EDMONTON, AB: The NDP must immediately come clean with Albertans on exactly how many jobs it estimates will be lost as a result of its latest attack on Alberta’s industry.
An internal government analysis revealed that costs associated with the Output-Based Allocation (OBA) system–an overlooked element of the NDP’s Climate Leadership Plan–alone are estimated to be approximately $1.3 billion per year, and that the two policies combined are anticipated to result in “greater employment loss than estimated impacts associated with the coal phase-out.”
“The details in this document are shocking and all Albertans, especially those employed in the oil and gas sector, should be deeply concerned about how these policies will impact our economy,” said UCP Opposition Leader Jason Nixon. “The fact that the Environment Minister is now disputing the government’s own internal analysis is a desperate attempt to avoid taking accountability for the devastating effects of another job-killing NDP policy. If what the Minister says is true, she will immediately share the government’s most up-to-date figures on estimated industry costs and job losses.”
The NDP’s Climate Leadership Plan has already killed tens of thousands of jobs, taken billions out of the pockets of hardworking Alberta families, and crippled our energy industry’s ability to compete in a global market.
“Let’s be clear: this document proves that the NDP have known all along that the impacts of their ideological policies would have devastating consequences for everyday Albertans and they went ahead with them anyway,” said UCP Energy Critic Prasad Panda. “Their own analysis shows that thousands more jobs will be lost across the province as a result of their actions. It’s beyond comprehension that this government is willing to destroy the lives of so many Albertans in pursuit of policies that have brought no real progress on pipelines and will have no impact on the environment.”
“The NDP plan has always been to systematically dismantle Alberta’s energy economy infavour of risky corporate welfare schemes,” said UCP Electricity and Renewables Critic Don MacIntyre. “The truth is that this government will stop at nothing to pursue its ideological agenda, even when presented with devastating facts from their own experts on the negative impact it will have on jobs. My heart breaks for the thousands of Albertans who may soon be out of a job as a result of NDP policy.”