EDMONTON – Alberta’s NDP says Premier Alison Redford’s budget has broken so many of promises, that the party needs a Top 10 list just to highlight the biggest ones.
The NDP says its list includes no extra funding for municipalities as promised and a failure to introduce fast-track emergency rooms in hospitals.
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The New Democrats note the government didn’t follow through on $18 million for a grant program for aboriginal and rural students, didn’t meet a promised two per cent funding hike for schools and slashed operating grants for post-secondary institutions by almost seven per cent.
There’s no full-day kindergarten and no dedicated funding for multi-year programs to end poverty.
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Topping the list, the NDP says, is Redford’s 2012 election promise to balance this year’s budget while not hiking taxes and not cutting services.
The government didn’t introduce any new taxes, but is running up $6.3 billion in red ink to fund day-to-day spending and build infrastructure.
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