Alberta
Andew Clews challenging Education Minister Adriana LaGrange for Red Deer North UCP Nomination
Submitted by Andrew Clews
Hello, my name is Andrew Clews. I wanted to share with you who I am, my values, what motivates me, and why I am running for the United Conservative Party nomination for the Red Deer North constituency.
The most important thing in my life is my faith in God. I am not perfect. I need grace, and I know that God’s grace has saved me from my sins. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. As a follower of Jesus, I am called to live by truth. I am telling you these things, not to evangelize to you, but to let you know where I am coming from, and what values motivate me.
Because my faith requires that I live by truth, I find my values increasingly in conflict with a society built on lies.
As I write this, I can tell you, this is not what I had planned for my life. I have a great career and a beautiful family. I had never given much thought to running in provincial politics, but in 2021 as the Delta wave was hitting Alberta, and vaccine mandates were put in place municipally, provincially, federally, and at our places of work, I found myself in a position of leadership in the freedom community.
I remember quite clearly having two conversations that have changed my life forever. These conversations were almost identical.
I was speaking to a friend and industry colleague over the phone. I was asking him about these vaccine mandates, and he told me that he was not vaccinated, didn’t want to get vaccinated, but he didn’t have much choice, and was probably going to be forced to get it. We talked for a little while, and I told him that when you are faced with a problem that you feel has but one choice, there is usually a better option out there, you just need to find it. At the end of the conversation, I
heard relief in his voice, he thanked me for letting him know that he was not alone, and he said he would hold off on getting the vaccine.
The next day I had another conversation almost identical with a co-worker of mine. Same result. He and his family were going to hold off.
I realized at that moment that there were so many people out there who felt alone, and all we needed to do was find them, and give them support and encouragement.
This was the genesis of a community that I co-founded called Hold the Line.
By building Hold The Line from a core group of 5 members, to a community of over 1,000 Central Alberta citizens, I learned what leadership was. Leadership meant talking to a lot of people, reminding them that they are not alone, and giving them the support they needed to avoid violating their conscience.
My time with Hold The Line also taught me a lot about our province’s education system. Listening to the members of our community, I realized that our public school system increasingly does not represent the values of Albertan families. Parents are concerned about delays in their children’s development, both academically and socially because of school closures, masking, and restrictions on play. Kids need play, and our government took that from them.
Worst of all, what is happening to our children’s mental health is completely unacceptable. I was speaking to a friend the other day, and he was telling me heartbreaking stories of childhood depression and suicide within his community.
Some school boards are even hiring additional counselors because of the mental health crisis facing our kids.
We were told that if the lockdowns saved just one life, they would be worth it. Someone should have stopped to consider the completely foreseeable consequences of these lockdowns. We are seeing them now, and we will be dealing with the aftermath for a generation.
Our province has suffered greatly due to a lack of leadership in the Alberta Legislature. We as Albertans elect smooth talking career politicians, with great talking points. The problem is these career politicians don’t have the courage and leadership to follow through and do what they promised.
What I have learned through the last two years of lockdowns and vaccine mandates is that I do have the leadership and courage to speak truth, and follow through with my promises. I have done it, and I did it when the world was against me.
My Policy:
Alberta First
I will put Alberta first. Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa is at an all-time low. Over the last thirty years, we have transferred over $600 billion to Ottawa, Trudeau’s climate policy has increased the cost of living for everyday Albertans, and he has abused the use of Canada’s Emergency Act.
Various candidates running to be our next premier have proposed their plans to bolster Alberta’s sovereignty within Canada. As your MLA, I will work with our next premier to restore Alberta’s sovereignty and put Alberta First.
School Choice
The current school funding model has given the public school system a monopoly on our children’s education. For some parents, the public school system aligns with their values. For others, it does not.
Parents deserve to have their children educated in an environment that aligns with their values. My vision for education in Alberta is for school funding to follow your child, whether they enroll in public, private, home school, or even learning pods.
Protection of Rights
We need representatives in the legislature who will stand up for the rights of Albertans. I believe the following steps must immediately be taken to restore the rights guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
– Reform the Public Health Act to limit the power of the Chief Medical Health Officer
– Implement a public education campaign with the purpose of educating our society in the Canadian Charter. A self-goverend people who do not understand their rights are sure to lose them.
For my full policy, please visit my website: www.andrewclews.ca
The Nomination Election
The nomination election for the UCP Red Deer North constituency has been scheduled for:
– August 18, 2022
– 11:00am-8:00pm
– The Pines Community Hall
– 141 Pamely Avenue
To be eligible to vote, you must be a UCP member of Red Deer North for 21 consecutive days prior to the vote, and have photo ID to verify your address.
From the Fraser Institute
By Spencer Gudewill and Tegan Hill
Last November, Premier Danielle Smith announced that her government will give up to $1.8 billion in subsidies to Dow Chemicals, which plans to expand a petrochemical project northeast of Edmonton. In other words, $1.8 billion in corporate welfare.
And this is just one example of corporate welfare paid for by Albertans.
According to a recent study published by the Fraser Institute, from 2007 to 2021, the latest year of available data, the Alberta government spent $31.0 billion (inflation-adjusted) on subsidies (a.k.a. corporate welfare) to select firms and businesses, purportedly to help Albertans. And this number excludes other forms of government handouts such as loan guarantees, direct investment and regulatory or tax privileges for particular firms and industries. So the total cost of corporate welfare in Alberta is likely much higher.
Why should Albertans care?
First off, there’s little evidence that corporate welfare generates widespread economic growth or jobs. In fact, evidence suggests the contrary—that subsidies result in a net loss to the economy by shifting resources to less productive sectors or locations (what economists call the “substitution effect”) and/or by keeping businesses alive that are otherwise economically unviable (i.e. “zombie companies”). This misallocation of resources leads to a less efficient, less productive and less prosperous Alberta.
And there are other costs to corporate welfare.
For example, between 2007 and 2019 (the latest year of pre-COVID data), every year on average the Alberta government spent 35 cents (out of every dollar of business income tax revenue it collected) on corporate welfare. Given that workers bear the burden of more than half of any business income tax indirectly through lower wages, if the government reduced business income taxes rather than spend money on corporate welfare, workers could benefit.
Moreover, Premier Smith failed in last month’s provincial budget to provide promised personal income tax relief and create a lower tax bracket for incomes below $60,000 to provide $760 in annual savings for Albertans (on average). But in 2019, after adjusting for inflation, the Alberta government spent $2.4 billion on corporate welfare—equivalent to $1,034 per tax filer. Clearly, instead of subsidizing select businesses, the Smith government could have kept its promise to lower personal income taxes.
Finally, there’s the Heritage Fund, which the Alberta government created almost 50 years ago to save a share of the province’s resource wealth for the future.
In her 2024 budget, Premier Smith earmarked $2.0 billion for the Heritage Fund this fiscal year—almost the exact amount spent on corporate welfare each year (on average) between 2007 and 2019. Put another way, the Alberta government could save twice as much in the Heritage Fund in 2024/25 if it ended corporate welfare, which would help Premier Smith keep her promise to build up the Heritage Fund to between $250 billion and $400 billion by 2050.
By eliminating corporate welfare, the Smith government can create fiscal room to reduce personal and business income taxes, or save more in the Heritage Fund. Any of these options will benefit Albertans far more than wasteful billion-dollar subsidies to favoured firms.
Authors:
Alberta
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