EDMONTON, AB: Wildrose Shadow Economic Development & Trade Minister Prasad Panda demanded Premier Rachel Notley to publicly disclose if any taxpayer dollars were spent on a highly partisan speech in Ontario for a union with close ties to her office.
The speech was delivered one day after Albertans received a devastating fiscal update that showed Alberta is facing the worst recession since the National Energy Program and the largest deficit in our history.
“It’s important for an Alberta premier to advocate for Alberta’s industries and new markets, but instead, Premier Notley went to Ontario to brag to her union friends about the investment chilling lawsuit her government filed against Alberta power producers and to thank her union friends for helping her win an election,” Panda said. “If taxpayers paid even a dime for the premier to craft and deliver that message, they deserve to know.”
Panda said what Albertans want to hear from their government is a plan to start reducing the deficit and get our economy back on track, not election rally speeches to big unions.
“Premier Notley should clarify what government resources went toward making this clearly partisan and frankly economically damaging speech,” Panda said. “She should remember she’s the one that’s been running the government for the past 15 months, not the opposition.”