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Let's choose governments with foresight, resolve on Sept. 20 and Oct. 18

"Our two elections will challenge electees and electors in charting a critical course of action to guide us beyond public-health and economic challenges we have experienced."
Jackson Roger
Columnist Roger Jackson

We’re going to the polls for a federal election on Sept. 20. For Albertans, it’s precursory to municipal elections a month later.

The federal election defies a fixed four-year term, although the Governor General has the right to dissolve government any time within a term, at the prime minister’s request, of course.

Despite the self-serving expediency of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s early election call, our two elections will challenge electees and electors in charting a critical course of action to guide us beyond public-health and economic challenges we have experienced.

Public health and welfare, and the economy, will be dominant elements in election platforms this time — more so for the federal election. The environment and climate change will likely be a close third.

For the first time in a hundred years a pandemic has put public health in the forefront of governments and citizens. No need to detail its impact on us other than to say it has changed us, for better or worse. A new division has arisen in our society: health protagonists and antagonists; vaxxers and anti-vaxxers; public will and free will.

Because COVID, with its newer strains, remains with us and too many of us remain unvaccinated, governments for the foreseeable future will continue to impose some restrictions on us. It’s an unfortunate limit on our progress out of the pandemic and back to a fully open society, and it impacts the other big election issue: the economy.

National and regional governments worldwide have had to dig deep to offset the impact of COVID on their citizens and economies.

Canada is no different in significantly increasing deficits and debt to budget for support of families and businesses hard hit by the pandemic (27th in the world with more than $1.1 trillion debt now, 88 per cent of GDP; in 2019, more than $700 billion, 53 per cent of GDP).

Canada’s debt may not be extraordinary on a global scale, but it’s massive. It behooves the feds, and every government, including municipal, to provide good, post-pandemic plans to address deficits, debt, savings, and revenue.

Citizens who have appreciated the exceptional public spending over the past 18 months understand government largesse has limits. We know about spending beyond our means. We are slowly moving out of a recession caused by the pandemic, and in Alberta also by the decline of oil-and-gas activity.

We are beginning to experience economic inflation as our economy slowly grows again, which is good as long it’s contained in the long run. We’re experiencing higher prices due to inequity between demand and supply of goods and services.

The Bank of Canada is not planning to raise interest rates to slow inflation, rather letting the economy grow back naturally, as it is. Obviously, we need businesses back in full force, the labour force back toward full employment, and governments we can afford.

On Sept. 20, and on Oct. 18, let’s choose governments with the foresight and resolve to lead us back to good times and, most essential, enable a legacy for our country and city that we and our descendants can continue to enjoy and afford.

Roger Jackson is a former civil servant and a St. Albert resident.

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