NDP leader Rachel Notley made a stop in Grande Prairie Monday, before spending the night in her hometown of Fairview. With just over a week until Albertans head to the polls, they’re spending time in rural locations, where the party has been less successful in the past. Notley says the key to changing that is making sure smaller communities are still attractive to young people.
“Whether that means ensuring that there’s good health care there, that you don’t have to travel all the way down to Edmonton to have a baby, that out education system remains in place, that there’s access to good post-secondary education. Those things are all very important.”
Notley was quoted over the weekend as saying she would withdraw provincial support for the Northern Gateway if elected premier. The PC party in turn called her anti-pipeline, but she argues that they should only be built if Albertans will benefit.
“We need to make sure that we create jobs here in Alberta. Pipelines need to be developed with that concept; they should not be developed with the sole purpose of taking our resources and shipping them to other parts of the world so that jobs go there while Albertans struggle to find long-term, sustainable employment.”
Notley also criticized the lack of funding for new students in the budget, saying corporations should be taxed more and a progressive tax introduced to cover the cost.
