Scott Cyr’s Message: November 1st

Today is November 1^st and its Former Premier Ralph Klein’s birthday.

A man who put his mark on Alberta.  For those who lived in Alberta through the Klein years they either held an intense love or hate for him.  We all knew him as “Ralph” and he drove those feelings by telling us what he truly believed.

Klein had the ability to connect with Albertans on an unprecedented level.

Whether you agreed with him or not you knew where he sat on a topic and more importantly, how he was going to get there.  When he made a mistake he would say it and do a U-turn.  He was clear that he wasn’t perfect and was sure to let everyone know it. This is why he was respected by most if not all Albertans.

“None of these people owe me anything, but I owe them a lot.” – Klein on Albertans

Klein was committed to conservative values to the core.

In 2004 he announced the elimination of the province’s debt.  When Alberta went off the rails with our spending we needed a vision to ensure that the next generation didn’t end up paying for us to keep the lights on.  It is irresponsible to transfer our lack of spending restraint onto our children.

 “There is a simple philosophy, you can’t spend more than you earn.  So we exerted tough love, we didn’t have an earning problem, we had a spending problem.” – Klein on conservatism.

Klein understood that Alberta’s life blood rested with the success of our business community.

In 1992, when Klein took office, Alberta’s unemployment rate was 9.5% and it was dropped to 3.4% by the time he left in 2006.  That is his true success story.  Ralph understood that prosperity for Alberta revolved around jobs.  Albertans working is good for Alberta plain and simple.  If we have jobs we have a higher standard of living and we pay taxes.  This was a win – win for every single Albertan whether you were a civil servant or a blue collar worker.

 “This is a province rich in blessings and hope.  The best is yet to come!” – Klein on our economy.

Klein as our premier brought years of stable government.

He held faith in Albertans knowing best.  With that in mind it is the voters that were in the driver’s seat.  When this happens we strike a balance of what is in the best interest for them, their children and their grandchildren.  He listened and we prospered.  In his time we knew that we were living beyond our means and even though it was tough we knew that Alberta should change direction.  No, we needed to change direction.  He put forward the direction change we demanded so that we could shine once again and be the number one province in the country.

 “There’s an old saying in politics: anyone dumb enough to run for the job probably is too stupid to have it.” – Klein on being premier.

Klein understood that you have to fight for Alberta if you want our province to move forward.

Not every decision will lead to friends.  In order to move forward you need to show that you actually believe in something.  People are tired of hearing what politicians think you want to hear.  They want to know what you believe and they might not agree but least at they know where you stand.  “It’s not physically bloody, but it’s bloody.” – Klein on politics.

When you look at what Ralph Klein accomplished in Alberta you will see that conservative values were the root of our success.  This success was due to government connecting with Albertans, low taxes, support for our small businesses and stable government.  In 2015, Albertans voted out the past government to punish them for no longer being the voice of the people.  We saw entitlements, out-of-control spending and no accountability.

The only thing that is different between the past government and the NDP is that we are galloping towards full, unadulterated socialism.  As we continue to attack and demonize our business community we will continue to see mass unemployment grow, even higher taxes and more unsustainable long-term social support programs.

We as Albertans understand that there are those in our province in need and as a conservative we want to give them a helping a helping hand with their current struggle.  But what we don’t want is for them to become dependent on government.  It isn’t good for them or the province to have their entire existence revolving around government handouts.  Once that happens we have empowered the government not the people.

This is wrong.

It goes contrary to everything that our former Premier Ralph Klein strived for in Alberta.  He believed in empowering Albertans so that they were in control of their own lives, not be at the mercy of the government.  As your elected MLA I am committed to continuing with Klein’s vision of empowering Albertans and with the help of my Wildrose colleagues in Edmonton we will fight to defend this riding and bring back stable government.

On Saturday, November 5 there will be a peaceful ‘Alberta Wide Rally’.  Local people in Bonnyville – Cold Lake want to know what they can do.  Well, let’s start with sending a message to the NDP by going to this rally.  The message I would like to send the NDP is that we as Albertans run this province, not the socialists who they hired and brought in from outside of Alberta.

Please join me in Edmonton at the Legislature grounds from 12pm to 1pm and let’s add our voices together to bring hope back to Alberta. – Scott Cyr