Jason Kenney visited the Diversity Centre and spoke to Diversity Magazine when he started his campaign to unite the conservatives. A very determined Kenney, a man with a vision, had a four-step process; first to become the leader of the PC, next unite the PC and Wildrose Parties, become the leader of the UCP, and head for the Premier’s Mansion. This, he did by aggressively going all over Alberta, rallying support, going into homes, communities, businesses, and what have you to share his message with his trademark blue pickup truck. Today, he is Premier Jason Kenney.
Diversity Magazine sent a collection of questions from multicultural communities to get responses from the UCP Campaign team. Here is their unedited response
Unedited UCP Responses to Issues that Matter to you in Alberta Election 2019 for Diversity Magazine.
Jobs
The top priority for a United Conservative government is getting Albertans back to work. Nearly 160,000 Albertans are unemployed, 30,000 more than when the NDP took office.
The top priority of a United Conservative government will be creating jobs and getting Albertans back to work. As a key part of our job-creation strategy, a United Conservative government would introduce an Open for Business Act.
The Open for Business Act would reverse the massive new costs on businesses imposed by the NDP that have forced employers to lay people off. We will protect the rights of hard-working Albertans and reduce the red tape on those who create jobs.
Recognition of foreign credentials and hiring of foreign-trained professionals
Many immigrants arrive in Canada with great hopes and skills only to be trapped in survival jobs because it can take years for business and professional licensing bodies to recognize the credentials they earned elsewhere. Recognizing the foreign credentials of talented new Albertans in a speedy fashion will be a key part of our plan to reignite the economy and get Albertans back to work.
A United Conservative government will implement a Fairness for Newcomers Action Plan to work with trade and professional licensing bodies to streamline, simplify, and accelerate foreign credentials recognition. The goal is that applicants for licensure will have a clear answer in six months or less.
A United Conservative government will create a Fairness for Newcomers Office to ensure that credentials are assessed with transparency, objectivity, impartiality and fairness.
Push for faster action on the Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications, which is an effort to get regulatory bodies across Canada to harmonize their credentialing procedures.
Education
A United Conservative government will reset the curriculum rewrite, restore fundamentals to math and affirm the primary role of parents in choosing how their children are taught. It’s time to bring common sense to education.
Under the NDP, class sizes have continued to increase, with decreasing scores in critical areas such as math and literacy. Due to the carbon tax and other damaging policies, valuable resources have been redirected away from classrooms and toward administration.
Alberta’s children deserve an excellent, world-class education that will equip them intellectually, socially, and with jobs-ready skills for life.
To ensure that education is a key advantage for Alberta, a United Conservative government would work with parents, teachers, and principals to once again make Alberta’s schools the choice-based, excellent classrooms that all Albertans desire and deserve.
The United Conservative model recognizes that every child is unique and that parents, not politicians, know what is best for their children.
Racism and inclusion everywhere in Alberta
The United Conservative Party rejects unequivocally all voices of hatred and bigotry. The United Conservative Party is the largest provincial political party in Canada with over 150,000 members.
During his time as the federal multiculturalism minister, Jason Kenney was a champion of Canada’s ethnic, religious and cultural diversity.
As part of the UCP platform, we have announced a UCP government would create a Security Infrastructure Program to protect minority communities that are targeted by hate-inspired violence and vandalism. The program, which will be modelled after a similar program Jason Kenney helped establish at the federal level will support religious and ethnocultural groups at risk of being victimized by hate-motivated crime. They will be eligible for matching grants of up to $100,000 for the purchase of:
Alarm systems
Fences
Gates
Lighting
Security Film for windows
Closed-circuit television systems
Exterior cameras
Anti-graffiti sealant
Motion detectors
Childcare
Because of the NDP’s fiscal mismanagement, this $1.5 billion in new spending will come from increasing the province’s deficit, dragging us deeper into the NDP’s $100 billion debt hole.
United Conservatives are focused on jobs, the economy, and pipelines. We cannot afford massive new spending programs while our economy shrinks, and people are out of work. In fact, even the NDP’s Minister Irfan Sabir has admitted that the NDP’s current child care pilot project is undersubscribed because so many Albertans are unemployed.
A United Conservative government will grow the economy and balance the budget through prudent spending; we will be able to consider additional support for child care in the future when Albertans can afford it.
When we do so, our focus will be on supporting all choices made by parents equally, not just institutional nine to five child care, which excludes rural families, shift workers, parents who work at home, and those who prefer less formal kinds of childcare.
A United Conservative government will maintain current supports in place for child care. Our platform will include measures to create more child care spaces at no cost to the taxpayer, by cutting unnecessary red tape on child care operators while not jeopardizing safety.
Grants to nonprofits and universities
Post-secondary education will be supported as critical to both Alberta’s future economy and to a vibrant Alberta.
A United Conservative government would recognize that there are as much worth and dignity in a trade certificate as there is a university degree. In fact, A United Conservative government would establish a new $1 million Trades Scholarship for 1,000 graduating secondary students who show promise in the trades in high school.
A United Conservative government recognizes the power of civil society and will work to empower organizations that are doing important work in our communities. A United Conservative government will introduce a Freedom to Care Act, that will allow charitable and non-profit groups to apply for a “common sense exemption” on regulations that are designed primarily for commercial application.
Further, A United Conservative government would create a $20 million Civil Society Fund supported by the Alberta Lotteries Fund to support innovative cost-shared programs delivered by community groups.
Systemic discrimination at all levels
The United Conservative Party rejects unequivocally all voices of hatred and bigotry. The United Conservative Party, the largest provincial political party in Canada with over 130,000 members, was founded on the principles of respect for all.
In his nine years as the federal multiculturalism minister, Jason Kenney was a champion of Canada’s ethnic, religious and cultural diversity.
Seniors care
Seniors should be the most cherished citizens in any community, having served their families, friends and co-workers for a lifetime, and having built Alberta into what it is today.
We will Make Life Better for Seniors and their families by using the Affordable Supportive Living Initiative (ASLI) to build the long-term care beds we need, encourage more home care options, and maintain existing seniors’ benefits.
Our youths are overburdened with a mountain of student debt, lack of identity and jobs
A United Conservative government would ensure that our economy is strong and that students have opportunities to find well-paying jobs and get ahead here in Alberta.
Health care
A United Conservative government would ensure patients are at the centre of our healthcare system. Currently, Albertans pay some of the highest costs for their health care system
A United Conservative government would maintain or increase health spending over four years. We will seek to identify and address areas in the health care system where efficiencies can be found. To inform our approach, a United Conservative government would commission an administration performance review of Alberta Health Services (AHS), which will evaluate the performance of the organization and determine where efficiencies may be found. While we will seek to find efficiencies wherever possible, patients will remain at the centre of any United Conservative decisions about health care service delivery in the province.
A United Conservative government will also appoint an Associate Minister of Health and Addictions to help manage the health care file broadly, as well as the opioid crisis.
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