As upset as many are, what good things do you think the NDP might bring?

[mich]

Originally Posted by happy honker

Lots of 1 liners like this, but will some of you guys explain a bit better why we are so F'd now?

NDP has a proven track record of raising taxes to support their socialized agenda. look at the debt of the rest of the provinces and compare it to Alberta, we will be there in a few short years

[propliner]

I paid for every penny of my training. I took a loan and paid it back. I didn't expect the nanny state to give me a thing. This sense of entitlement is a slap in the face to those who work for what they get.

If you want to upgrade your training, then you can pay for it. Don't steal my money. Pathetic freeloaders.

[Redfrog]

Originally Posted by happy honker

Lots of 1 liners like this, but will some of you guys explain a bit better why we are so F'd now?

Buddy that ship has sailed. The election was today.

[score]

There is plenty of precedent in Canada, the US and Europe, to avoid leftist government for anyone who has been paying any attention at all. Nothing good can come from voting in the NDP here in Alberta IMO.

Getting rid of them now will be harder than some seem to think.

[rugatika]

Originally Posted by jack88

They can't. That's why most of them sound rediculous. This is actually kind of ammusing.

Several of us have explained it over and over. Now you get to see it first hand.

Ridiculous. Amusing. Yes. It will be.

I did not vote for her.

[Redfrog]

When I was in the landscaping business, we had a saying.

You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.

[KegRiver]

First, I did not vote NDP and never will.

Having said that, I think I understand why so many did.

I think the answer to the question is in the election results. I believe that the people who voted NDP are hoping that voting NDP will send a strong message to all politicians, "anything is better then a corrupt government".

I hope they get their message across but from what I'm hearing from the losers, it didn't work. Maybe time will change that, but I doubt it.

[purgatory.sv]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

First, I did not vote NDP and never will.

Having said that, I think I understand why so many did.

I think the answer to the question is in the election results. I believe that the people who voted NDP are hoping that voting NDP will send a strong message to all politicians, "anything is better then a corrupt government".

I hope they get their message across but from what I'm hearing from the losers, it didn't work. Maybe time will change that, but I doubt it.

we can only hope.

[tri777]

Originally Posted by mich

NDP has a proven track record of
raising taxes to support their socialized agenda. look at the
debt of the rest of the provinces and compare it to Alberta,
we will be there in a few short years

Have you seen the raised police fines..Have you seen the
recent health care premimums..have you seen the pointed
accusing finger pointing at you in your mirror..have you seen
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...

[tri777]

Originally Posted by score

".. voting in the NDP here in Alberta IMO.

Getting rid of them now will be harder than some seem to think.

do you mean 44yrs hard..?

[saskbooknut]

This will be my only comment on the Alberta election of the NDP.

So - after the longest run of prosperity that Alberta has ever seen the PC party leaves the province essentially bankrupt.

Change was, and is, necessary in Alberta.

It took an NDP government to pull Saskatchewan out of bankruptcy caused by a Conservative government.

The current Saskatchewan party government had a great opportunity starting with a solvent provincial economy and then experiencing an unprecedented resource economy boom.

It remains to be seen what the NDP government makes of Alberta's tough choices to balance the books.

What is necessary is some pragmatic decisions based on good policy, not political dogma.

[CanuckShooter]

Funny thing is they will get to take credit for oil prices going back up. BTW if it gets real bad I'll sell you a place in BC. :-)

Going to be interesting to see how the next four years fold out.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Dewey Cox

We won't have to worry about having a bunch of extra money getting in the way

They will bring out a sales tax to deal with that.

[58thecat]

What is a NDP? An Oiler fan?

[Sundancefisher]

Anyone in a union can now threaten to strike and make a big win. Civic unions are going to get big raises. Lots more jobs being created in government. Taxes will go up so we don't have to worry about what to spend it on ourselves. PST will be coming so we won't be unique any longer.

[Heyupduck]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

First, I did not vote NDP and never will.

Having said that, I think I understand why so many did.

I think the answer to the question is in the election results. I believe that the people who voted NDP are hoping that voting NDP will send a strong message to all politicians, "anything is better then a corrupt government".

I hope they get their message across but from what I'm hearing from the losers, it didn't work. Maybe time will change that, but I doubt it.

It doesn't matter who is in power, I think 2 or 3 terms of office is enough for anyone. I'm glad the NDP got in, but after 10 or 12 years we will need a new government regardless.
We needed a diaper change, and we will need another one.

[edmhunter]

I have three serious questions and an observation.

I'll start with an observation: Two weeks ago I went for a walk to take a break from working, I own a company and work from home.

There is an elementary school two minute walk from my front door. I happen to be walking by the school just as the children were getting out of school and about 100 kids came streaming out.

I wasn't really paying attention to anything in particular until it hit me that I did not see any Caucasian children, so I stopped in amazement and took a good look to see if I could find any Caucasian kids. I stood there for about 4 minutes.

Out of off the kids I saw in the crowd, I only counted 4 Caucasian children out of the entire group, and thought to myself that Canada was not the same Canada that I grew up in, and that because of this NDP may get elected. Times have changed, and so I am not surprised that NDP got elected.

I did not pay attention to any debates nor did I ever research what the NDP are planning although as one poster here stated in this thread:

Better Education
Better Healthcare
Compassion and Respect for our Seniors
Co-operation with Companies to implement new jobs
Corporate Welfare will disappear
AHS waste will be trimmed
More long term beds
Restore Apprentice program

All of which will come at a significant cost!

My three questions, does anyone know the answer without guessing?

Will the NDP initiate a Provincial Sales Tax, and if so, how much will it be?
What will be the increase in corporate tax be?
And are they going to initiate a Provincial Gun Registry?

[Trochu]

Originally Posted by bobalong

Are you suggesting that terminating the apprentice program was a good idea? Maybe not at the moment, but in the past we have had a huge shortage of "trained" personnel, the majority of them in the oilpatch and construction.

Assisting people with training is a justified cost IMO, it is an investment, and a damn good one, do the cost/benefit on this. The returns are huge, in the jobs they do, the money they make and spend in our economy, and also what they pay in taxes.

This is the perfect NDP thought process, use my tax dollars to train some competition so I potentially have less/no work, have to charge less, travel further to get it, etc. and then try to explain to me why thats a good thing.

[CdnVet0506]

First off, I'll at least give this government a chance to prove me wrong, they have my "benefit of the doubt" - for now, but here are some predictions for the next 4 years based on having lived in 3 provinces that have been run by the NDP due to work.

1. Your bottom line will go down.... think the PC's increases were tough..
2. Green initiatives will drive up heating/electricity costs...likely a lot...
3. A PST is likely....
4. Less gun/hunting rights....the NDP are fundamentally anti-gun....
5. The grizzly bear will become a protected species (might get flamed for this, but I agree with this one...I prefer to shoot these with a camera)...
6. An increased minimum wage will bankrupt some small companies who are barely hanging on, and put more people out of work as some companies will have to down-size staff to fund increased salaries...
7. Bigger deficits....

Again, I will take a "wait and see" attitude and say to the NDP, "prove me wrong". However, if my history/experience holds firm, in 4 years most Albertans will be looking to toss this government... If I am wrong, and they do a good job... I vow to vote NDP next time (and yes you can bookmark this comment )

[FishingMOM]

Originally Posted by edmhunter

I have three serious questions and an observation.

I'll start with an observation: Two weeks ago I went for a walk to take a break from working, I own a company and work from home.

There is an elementary school two minute walk from my front door. I happen to be walking by the school just as the children were getting out of school and about 100 kids came streaming out.

I wasn't really paying attention to anything in particular until it hit me that I did not see any Caucasian children, so I stopped in amazement and took a good look to see if I could find any Caucasian kids. I stood there for about 4 minutes.

Out of off the kids I saw in the crowd, I only counted 4 Caucasian children out of the entire group, and thought to myself that Canada was not the same Canada that I grew up in, and that because of this NDP may get elected. Times have changed, and so I am not surprised that NDP got elected.

I did not pay attention to any debates nor did I ever research what the NDP are planning although as one poster here stated in this thread:

Depends on where you live.
The part of cowtown I live in now is very mixed with my sons class being very diverse. But I know where we are moving the neighbourhood will be mostly causasian. As such his classmates and school mates will be reflective in such.

[edmhunter]

Originally Posted by FishingMOM

Depends on where you live.
The part of cowtown I live in now is very mixed with my sons class being very diverse. But I know where we are moving the neighbourhood will be mostly causasian. As such his classmates and school mates will be reflective in such.

I live on the west end of Edmonton.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by saskbooknut

This will be my only comment on the Alberta election of the NDP.

So - after the longest run of prosperity that Alberta has ever seen the PC party leaves the province essentially bankrupt.

Change was, and is, necessary in Alberta.

It took an NDP government to pull Saskatchewan out of bankruptcy caused by a Conservative government.

The current Saskatchewan party government had a great opportunity starting with a solvent provincial economy and then experiencing an unprecedented resource economy boom.

It remains to be seen what the NDP government makes of Alberta's tough choices to balance the books.

What is necessary is some pragmatic decisions based on good policy, not political dogma.

It sounds like you aren't old enough to have been around when the NDP destroyed the Saskatchewan potash industry. I still remember the mines closing and the layoffs that resulted.

[Weedy1]

Originally Posted by bobalong

I commend you on your ambition, but it is the NDP that is going to restore the apprentice program that the PC were going to cut, the NDP recognize the importance of skilled, trained workers.

Were the PC's going to cut the program or were the PC's going to cut $6 million from apprenticeship training?

You're sounding like a politician..

[edmhunter]

So nobody knows the answers to my questions, didn't think so!

[dumoulin]

The PC lost because they stopped being gentlemen politicians. Did Prentice realy think he had a chance to win after increasing taxes on everything while thousands of Albertans are being laid-off??? The last real PC gentlemen was Peter Lougheed. The NDP landslide victory speech was reminiscent of that. The one thing I hope the NDP will follow through with in the next four years is build our Heritage Fund while nurturing industry.

[JohninAB]

I hope they bring about a new, vibrant and unified right wing party here in Alberta much the same as what happened in Saskatchewan.

[hal53]

Just 2 observations
1) Notley must realize that she only won the popular vote in Edmonton, overall 60% of Albertans didn't want anything to do with the NDP..she got there by the vote split. From what I see, she is an intelligent person and will realize this

2) This result might, just might get people involved in the Gov't. process more than at election time, hopefully they will make their voices heard to their MLA's a lot more than the apathetic bunch we have become

BTW, Dear God please don't let the Minister with the SRD in his portfolio be a 20 yr. old college student.....

[chimpac]

The electorate can be divided into the givers and the takers.

There are less takers in the rural areas. What politician can win if he says one word about cutting funds going to the takers.

Takers say "Every one knows health care is free in Alberta what do you mean pay for my health care".

As long as takers can win an election the givers will have to just work harder to pay their bill.

There is a cure for this nonsense, That would be one vote for everybody then one more vote for a giver for every $1000.00 income tax he pays.

[Ryan.M.Anderson]

For those people who are complaining about tax increases. Have you actually calculated how much more you will be paying. Although I am not a tax expert I am a designated professional and can tell you this. After the tax increases, if you were poor before you will still be poor. If you were rich before you will still be rich.

In all reality the tax increase will affect maybe the top 5% of the population.

As taxes are based on profits they will never make you go broke. For example (this is super simplified), Oil Company A made TAXABLE income of $100,000 they use to pay $10,000 in provincial taxes, they will now pay $12,000. As you can tell this is not going to drive them into bankruptcy.

No one likes paying taxes but taxes do need to exist to pay for roads, hospitals, education, etc.

[husky hunter]

Originally Posted by 79ford

More upgrading in alberta would probably add more resiliancy to the heavy oil sector if they stick to their guns.

Suncor, syncrude, cnrl, imperial and husky are still trucking along while some raw producers are facing bankruptcy and other major fiscal problems.

Anyone ever hear of layoffs at refineries, chemical plants or upgraders recently? Lol,

Some young people might bring in some change for once. Most of the younger generation istired of government waste and debt etc. Cronyism. Most people in my generation 25-30 despise government running us into the proverbial toilet with debt.

Put down your work gloves and hold out your hand for you have reached the promised land!!!! Perfect situation for people with little or no ambition but unfortunately they are not the ones that make an economy function. Prepare for a train wreck......