general to ensure that the rule of law is implemented fairly, without fear or favour, and without political interference, separating the offices of the Attorney General and the Justice Minister
– establishing an Access Program Coordinator position within the Justice and Solicitor General ministry to enforce child custody and access orders without the time and expense of having to apply to the Court for relief whenever one parent violates or ignores the terms of a court order
– repeal of section 74 of the Land Titles Act, which is an antiquated concept that continues to allow individuals to obtain title to and ownership of land through adverse possession (“squatting”)
– fixing the provincial Medical Examiner’s office, which has faced multiple multi-million dollar lawsuits, high staff turnover, and reports of up to 11 month waits for autopsies which have affected our ability to address homicides and the opioid crisis, including reduction of autopsy wait times and expanded access to Medical Examiner’s services, and hiring a new medical examiner for Northern Alberta
– because minor drug possession charges weigh both society and individuals down, especially now that we’ve legalized cannabis. Pressuring the federal government to pursue immediate and automatic expungement of convictions for the possession of small amounts of cannabis

Family Law
The party states that dealing with Family Law can be an emotionally trying experience, and that family law is done wrong, the repercussions can reverberate through lives for years to come

The party advocates:
– ensuring not only just outcomes but mitigating any negativity of experience with the family law system, including:
– setting date of separation for date of division of property or considering a hybrid date model
– creating an informal family case management system to reduce the need for costly and emotionally-draining trials

Police & Courts
The party advocates ending the practice of “carding”—police randomly stopping Indigenous people and people of colour and demanding their I.D., without lawful probable grounds to do so.

Consumer Protection
The party states that while most businesses act in good faith, looking to foster mutually-beneficial relationships with consumers, some businesses are predatory and attempt to take advantage of consumers

In order to stop such businesses from taking advantage of Albertans without putting undue burden on the vast majority of good-faith businesses, the party advocates:
– prohibiting provincially-regulated businesses from charging monthly fees for paper bills and statements, and lobbying Ottawa to follow through on a previous commitment to do the same for federally-regulated businesses
– to resolve condo disputes and small claims matters without sending them to the courts, fast tracking the creation of an online tribunal modeled on British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal
– protecting renters by amending the Residential Tenancies Act to require landlords to provide $750 in relocation benefits to tenants displaced by a building disaster or structural failure
– enacting strong legislation to protect children with high standards that will require criminal background checks, training, and mandatory inspections for day homes
– to ensure mobile home owners the same rights enjoyed by others, legislating the creation of a dispute resolutions board, and creating defined ministerial responsibility for this portofolio, while working with municipalities to create clarity around mobile home legislation

Alcohol, Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis
The party states that:
– the current Alberta Liquor Gaming and Cannabis (“AGLC”) monopoly over the distribution of cannabis has exacerbated a supply shortage that could cost Alberta 1,800 jobs and cost retail applicants $13 million
– most Albertans drink responsibly but there are overly restrictive regulations that treat Albertans like children, not adults

The party advocates:
– ending AGLC the distribution monopoly and renew the issuing of Cannabis Licenses
– ending the AGLC liquor distribution monopoly, which is rooted in Prohibition from a hundred years ago
– allowing for liquor at festivals
– making it easier to acquire a liquor license for special events
– allowing liquor to be enjoyed in moderation at picnics in public parks
– reducing restrictions on activities at events where liquor is served
– lifting restrictions on breweries to make them more competitive, including allowing them to sell their products directly to restaurants, bars and consumersfs

Role and Purpose of Government
The party states that:
– its purpose is to promote the principles of democratic socialism in Alberta and to establish and maintain a democratic socialist government in Alberta through the electoral process
– it offers an alternative vision of the future based on the following three principles:
1) democracy is one of the most valuable parts of our heritage and recognizes that all citizens, including minorities, must receive equal civil rights with representatives elected by way of proportional representation. Our country will only be a genuinely democratic one when all people participate fully in determining the policies of the institutions which directly affect their lives. The necessary role of governments must be recognized in order to build an equitable and socially just society.
2) socialism is essentially the application of democracy to the economy. Economic democracy, i.e. democratic socialism, assures production to supply the needs of all people. Economic democracy demands a co-operative rather than a competitive system.
3) ecological sustainability must permeate all economic and social policy. Meeting human material needs must not use more of Earth’s resources than can be renewed within each generation.

Stewardship & Reform
The party states that during its time in office:
– it laid out a responsible plan to balance the budget by 2023-24
– rather than making cuts that would have hurt Alberta families and made the downturn worse, it invested in the province’s future, and that the investments are working, and the province is exceeding fiscal targets and bringing down the deficit faster than expected
– it increased efficiency by reducing waste and controlling costs, making sure new investments in schools and hospitals benefited students and patients, eliminating dozens of redundant agencies and boards, controlling executive pay and scrapping excessive perks
– it cracked down on dark money from special interests, increasing disclosure and accountability from third parties and political action committees
– it strengthened the Lobbyist Act, shedding new light on who is lobbying government and how, and stopped lobbyists from buying gifts for politicians
– it enacted some of the strongest whistleblower protections in Canada to protect public workers who report serious wrongdoings from reprisals
– it cracked down on lavish executive salaries and perks, introducing strict controls to bring executive compensation in line with national standards
– it curbed the Cabinet’s own spending, reducing travel expenses by 70% over the previous Conservative government

The party advocates:
– balancing the budget by 2023-24 while making life more affordable, investing in schools and hospitals, and strengthening and diversifying our economy
– strengthening the Conflict of Interest Act to guard against former officials using their position to gain undue influence and benefit, including extending cabinet ministers’ cooling off period to two years
– reviewing and modernizing the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which has not been substantially amended since 2006
– stronger measures to take “dark money” out of campaigns to stop special interests from secretly attempting to influence Alberta’s elections with enhanced enforcement and stronger rules for Political Action Committee disclosures
– closing the loophole of party leadership races not having spending limits, to stop special interests from taking over political parties
– giving the Elections Commissioner greater latitude to report on the status and results of an investigation into contraventions of the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act
– reviewing the Elections Act to find ways to make voting easier, to combat low voter turnout, and to evaluate modern voting methods such as electronic voting

Criminal Justice & Public Safety
The party states that protecting the safety of citzens and providing a fair and effective justice system – one that puts the concerns of victims front-and-centre – is one of the most important duties of any government, and that during its term in office it:
– created 35 new Crown prosecutor positions and 30 new court clerk positions to address court backlogs
– invested $10 million in additional funding to combat rural crime by hiring 39 more police officers, 40 more civilian staff, and 10 additional Crown prosecutors, leading to an 11 per cent decrease in rural property crime
– acted to increase funding for Legal Aid by $70 million to ensure all Albertans get access to the justice system when they need it
– produced a Best Practices Guide for police investigating and dealing with cases of sexual assault and sexual violence to better support victims and bring instigators to justice
– provided $8.1 million to sexual assault survivors for access to counselling and crisis assistance
– passed a new law allowing victims of domestic violence to break their lease early without financial penalty
– implemented new rules that allow officers to spend more time on the streets fighting crime, and less time at their desks doing paperwork
– removed the time limits for victims to file lawsuits against their sexual assaulter so victims can proceed when they are ready
– increased safety in corrections facilities through our body scanner pilot project at Edmonton Remand
– committed to building a new courthouse in Red Deer

The party advocates continuing to work to lower crime rates and increase Albertans’ sense of safety in their communities, including:
– working with RCMP and municipal police services to direct resources to allow officers to spend more time on the street rather than behind a desk
– providing new support for rural Crime Watch organizations and make better use of provincial enforcement officers to increase rural household protection
– continuing to invest in front line police services, including RCMP officers and ALERT
– continuing to place resources into the court system to shorten timelines for court cases to reach conclusion

The party has provided no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– the role and purpose of government
– stewardship and reform
– intergovernmental relations
– public safety

Role & Purpose of Government
The party states that:
– a full life includes work that provides not only a living, but dignity. Therefore its first priority is to boost the economy and bring quality jobs back to Alberta
– however, “the good life” includes much more than material well-being
– while government can’t guarantee a good life, it has a central role in establishing many of the conditions for it like health, safety, education, and support for the Vulnerable
– the first duty of government is to protect public safety
– a core government responsibility is to protect the vulnerable

Stewardship and reform
The party advocates, among its top 5 commitments
– balancing the budget in its first term in office, and prudent spending without cutting front-line services

To strengthen democracy and accountability in Alberta, the party advocates:
– introducing a Recall Act based on precedents in several jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and British Columbia where the provision has existed since 1996
– to remove big money from Alberta politics, imposing a $30,000 limit on donor contributions to political action committees (PACs) and closing the ‘AFL loophole’ by prohibiting groups formally affiliated with political parties from running PACs
– establishing specific fixed election dates
– allowing free votes for MLAs on everything not deemed a confidence vote or a key platform commitment
– to stop floor crossing, requiring that MLAs resign and seek a by-election before they can join the party’s Caucus
– renewing the Senatorial Selection Act and hold elections for Senatorial nominees in 2021
– amending the Alberta Taxpayer Protection Act to require a referendum before any carbon tax can be introduced in the future
– introducing the End Partisan Government Advertising Act, making it illegal for governments to advertise in the run-up to an election and to use tax dollars for partisan ads at any time
– amending the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly to raise the bar of civility and decorum, banning “desk thumping” in the Legislative Assembly 

Balanced Budget
The party states that:
– current, multi-billion-dollar annual deficits mean that Alberta is heading toward a $100 billion debt wall
– it is not right to burden our children with debt for services we use today
– debt and deficits are affecting spending on essential services. Alberta now spends more on interest than on 17 of 21 government departments, and interest payments amneaount to nearly half of the provincial social service budget
– Alberta now has the second highest level of program spending per person among the Canadian provinces, at $12,700 in 2017/18
– a report commissioned by the party indicates that previous government’s revenue projections are too high by:
> $379 million in 2019/20
> $2.9 billion in 2020/21
> $3.7 billion in 2021/22
> $1.6 billion in 2022/23

The party advocates:
– maintaining operating spending at current levels as part of a realistic plan to balance the budget by 2022/23 without compromising core services
– moving Alberta closer to the provincial average in program spending per capita over four years as other provinces raise their spending to Alberta levels
– formalizing an annual spending review process within the budget and fiscal planning process to eliminate waste, duplication, and non-essential spending and create the fiscal space to fund key government priorities
– leading by example, reducing the Premier’s salary by 10% and MLAs’ salaries by 5%
– reversing the plan to spend $3.7 billion leasing rail cars
– cancelling the plan to spend $640 million on a government “super lab” and $50 million to nationalize a private company with lab services
– saving $200 million by letting the private sector deliver laundry services to AHS
– appointing an independent Blue-Ribbon Panel of experts to conduct a “deep-dive” into Alberta’s fiscal situation, recommend a path to balance and propose a realistic plan to start paying down the debt

Intergovernmental relations
The party advocates, among its top 5 commitments
– repealing the carbon tax and suing the federal government if it tries to impose a carbon tax on Alberta
– standing up against the federal government and special foreign interests that are trying to block pipeline development, to complete pipelines
– a referendum on equalization payments

The party states that:
– according to at least one academic, Albertans have paid $611 billion more in federal taxes than they have received back in transfers and services since 1961, including a net contribution of $200 billion in the last decade alone, meaning that over the past six decades an Alberta family of four has contributed an average of $14,700 per year to the rest of the country
– too much of federal politics in Canada is focused on the economic interests of Ontario and Quebec
– Western Canada has enough political power to broaden the focus of Canadian politis

The party advocates:
– using the prospect of a referendum on equalization as leverage for federal action to complete a coastal pipeline and to demand reforms to the current unfair formula
– seeking the exclusion of non-renewable resources revenues from the calculation, a formula that rewards provinces whose policies artificially reduce their fiscal capacity
– seeking hard cap on equalization transfers to stop the absurd situation of some provinces virtually guaranteed constant increases
– pressing Ottawa to increase the limit of the Fiscal Stabilization Fund to protect Alberta from major fiscal shocks
– pressing Ottawa to convert the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) and Canada Social Transfer (CST) to tax points for the provinces, which would give Alberta more control over how revenue is raised and spent in these areas of provincial jurisdiction
– ending Alberta’s agreement to increase the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) payroll tax by $1,624 per family
– demanding reforms to Canada’s Employment Insurance program so that Albertans who lose their jobs are not applied to Alberta home buyers
– challenging the federal government’s unfair one-size-fits-all approach to mortgages by demanding the Canada Mortgage and Home Corporation (CMHC) stress tests are removed from Alberta residents
– seeking to form federal and provincial agreement on resource corridors, which are pre-approved land corridors to expedite major resource project approvals; a key part of these corridors would be facilitating aboriginal co-ownership or financial participation, where relevant
– partnering with by pressing the federal government to adopt a Charter of Economic Rights which would, clarify the vital rights of Canadians to sell their goods and services and exercise their trades and professions in every part of Canada
– ending Alberta’s agreement with Parole Board of Canada and passing legislation to create an Alberta Parole Board

Municipalities
To assist municipalities with long-range planning and help free local leaders from unnecessary provincial mandates and red tape that can result in duplication, waste, and frustration, the party advocates:
– maintaining dollars promised to municipalities for 2019-20, as well as the multi-year agreement in the Bill 32 Charters for Calgary and Edmonton
– ensuring predictable, long-term infrastructure funding for municipalities
– maintaining key infrastructure commitments in the province’s capital plan, such as LRT extensions in Calgary and Edmonton
– amending the MGA to allow municipalities to offer property tax incentives to attract investment and development
– working with municipalities to facilitate pre-approved industrial zones to streamline regulatory approvals and decision-making
– consuling with municipalities on the province’s funding formula for police services, including any burden imposed on local law enforcement resulting from the recent legalization of cannabis
– cutting provincial regulation and paperwork for Alberta’s cities and allowing municipalities to pass on those savings to taxpayers
– improving local government financial reporting by preparing an annual Alberta Municipalities Measurement Index so Albertans can evaluate the performance of their local government in comparison with others on such key fiscal indicators as the property tax burden, revenues, spending, and debt
– amending the Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Act (s.89) to give municipalities more flexibility to permit responsible adults to drink alcohol in parks, street festivals, or other areas – and begin with relaxing liquor constraints in a number of provincial parks
– immediate relaxation of Alberta Gaming Liquor Commission regulations that effectively require enclosed events like folk festivals to keep those having a drink within unreasonably narrow zones like fenced-in beer gardens

Public Safety & Courts
The party states that:
– the first duty of government is to protect public safety
– crime is up substantially in Alberta, with police services across the province reporting significantly higher robberies, assaults, sexual assaults, vehicle thefts, and property theft compared with five years ago
– Maclean’s magazines, in Canada’s Most Dangerous Places 2019, says 7 of the 10 cities with the worst increases in crime over the last five years are in Alberta

The party advocates:
– spending $10 million to hire 50 new prosecutors and support staff
– enacting a Public’s Right to Know Act which will require annual reporting by judicial district on a wide number of measurements such as the number of crimes committed by persons on bail, on probation, on parole, subject to a deportation order for criminality, or previously removed for criminality
– implementing the United Conservative Alberta Rural Crime Strategy as outlined in our 2018 report to protect rural Albertans
– investing $5 million to increase access to Drug Treatment Courts as an effective way to help drug addicts leave the cycle of crime
– conducting an immediate review of the current model of victim service delivery, victim assistance funding, and victim compensation to ensure there is necessary assistance to victims of crime
– conducting an immediate review of the sufficiency of medical and forensic evidence gathering services in rural communities in cooperation with local police, Crown, and medical authorities, to determine what improvements are required – particularly concerning sexual assaults
– developing and implementing a specific Repeat Offender Policy with both provincial and (recommended) federal components to increase the ability to keep dangerous offenders off our streets
– negotiating additional Queen’s Bench Justice appointments with the federal government, including requesting that Grande Prairie be given its own Queen’s Bench justices, to help alleviate case waiting times
– working with other provinces and the federal government to ensure the return of criminals apprehended on outstanding arrest warrants to the province from which they fled, which has been flagged as a particular problem in provinces like Alberta with overlapping and independent police forces
– update the Crown Prosecutors’ Policy Manual to require that prosecutors provide the Court with an offender’s past criminal record and outstanding charges during bail hearings
– directing a review of the Crown Policy Manual to ensure that appropriate consideration is given to whether the use of force defence in Sections 34 and 35 of the Criminal Code should preclude prosecution against victims of crime with consideration of such factors as: the awareness of the person of a significant delay or non-response of police to the request for assistance due to the remote location of the crime being committed; the failure of the offender to depart the premises when confronted which, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, shall be viewed as threatening; and the number of persons committing the crime and the perception of their intoxication by alcohol or drugs
– reviewing current Criminal Code sentencing principles to ensure and recommend that in rural crime offences, specific facts be considered by a sentencing court as aggravating factors, and that the principles of deterrence and denunciation be prioritized (particularly concerning the unique vulnerability of people in rural areas when it comes to their self defense)
– replacing the Parole Board of Canada with an Alberta Parole Board for offenders serving a sentence of less than two years

Veterans and First Responders
The party states that:
– there is no higher form of public service than to risk one’s life in the defense of our country or the maintenance of public safety
– those who serve such roles deserve the respect and support of us all

The party advocates:
– creating a $1.5 million Heroes Fund modelled on the federal Memorial Grant Program for First Responders that will provide a $100,000 top-up for Alberta families eligible under the federal program (which provides a maximum $300,000 lump sum, tax free benefit to an immediate family member of a police officer, firefighter, or paramedic who died as a result of performing their duties, including death by suicide)
– working with the Government of Canada to improve services for first responders who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their service and allocate an incremental $1.5 million annually to these efforts
– creating a $1 million Alex Decoteau Veteran’s Scholarship of Honour Alex Decoteau, Canada’s first Aboriginal police officer, who was killed by a sniper’s bullet on during the Battle of Passchendaele.  The program would provide $5,000 post-secondary scholarships to members of the Royal Canadian Forces from Alberta who have served in designated military operations. The scholarship would also be available to the immediate families of fallen or disabled members