No sector of government spending was sacred in the review, with sweeping reforms suggested in health, education, the public service, capital spending and how the government delivers programs to its citizens.
Hmm let�s see, Conservatives promising not to slash and burn and privatize public services if elected, then once in office they scream that the sky is falling and that armageddon will come unless they slash and burn and privatize all public services. �Really we swear it wasn�t what we were planning on doing this the whole time!�
What else is new?
This is what destroying the middle class looks like.
It's a bloodbath here. Redford put in place a hiring freeze such that if a position wasn't deemed 'critical' then the position wasn't backfilled when the person left. So a lot of responsibilities fell on the subordinates. But because of the freeze, their job titles weren't upgraded to reflect the new responsibility, and they didn't get any pay bump.
Fast forward to Notley. She continued the freeze, and instead of hiring people, she sough to collapse the top hierarchy so that a Director, instead of being responsible for one group in a Ministry, they are responsible for similar groups in up to 5 ministries. Also with no bump in pay.
To back fill needed resources, contractor were brought in to fill in the critical spots. Now the UCP has given the mandate that no contracts are to be renewed for the forseeable future. The chaos of losing all that knowledge along with the people who actually keep the lights on will be beautiful. It is already beautiful, as people who manage things like Unclaimed Property or the app companies use to submit taxes online are gone. So are the people who run the Student Finance website, at the perfect time of the year - when Students need it most!
My company has a contract till 2022, but I might get out ahead of the game and ask for a transfer to Victoria to take over the new contract we have there. Maybe I can sell my hovel and move there before winter.
Anyone who didn't think another round of retard bingo (aka reckless and absolutely vicious austerity) wasn't going to happen with the UCP was deluding themselves. This is specifically why I didn't vote for Kenney. It was a disastrous failure under Klein and it'll be a disastrous failure under Kenney because it's a mediocre and flawed idea that's disastrous everywhere it's implemented. Oh well, not my fault for what happens next - the dipshits that voted UCP can suck on the taste of the responsibility for this upcoming nightmare. Enjoy going back to the days when every second ceiling light in schools and hospitals were permanently shut off in order to save some pennies and nickels, dumbasses.
Hehe, here's some of the transcript of the interview. Guess where Alberta is heading?
Q: You say that Alberta "has a spending problem, not a revenue problem." What do you mean by that?
A: If Alberta spent per capita what the other large provinces spend, it would spend $10.4 billion less, and it wouldn't have a deficit. Alberta spends more across the board everywhere we looked.
But the results aren't better. In some cases, the results are actually worse. For example, wait times for health procedures in Alberta are worse.
So what you have to do is get your spending in line not just by cutting, but by transforming the way you deliver services to do what other provinces are doing to get better results at a lower cost.
Q: Let's start with your proposal then for health care. What are you recommending?
A: What we're recommending � and this is actually better health care, too. It's better for the patient. Don't focus as much on hospitals, the most expensive place to treat people. Use more community-based services. Saskatchewan uses private clinics for some procedure � 26 per cent cheaper. More convenient for people. They don't have to go to the hospital, they just go to another location.
Use the full range of health care professionals, not just doctors � the most expensive people to use � but nurse practitioners.
And also, we have to change the way that we pay doctors. We're behind the curve. Other provinces have moved away from fee for service to other payment schemes that are not as expensive and more suitable to the the health system we have today, where maybe you don't have to see a doctor; you should be seeing a physiotherapist or whatever.
Q: [Former premier] Ralph Klein came up with a public-private health care idea called The Third Way, and it never got off the ground. What makes this time different, do you think?
A: One of our main recommendations is with the union contracts, which restrict what you can do and make it more costly to perform procedures. But this is beyond health, too. More services to be delivered by not-for-profits or by private clinics. But the caveat is, if you do it, you have to do it carefully.
And you need a really good public service to see that you have the right contract with the right conditions, and it can work. But if you don't � and Alberta has had experience where they haven't had the right contracts and conditions � then there's problems.
Q: Your plan promises to balance the budget in four years. What's the rush?
A: I think four years is a reasonable time frame. First of all, look at salary restraint. We're saying that. We don't say rollbacks; we say salary restraint. You can do that for a period of time because it's an unusual time. You're trying to balance the budget.
But you can't drag restraint out over a longer period of time. Four years is a good time frame though, because some of the changes, like the ones I talked about in health, can't be implemented in one year or even probably two.
So four years allows you enough time to transition to a new kind of service delivery, but it's short enough that the province knows that there's an end date. And after you balance the budget, then you have money to reduce taxes or invest in programs.
Meanwhile despite this supposed fiscal emergency the UCP government is going ahead with a massive 33% corporate tax cut, dropping the already low corporate tax rate from 12% to 8%
Rather than explore new taxes, Toews said the UCP�s tax cuts will actually help on the revenue side. The repeal of the carbon tax, along with a plan to reduce the corporate tax rate from 12 to eight per cent by 2022, will attract investment to Alberta and help grow government revenues, he said.
In 2019 how can anyone still fall for that discredited and disproven trickle-down nonsense ?
The same way they ignore how many RCMP investigations there are into the Kenney leadership campaign, or how many fines have already been levied because of impropriety.
I'd rather be trapped in a room with Bobcat Goldtwaith, Gilbert Gottfried, Carrot top and a laughing Fran Dresser for the rest of my life than vote UCP.
What else is new?
This is what destroying the middle class looks like.
Deep cuts to healthcare and public education and massive privatization: a Conservative�s wet dream
Fast forward to Notley. She continued the freeze, and instead of hiring people, she sough to collapse the top hierarchy so that a Director, instead of being responsible for one group in a Ministry, they are responsible for similar groups in up to 5 ministries. Also with no bump in pay.
To back fill needed resources, contractor were brought in to fill in the critical spots. Now the UCP has given the mandate that no contracts are to be renewed for the forseeable future.
My company has a contract till 2022, but I might get out ahead of the game and ask for a transfer to Victoria to take over the new contract we have there. Maybe I can sell my hovel and move there before winter.
And once again, we get the government we deserve!
A: If Alberta spent per capita what the other large provinces spend, it would spend $10.4 billion less, and it wouldn't have a deficit. Alberta spends more across the board everywhere we looked.
But the results aren't better. In some cases, the results are actually worse. For example, wait times for health procedures in Alberta are worse.
So what you have to do is get your spending in line not just by cutting, but by transforming the way you deliver services to do what other provinces are doing to get better results at a lower cost.
A: What we're recommending � and this is actually better health care, too. It's better for the patient. Don't focus as much on hospitals, the most expensive place to treat people. Use more community-based services. Saskatchewan uses private clinics for some procedure � 26 per cent cheaper. More convenient for people. They don't have to go to the hospital, they just go to another location.
Use the full range of health care professionals, not just doctors � the most expensive people to use � but nurse practitioners.
And also, we have to change the way that we pay doctors. We're behind the curve. Other provinces have moved away from fee for service to other payment schemes that are not as expensive and more suitable to the the health system we have today, where maybe you don't have to see a doctor; you should be seeing a physiotherapist or whatever.
A: One of our main recommendations is with the union contracts, which restrict what you can do and make it more costly to perform procedures. But this is beyond health, too. More services to be delivered by not-for-profits or by private clinics. But the caveat is, if you do it, you have to do it carefully.
And you need a really good public service to see that you have the right contract with the right conditions, and it can work. But if you don't � and Alberta has had experience where they haven't had the right contracts and conditions � then there's problems.
A: I think four years is a reasonable time frame. First of all, look at salary restraint. We're saying that. We don't say rollbacks; we say salary restraint. You can do that for a period of time because it's an unusual time. You're trying to balance the budget.
But you can't drag restraint out over a longer period of time. Four years is a good time frame though, because some of the changes, like the ones I talked about in health, can't be implemented in one year or even probably two.
So four years allows you enough time to transition to a new kind of service delivery, but it's short enough that the province knows that there's an end date. And after you balance the budget, then you have money to reduce taxes or invest in programs.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ ... -1.5269885
Zombie Ralph Klein rises!
https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics ... re-cushion
In 2019 how can anyone still fall for that discredited and disproven trickle-down nonsense ?
In 2019 how can anyone still fall for that discredited and disproven trickle-down nonsense ?
The same way they ignore how many RCMP investigations there are into the Kenney leadership campaign, or how many fines have already been levied because of impropriety.