Wildrose Party
News release
The release of Statistics Canada’s labour force survey for August shows that Alberta’s two largest municipalities continue to have increasing unemployment rates, making clear that the NDP government needs to pump the brakes on their risky and ideological agenda.
Calgary’s unemployment rate is now the highest of any large city in the country at nine per cent, and Edmonton’s rose to eight per cent.
According to ATB Chief Economist Todd Hirsch, these numbers are expected to climb over the next few months, perhaps even reaching double digits in Calgary by Christmas.
“I don’t know how many wake up calls the NDP government needs to realize that now is not the time to hammer Albertans with damaging new policies like their $3 billion carbon tax,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “What I am hearing time and time again is that in this economic downturn, they would like the NDP to do no further harm – cancelling the carbon tax and backing down on their risky agenda would go a long way.”
By the time it is fully implemented, the NDP government’s carbon tax is expected to cost the typical Alberta family an extra $1,000 per year with higher costs for gas, heating and other consumer goods.
“At a time when Alberta’s job market is so volatile, the last thing working families need is further taxes being imposed on them by the NDP,” Wildrose Shadow Jobs Minister Grant Hunter said.
“I sincerely hope that the NDP choose to do the right thing, and cancel the carbon tax.”
Wildrose believes in a pro-growth agenda by reducing the growing tax burden on families, providing a stable regulatory investment for investors and reducing the size of government.
In March, Wildrose released its 12-point Jobs Action Plan to get Albertans back to work.