EDMONTON, AB (July 23, 2015): The NDP government needs to explain why just three months after the election they are breaking one of their key campaign promises to scrap funding for present and future carbon capture projects (CCS), the Wildrose Official Opposition said today.
The NDP campaign platform promised to reallocate funding from the “discredited carbon capture project to higher priority projects,” such as transit, health care and education. Now Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd is not only keeping current CCS projects in place but has opened the door to funding new projects.
“It’s sad but true that the NDP are already on the path of breaking promises they made to Albertans on the campaign trail,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “The government needs to explain why they changed their policy on carbon capture. What Albertans do not need or deserve is a government that flip flops on issues that have an impact on Alberta’s environment and economy without detailed and transparent explanations.’’
Wildrose Shadow Finance Minister Derek Fildebrandt said the NDP need to show how they will plug the big funding gap now they have reversed themselves and will fund current and future CCS projects.
“This was the only expense the NDP promised to cut during the campaign. The minister needs to demonstrate where they will find hundreds of millions of dollars of extra funding promised for transit and health care,” Fildebrandt said. “Albertans deserve to know whether the NDP will break their funding promises, raise more taxes or run an even larger deficit.”