Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolven
Off the top of my head, the biggest thing is the NDP prioritization of people/workers over corporations and billionaires.
Rural areas are largely made up of lower income people / workers and have very few billionaires. Most corporations acting in rural areas are doing so at the expense of the locals, either by buying up their land or driving them out of business.
If you look at the proposed tax breaks from the 3 parties in the last election: - The NDP cut taxes primarily from the poorest and middle brackets (and increased taxes on the rich)
- The Liberals proposed a spread of tax cuts that benefited rich people more than poor but it was better than the Conservative plan
- The Conservatives proposed tax cuts that primarily benefited people making 7+ figures (trickle down economics) and their cuts were so dramatic that many people questioned how they were going to pay for anything
The Liberals and Conservatives are both looking at cutting government services that rural people use / rely on. The conservatives have talked about eliminating CBC and Canada Post, both of which would impact rural people the hardest as they have the fewest (or none) alternatives.
On the other hand, the NDP proposed expanding EI, protecting universal health care, dental care, pharma, CBC, Canada Post, etc.
Considering most rural people make less money and need more help accessing services, it blows my mind that so many of them support a party that sacrifice them on the alter of money.
Also, how the parties interact with worker unions. Both the Liberals and Conservatives are fast to try and smash unions and break strikes in order to appease the corporations. Just look at the most recent Air Canada strike, the Liberals were lightning fast to issue a back to work order. The NDP are backed by unions and are unlikely to abuse government powers to force a union back to work on behalf of the corporation.
Now, the NDP are not perfect. They are starting to act a bit too much like Liberal-lite instead of doubling down on being the party of the people. |
I think think what matters the most to rural Albertans, and this is a heavy generalization, is jobs. While I think the items you've mentioned (health care, dental care, pharma, CBC, Canada Post) are not insignificant, they pale in comparison.
Rural jobs consist primarily of agriculture, oil & gas, and the trades that support those industries.
People can say that these people are "own the libs" uneducated dipsh-ts, but rightly or wrongly, they identify the Conservatives as the only party that is taking their most important concern seriously.