Say goodbye to the Sustainability Fund

Edmonton – The Official Opposition is condemning today’s budget as further evidence that the Stelmach Conservatives are governing by the seat of their pants, with massive cuts in some public services and massive increases in others, without rhyme or reason. 

Official Opposition Leader David Swann says that throwing huge amounts of money at health care isn’t a fix.

“This isn’t a money issue, it’s a management issue,” Swann says. “Given the mess the Stelmach Conservatives made of the public health care system in the past few years, why should anyone believe that more cash will reduce wait times, improve accessibility, or address inefficiencies? If they couldn’t fix the health care system with the money they had, another $2 billion isn’t going to address the fundamental shortfall in this province: a lack of Tory competence.”

“They don’t have a spending problem; they have an incompetence problem,” Swann says. “Isn’t this the same government that was telling us two years ago that health care spending was out of control?”

Alberta Liberal Finance critic Hugh MacDonald says that these spending increases are unsustainable.

“They’re hoping that oil and gas revenues will bounce back in time to erase the evidence of their massive fiscal incompetence,” MacDonald says. “We need a value for dollar audit to determine why we’re spending so much more money on health care for poorer results than other provinces.”

Swann wonders why the Sustainability Fund isn’t being used to protect child intervention services and income supports, both vital public services in tough times. 

“It’s like they put the budget up on a wall and threw darts to decide which programs would be cut and which would be saved,” Swann says. “They’re spending the same amount on horse racing that they took away from programs to protect children in dangerous living situations. It’s unconscionable.”

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