Editor:
Am I the only taxpayer who remembers the UCP government’s gross financial mistakes using taxpayers’ money?
Billions were lost on a pipeline that didn’t get built following most, except the UCP geniuses, analyst’s predictions. There’s the loss when AIMco – which controls Alberta public pension funds – made what The Wall Street Journal had as the “riskiest financial decision of any publicly managed pension fund in over 25 years”.
There’s the millions lost on a failed witch hunt to find political interference by environmental groups or the millions and counting on the embarrassingly incompetent Canada Energy Centre – better known as the war room – fiasco, which highlighted how ridiculous the UCP could be at throwing away taxpayer’s money.
Of course, these numbers come from sources outside the most secretive government in North America, according to the Canadian Association of Journalists, Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, News Media Canada and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression in 2020.
Unfortunately, we can’t confirm that because the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is difficult to get information on the UCP. Freedom lovers should be outraged.
What could our healthcare system do with the squandered billions? A better healthcare system that would be the envy of Canada? A better education system with resources that do not diminish each year? A heritage fund that could protect future generations from the loss of oil and gas royalties? A natural environment thriving and not threatened by coal mining and abandoned oil wells? Where’s the flag-waving freedom convoyers protesting UCP government-controlled restrictions on freedom to necessary information? Who would seriously consider handing over their hard-earned pension money to these incompetent, self-serving secretive elitists? Since, despite the UCP, it’s not about that fake boogeyman, Liberal-Ottawa-Trudeau, fantasy villain and his imagined superpowers to control everything, including the weather.
Nobody else in this home of mindless bumper sticker politics could possibly be responsible for any wrongdoing, right?
These simple-minded personality attacks pander to those whose understanding of issues is manipulated by opinionated know nothing, checking fantasy serving bloggers.
Even the federal conservative leader recognizes the lunacy of any province leaving one of the best-managed public pension plans in the world.
Did anyone look at the higher contributions made by those in the Quebec pension plan compared to the CPP? Did anyone consider the consequences of changes to the age demographics as the oil boom runs out?
The problem is numbers. The larger number of contributors diminishes the risk and necessary contributions of individuals in the system. Will this proposed Alberta Pension Plan be universal, portable and as well-managed by experts as the current Canada Pension Plan? Not likely.
My guess is that we will be looking at another politically motivated and very costly lawsuit against the rest of Canada, which will likely unanimously reject the UCP planned self-serving withdrawal.
The recent history of the UCP's embarrassing financial failures should not be ignored nor the Sovereignty Act-inspired parochial political motives of this diversion of attention strategy away from their mismanagement of the education curriculum, healthcare staffing and delivery, environment/provincial parks fiasco and the failed financial management of this province. As taxpayers in this province, we need to keep the facts of this government’s failures in mind as they steer us in a costly direction away from any sensible or realistic political policies towards their version of the land of the famous Alberta Fantasyland Hotel.
Jim Gough,
Canmore
