NEWS RELEASE

NDP promises keep adding up

EDMONTON The NDP platform would increase Albertas dependency on oil and
gas revenue, costing taxpayers an additional $22 billion over five years with no
plan to restrain government spending and no plan to contribute to the Heritage
Savings Trust Fund. With more spending as the only NDP solution, Albertans
wont see a balanced budget any time soon.

The cost of expensive NDP promises just keeps adding up for Albertans and is
unrealistic in this economic environment. They have failed to include the real cost
of growth pressures to health care, which alone amounts to $6.6 billion in
miscalculated costs. Under these circumstances, the only way to balance the
provincial budget would be to break promises to Albertans.
- Stephen Mandel

In addition to the over $6.6 billion in health care miscalculations, the NDP
platform doesnt account for promises to reduce classroom size, providing
programs like full-day kindergarten or subsidized day care. This means $10.1
billion in spending commitments that are not fully costed, making deficit budgets
a certainty long into the future. In fact, the NDP accumulated 5-year deficit will
actually total $20.5 billion.

Its clear that the NDP has no plan to get Alberta off the boom and bust cycle,
and in fact, would make us more dependent on oil and gas revenue to pay for
government spending, said Mandel. This platform neglects any notion of
savings and puts Albertas future at risk.
-301