| Last week Fast Forward profiled six provincial Conservative leadership candidates who are vying to replace Premier Ralph Klein and asked for their views on the environment, health care, post-secondary education and arts and culture. We also chose four experts on those topics to identify the most crucial issue in those areas. This week, three of those experts return to analyze what the candidates did (or didn’t) have to say and to offer their feedback.
ENVIRONMENT
Brian Pincott, treasurer, Chinook chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada
What struck me most in the profiles of the Conservative leadership contenders was what was lacking. Through two hours of interviews, our six contenders (all white males) managed to mention the word "alternative" once, and "sustainability" once, and there applied to health care. We are not hearing a vision for the future – we are hearing an endorsement of the status quo.
There is a lack of recognition of the need to move forward (the only occurrence of "forward" is in Fast Forward’s self reference!) with developing a sustainable economy for the long term. We have ridden the fossil fuel wave as long as we can. If we want to remain at the economic forefront, now is the time to invest in sustainable renewable energy sources and kick our addiction to oil, Kyoto or not!
Speaking of Kyoto, not a single candidate mentioned global warming, our most pressing environmental (and economic) issue. For all the platitudes expressed by the half-dozen about treasuring our clean water, clean air and wide open spaces, none of those things will mean anything to Albertans if we can no longer live here when our rivers run dry and our land is parched.
On a positive note, there was recognition from Mark Norris that the EUB needs to be revamped. In that, I take a glimmer of hope that the "public good," which the EUB and the government are charged to protect, will some day mean more than oil and gas royalties flowing into government coffers.
HEALTH CARE
Avalon Roberts, chair, Calgary chapter of Friends of Medicare
I was intrigued to see the wide range of responses to the question regarding health care: from the very pro-public health care stance of Mark Norris to the much increased commercialization policy of Ted Morton and then everything in between.
It seems to me that the real issue for most people is access to care in a timely way. This is not addressed by the way you pay, unless it gets you to the front of the line, but by increasing efficiency in the system and educating more health care providers, a plan none of the prospective leaders mentioned despite our low numbers of health care professionals compared to other Western countries. Education is linked to good health in several ways, also being one of the determinants of health in the population, as well as having the obvious direct impact on patient care.
I was particularly pleased to see that Norris recommended a review of how money is being spent, especially as there has been no public accounting for the costs (increased?) or possible benefits of regionalization in the province. I would be very wary of comparisons to countries such as Sweden, which have a far, far stronger social safety net than we do in Alberta and whose private health care costs we already exceed. In fact, their latest government has stopped the experiment with further private-for-profit hospitals as being too expensive.
It has already been shown in Alberta, by the joint surgery project done last year, that great innovations can be accomplished in the system we have and I believe it is past time to get on with doing exactly that rather than concentrating on how profits can be made on the backs of those who are ill.
POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION
Emily Wyatt, president, U of C Students’ Union
After reading all of the candidates’ views on post-secondary education, I am left wondering what they will actually do with the system if they are elected. There seems to be a lack of actual concrete ideas and promises. I would like to see more specific policy ideas or even broad visions.
I was disappointed that more candidates didn't address the affordability issue. A few spoke about loan repayment and how to make it easier for students to pay loans back. However, that doesn't eliminate or reduce student debt – it simply prolongs the time they have to pay back that significant amount of debt. I wish there was more talk of tuition reduction and increased scholarships and bursaries – only then will education become truly more affordable. Loans are a financing system, not a funding system.
I think students would be very displeased with views like Lyle Oberg's on student debt. The fact that he doesn't think that affordability is much of an issue is astonishing. The article acknowledged quite heavily Alberta's booming economy and wealth and it should be noted that we need educated people to make this economy sustainable. Education is an investment and all candidates should view it as such. Alberta post-secondary graduates will become highly contributing, earning members of society.
I would hope that as the campaign evolves we will see more concrete examples of what the candidates plan to do – the pillars of affordability, accessibility and quality all need to be addressed in order to holistically improve our education system in Alberta.
Editor’s note: Last week a seventh candidate entered the race to replace Ralph Klein. Calgary MLA Alana DeLong, the only female candidate so far, announced she will run for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party. |
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