NDP leader Rachel Notley was in the Peace Country last week with stops in Grande Prairie, Fairview and Peace River. Notley sat down with MyGrandePrairieNow.com in Grande Prairie, saying she always enjoys coming home to hear the local wants and needs.
“We know that if we’re going to grow the economy we have to depart from the strategies of the past and stop talking about diversification and actually make diversification happen.”
With two NDP MLAs from the area voted into the legislature in 2015, Notley says she believes the message that got across then can get across again.
“When I ran last time, I announced to people I was running to be premier and everyone thought that it was a little bit of chutzpah. Interestingly, Mr. Kenney has already announced he is already premier, so there is a great deal of arrogance embedded in that. Unfortunately part of it is he doesn’t actually explain much of himself to Albertans.”
Notley didn’t expand on her claim against Kenney.
One topic which has gained momentum in the lead up to election day is allegations from former Grande Prairie Regional Hospital subcontractors. They claim they’re owed millions of dollars in back pay for their time on the job.
Notley says she is well aware of the court proceedings and wants to have a more hands-on approach to make sure a situation like it doesn’t happen again.
“Certainly going forward we are going to look at ways at enhancing opportunities for subcontractors and work with them as much as we can.”
Notley adds she believes voters in Grande Prairie and the entire Peace region will take a look at what she calls a UCP platform “rife with errors”. If their values stack up with the NDP platform, she argues the choice is clear.
“The numbers don’t add up and Mr. Kenney refuses to speak about most of it. I think voters really need to dig in and know what it is they’re voting for”
Albertans head to the polls on April 16th.