CitySpeak
You had strong opinions in voting against the City’s budget in January, what are your thoughts on the provincial budget released last week?
“I am very disappointed with the provincial government and Premier Redford. It seems as though Premier Redford is prepared to completely squander the province’s Sustainability Fund on her unsustainable government. Multiple deficit budgets, with more planned in the future concerns me deeply. Alberta has been great to me and my family, but I am very concerned with what it may be like for my children if we continue on with this type of excessive spending,” said Stephan. “Like most Albertans, I have been proud of the fact that our province has historically been a financially responsible jurisdiction that has found a way to tax less than other provinces (flat tax, and no PST) and still put money away for the future, and/or returned surpluses back to Albertans. We used our Alberta Advantage to become a world leader in entrepreneurship, and have attracted some of the best businesses and people from all over the world to live and work here.”
He added the current provincial government seems poised to take away our Alberta Advantage so that they can push forward their own socialist ideologies and philosophies that are not shared by the mass majority of Albertans. At a certain point the Progressive Conservatives stopped being conservative, and now they are simply an extension of the union led bureaucracy under their new leader.
What are your thoughts regarding the upcoming provincial election?
“I am excited for the election because it gives citizens an opportunity to use their voting power to decide who will best represent them. I trust the voters will make the right decision, and I think Red Deer has an excellent selection of candidates that will represent our community well,” said Stephan. “I believe the outcome of this election will fall squarely on the shoulders of the leadership candidates, where you have four leaders clearly on the political left (including Premier Redford) and one conservative candidate on the right (Danielle Smith – leader of the Wildrose Party). Having heard all of the leadership candidates speak, I think this will be a very exciting election with good debates that will change the political landscape in Alberta.”
Which party do you think will win?
“The PC’s have to be the favourite, as it is hard to bet against a party that has had control for 40 years; however, the PC’s may have done themselves in by selecting a very liberal leader (Redford) who has marginal internal party support and did not have the most first place votes in the PC leadership race (Gary Mar would have won under a normal voting process that doesn’t look at second choice votes),” said Stephan. “While the PC brand is still strong and its base is well established, thanks to the leadership of past premiers Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein, the momentum is certainly moving towards the Wildrose Party, which reflects what the PC party used to stand for (fiscal responsibility). As more people learn about the Wildrose Party, they continue to climb the polls as Alberta’s new conservative voice, bringing a whole lot of former PC’s with them along the way.”
