To a voter, the Alberta Party’s platform in this campaign may seen like a work in progress, but leader Glenn Taylor said this week the party still needs to hear more from Albertans.
The platform includes directions, but few dollar numbers, specific initiatives or proposals. But while speaking with the Gazette’s editorial board this week, Taylor said the party wants to hear what Albertans want before it gets into those details.
As an example of the party’s approach Taylor points to health care, where he argues there is a lot of knowledge that isn’t being tapped.
“We think the solutions we are looking for in the health system are already in there in the hospital, but we are having trouble getting those ideas out.”
He points to issues of doctor intimidation as part of the reason why those solutions aren’t coming to the forefront. His party is committed to calling a full public inquiry on that issue.
He said fixing the system would mean going beyond those issues, however, and having frank and open discussions about the problems.
“Part of the challenge is how docs earn their money and we have to put that on the table, that has to be part of the discussion.”
Taylor said the party doesn’t see a need for that to be an adversarial process, but one where all sides are consulted and where the government is prepared to accept a variety of options.
On a specific level, he said his party would like to see the province better use primary care networks and do more to utilize nurses and nurse practitioners to their full scope.
“We have to be more open to understand what skills sets are available,” he said. “We need to talk about outcomes and expectations and what it is going to take to achieve that.”
Taylor said his party’s listening approach would have served the government well when it took over ambulance service from municipalities.
“They ran two pilot programs, one proved to be very effective; one proved to be less so. They didn’t learn from the effective pilot program and they just took over the service.’
Taylor, who was mayor of Hinton at the time of the transition, said the government didn’t consult with the municipalities that had been running ambulances.
“When they took over the ambulance service they forgot to talk to the people in the service.”
The Alberta Party’s open-ears approach would also cover education, where he would like to see local communities more involved in their schools.
“They need to become community hubs again, so our education policy should talk about revitalization by using schools as community hubs.”
Taylor said he sees government not as the force keeping the trains running on time, but the one keeping an eye on their direction.
“We shouldn’t be electing people who are better managers, we should be electing people who are better governors,” he said. “We can hire better managers.
He said Albertans are busy with their day-to-day lives and they are looking to government to keep the eyes on the horizon.
“It is government’s responsibility to look after the long term and the bigger picture, 20, 30, 50 years down the road. That is what you elect us for.”
On the issues <br /><br />On the government's handling of the Morinville school issue: <br />"They came in with solutions without necessarily talking to the people who were directly affected by it."<br /><br />On the need for upgrading in the province:<br />"We believe that we can do much more upgrading in the province of Alberta, it leads to more jobs, it leads to more employment." <br />"We don't think it is a good idea to concentrate, for example, the five upgraders that were designed for the heartland all in one area. It is too hard on the economy, too hard to the citizens who live in close proximity." <br /><br />On taxes<br /><br />"Albertans don't mind having a tax increase if they see what it is for."
