Commentary by Naomi Rankin, leader of the Communist Party-Alberta
Visit the CP-Alberta election site at: www.communistparty-alberta.ca
It’s springtime and a whiff of change is in the air. For the first time in 44 years, the outcome of an Alberta provincial election is not a foregone conclusion. The Tory dynasty has survived in part by casting each new leader as a change, asking for and receiving a fresh start from the voters, setting aside the failed promises and accumulating scandals of the previous leader’s regime. Jim Prentice, recently elected as Tory leader and therefore premier, to replace the scandal-plagued Alison Redford, seems to have worn out his newness and freshness with remarkable speed. Some polls show the Tories behind the Wildrose and the surging NDP.
Of course, polls of decided voters don’t tell us what will be done by undecided voters. Loyal Conservatives who were polled may have claimed to support other parties as their only avenue to express frustration with their own party before finally voting as always. And a province gerrymandered to give disproportionate power to rural ridings, in addition to all the usual problems with the first-past-the-post system, could still give a substantial majority to the Conservatives even with a dwindling minority of the popular vote. An NDP sweep of Edmonton might be thwarted by the far-right Wildrose failing to run candidates in several key ridings, which could presumably give the combined Tory/Wildrose vote the majority.
Beyond the foggy crystal ball of polls, however, more voices across the political spectrum are raising the issue of the free ride the corporations have had in Alberta for many years. The idea of raising royalties and corporate taxes doesn’t sound so “Bolshie” anymore. If Conservative voters realize how profoundly weak their politicians are, how utterly they have caved to multinational dictat, they might in fact be in a mood to sweep them from power.
The Communist Party-Alberta has a program that focuses on eliminating poverty, through full employment and higher wages, on improving education and removing financial barriers, and a universally accessible quality child care system. Social services should be well funded, professionally delivered, and should be positive and preventive in nature.
Moreover, services should be provided by professionally trained workers who have job security and benefits and membership in unions. This implies stable, long term funding of services as an integral part of the provincial budget. In health care, education, culture, scientific research, housing, sports and many other sectors that involve provision of necessary services, the government should assume its long neglected role of providing funding from general revenues.
A major job of a government that really serves the interests of ordinary working people is to eliminate economic cycles. There is so much untapped wealth and unused potential in Alberta that a reasonable program of planned development would result in steadily increasing employment and prosperity for many years to come. Anyone can say that things should be better, but we propose to fund social services by increasing royalties and corporate taxes, so that it is not just wishful thinking.
The Communist Party also challenges the conventional frames of reference of the capitalist parties. We want to share part of our vision of socialism – a society where the major productive forces are under democratic public control and used for the benefit of society as a whole.
We imagine a society where those who strive to house the homeless can turn their energies to involvement in their own housing co-ops because there is no more homelessness; where those desperately seeking funding for medical research can instead work on keeping abreast of research and advising on the best use of government funding because there is ample money going to research; where those who combat adult illiteracy can turn their attention to running book reading clubs and drama groups because they will have solved the problem of adult illiteracy; where artists and sports enthusiasts are spending their time not in casinos but teaching kids and adults in publicly funded programs in every community.
All it will take is the political clarity and will to elect governments that are fighters for the working people, not the corporations.
Naomi Rankin is the Communist Party-Alberta candidate in Edmonton Mill Woods, along with Bonnie Devine in Calgary East. For the full Communist Party-Alberta platform and other information, visit www.communistparty-alberta.ca