Alberta election 2015: Wildrose Party pledges balanced budget by 2017
Leader Brian Jean says details of 5-point priority plan will be revealed soon
The leader of the Wildrose Party is promising to return Alberta to balanced budgets by 2017 without raising taxes.
But Brian Jean did not offer up full details on how his party would accomplish the feat as he introduced a five-point priority list in Calgary on Wednesday.
The centrepiece of the plan is to roll back the tax and fee increases introduced by the Tories in the spring budget and create a long-term savings strategy.
The other four Wildrose priorities are:
- Patient-centred health care and seniors care: implement a 'Wait Time Guarantee' to reduce surgical and specialist queuing.
- World-class education: "back to basics" curriculum and grading.
- Democracy and accountability in Alberta: the party vows to curb waste and cronyism by capping severances, reducing managers and eliminating corporate welfare.
- Supporting rural industries and communities: "We recognize that the long-term health of Alberta depends on ensuring our rural industries and communities have the support they deserve," the party's website says.
When asked about what he would cut to chop billions of dollars in spending to balance the budget without raising taxes, Jean said more details are coming in the days ahead.
"It's going to come out but it will come out in detail and it's going to come out very soon," he said.
"You'll see the plan, it's going to be there, it's going to be in black and white, and dollars and cents, it'll be very clear."
Jean says it is ridiculous that PC leader Jim Prentice has lashed out at what he calls the extreme ideology of parties like Wildrose.
"Let's be clear: if low taxes and balanced budgets is extremist, I guess most Albertans are extremist."