Hi everyone - just wanted to say thank-you to all of you who have reached out so compassionately and kindly this last week. Anita and I have been very touched. When you make a tough and controversial decision, it can cause a lot of emotional responses that can take quite a personal toll. I fully expected many would disagree with my decision and that is very understandable, but I assure you I have only done what I feel is best for the province and the constituency. Time will tell whether my judgement was correct and Im prepared to accept the consequences regardless. I also wanted to make clear that contrary to some of the commentary, I in no way benefited financially from this decision. In fact I am making roughly $15,000 less a year as I am no longer Wildrose House Leader or Chair of Public Accounts. No Cabinet position or other posting was promised. Politically, it would have been much safer and easier to simply sit at keep opposing the government. My reasons for my decision to join the Prentice Government are as follows: I have spent virtually my entire elected life fighting with all that I am to elect a truly conservative Premier committed to fiscal discipline, balanced budgets, respect for property rights, parental choice in education, decentralized health care and open and transparent government. Jim Prentice is exactly that kind of Premier. He has committed to a set of shared conservative principles and policies (listed below) that my former Wildrose colleagues and I have been fighting towards for 5 years, and he has asked for our help to ensure those policies are implemented. I am not going to spend my efforts opposing the very kind of Premier I and many others have worked so diligently to see elected. I left the PCs in 2010 because in my view the party leadership of the time had abandoned most of the core conservative principles it campaigned on and used to represent. I joined the fledgling Wildrose Party movement with tens of thousands of others to help elect a government and leader committed to true conservative principles and policies. Everyone in the Wildrose worked tirelessly for 5 years to make that happen. In fact we did such an effective job we helped open up a job vacancy in the Premiers chair which was eventually won by Premier Jim Prentice. Although after the Redford years I, like so many, was very cynical when Premier Prentice took the helm promising fiscally conservative policies and to clean up government, he has shown by his actions since then that he is a man of his word, and frankly, he has won my admiration, trust and support. To those who wish to know if his actions have matched his words. He has sold the air fleet, begun the process of shrinking the size of the bureaucracy, capped severance to 6 months for political staff, ended the practice of folks receiving multiple severance packages when moving between different government agencies, prohibited sole source contracts with any exceptions being made public, strengthened conflict of interest rules, begun the process of repealing and amending the Redford/Stelmach property rights legislation, added parental rights to the Alberta Bill of Rights, and ended the new license plate debacle. The man even furnishes his own office with his own money and has made no severance and donation of their government pensions to charity a condition of service for 2 former federal MPs working to open new oil markets. Now obviously, there is much more for him to prove and do, but for me he has shown he is absolutely serious about running a clean, competent and fiscally conservative government and I want to be a part of it. Obviously many in Alberta and in my own constituency feel confused and even disappointed by my decision to rejoin the PC Party. Many supporters of the Wildrose Party feel the same. I understand those feelings and dont resent it one bit. And within the next year or so, my constituents and likely all Albertans will pass judgment on these decisions as is their right and responsibility. But I want to ask all Wildrose supporters and former conservative PC supporters across this province a few simple questions. Does it make sense for conservatives to fight with one another when we are both working to implement essentially the same policies? Does it make sense to split the vote as they did federally for so long and permit left wing parties and their policies to grow and succeed because conservatives are busy beating each other senseless because of past disagreements? Does it make sense for me, Daniel Andersonlle Smith and other former Wildrose MLAs to oppose and fight a Premier who has personally invited us to implement the very policies we are advocating for, especially during a time of great economic uncertainty where fiscally conservative principles are needed more than ever? I am proud of my time spent as a Wildrose MLA. I feel the hundreds of thousands of Wildrose supporters, volunteers and voters played an essential and pivotal role in putting Albertas government back on track. You have all done a wonderful job and should be exceptionally proud of your accomplishments! But I must ask, why do we elect MLAs? To put on a partisan jersey and fight partisan battles for some kind of entertainment? I sure dont think so. We elect MLAs to fight to see a set of principles and policies be implemented in government for the benefit of our province and communities. For many years I felt the best way to fight for these policies and principles was under the Wildrose banner. But Jim Prentice has changed that. He is the right leader in the right place for the right time and I am going to spend the remainder of my career in politics (however short or long) to help him implement the very principles and ideas I feel Alberta is so desperately in need of. I hope all conservatives (both Wildrose and other former PCs) will unite with us to make this happen. As always, feel free to email, Facebook or call me and I will endeavor to return every message personally. But please keep it civil and without personal attacks. Its an exciting time to be a conservative in Alberta. I hope you’ll join with the Premier, my MLA colleagues and me in making Alberta all we know it can become. Below is the agreed to principles and policies document outlined above, that the Premier agreed to as part of our decision to join his caucus: • MLA-driven review of existing property rights legislation including recommendations for improvement • Development of a public prioritized infrastructure list for major capital projects and maintenance • Commitment to running the most ethical and transparent government in Canada • Free votes for private members’ bills, private members’ motions and government bills dealing with issues of personal conscience • Commitment to a caucus briefing, debate and vote on all proposed government legislation and major spending initiatives prior to their public announcement. Health Care • Strengthen health care decision making at the local level • A commitment to increasing patient choice in health care within the auspices of the Canada Health Act • Development of a plan to make our health care system fiscally sustainable given the changing demographics of our population Education • A commitment to addressing Alberta’s school shortage and maintenance backlog • Ensure each school board is using a grading system that is easy for parents to understand and objectively grades a student’s skills and knowledge of the provincial curriculum • A commitment to the basics of reading, writing and mathematics in the provincial curriculum • An ongoing commitment to protecting the rights of parents in making informed choices pertaining to their child’s education Budget and Finances • Development of a new multi-year fiscal plan based on fiscal conservative principles to maintain Alberta’s triple A credit rating, that will balance the budget, bring an end to debt financing, including for capital, and pay off the provincial debt • Protect and strengthen the Heritage Fund as a means to reduce reliance on non-renewable resource revenues • Limit operational cost increases to the rate of inflation plus population • A commitment to not implementing provincial sales tax and keeping Alberta’s income and business taxes the lowest in Canada Environment & Energy • Developing an aggressive strategy to promote more consumer use and adoption of cleaner burning fuels and alternative energy sources such as domestically produced natural gas, solar, wind and geothermal power • Strengthening the effective monitoring of our province’s air, water and land quality and a commitment to keeping our province’s environment clean • Maximize the value of our natural resources by expanding access and pipeline capacity to multiple international and domestic markets • Ensure that our tax and royalty regimes continue to be attractive to investment when compared with other competing jurisdictions, and work to decrease unnecessary red tape Municipal Financing • Develop a stable and predictable municipal funding model • Streamline and consolidate the various municipal granting programs to achieve less provincial and municipal red tape
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 21:38:48 +0000
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