Quote:
Originally Posted by Tron_fdc
I don't get the "I miss Ralph" thing.
He stripped the public sector, privatized everything he could get his hands on, and basically mortgaged our infrastructure to help balance the budget. When he had more cash available in the budget, instead of using it to invest in the province he paid out a bunch of useless Ralph Bucks.
He threw change at the homeless and coined "shoot, shovel and shut up" though, which I guess made him endearing to some?
Not an attack on you TOTF, but Ralph did a lot of things that bent this province over long term. People gloss over that because he balanced the budget at $30 oil, and more importantly $5-$8 gas.
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Not taking it as an attack. This is a good discussion.
It is all about perspective. The things that Ralph did and the values he stood for are the things that
I believe in.
Having a low tax, small government environment is of up most importance to me.
I don't mind a longer wait in the waiting room, or a class size of 28-30 if it means keeping our taxes low.
My position is this way because I don't trust government to do anything. I working in Engineering and before my O&G days I did a lot of work with Alberta Infrastructure and Infrastructure Ontario and I could spend all day telling you how your tax dollars are completely wasted.
That doesn't mean I don't believe in Infrastructure. I want the green line, I want Calgary Next. It just has to be paid for and done in steps.
Again, its all about perspective. You say he did things that bent things over the long term, in my view he fixed the province and made it the best jurisdiction in North America and all that hard work has been undone in the last 11 years.
Unfortunately for me the people that share my opinion are literally dying off. New Albertans (in my view) are not taking lessons from the past and are copying the mistakes that other Provinces have made like Ontario.
I lived there for 3 years. Where does all that tax money go? Next time you guys are in Toronto and drive down the Gardiner take a look at the ####ty condition of that road, or go see the spot where Lakeshore goes under the Gardiner outside of the ACC. I looks like the Greek ruins.