Hugh MacDonald Has A Plan for Municipalities, Lethbridge Herald, Jamie Woodford

The Lethbridge Herald
City, Friday, July 15, 2011, p. A3

Liberal has a plan for municipalities

Hugh MacDonald wants to make the Liberals competitive again.

"We would like to organize our party better so that we can compete in the provincial election," he said.

The Liberal leadership contender was in Lethbridge Thursday for a public meet and greet to share his ideas on how to rival the long standing Conservatives.

One of the main platforms on his campaign is a policy alternative to the current municipal sustainability fund that would "give municipalities more control over the taxes that are raised in their respective jurisdictions," he said.

"At the moment there is $1.7 billion collected across the province in education property taxes, and we would like to see that property tax requisition go to the municipalities," explained MacDonald. "In other words, we will fund public education for both separate and public school boards completely through the general revenue fund, just as we do now for private, charter and francophone schools."

He said as much as 30 per cent of one's property taxes may be slated for education, which goes into a pool for students provincewide.

"What I'm proposing is that we leave that money that's collected by the City of Lethbridge in the city of Lethbridge," he said, adding the municipal sustainability initiative would be eliminated.

"(It's) a good program, but it has strings attached," he said. "A city shouldn't have to rely on the relationship with the premier's office or the minister of municipal affairs to get municipal funding or grants."

In 2010 Lethbridge received $15.5 million from the municipal sustainability fund.

Under MacDonald's proposed policy alternative, the City of Lethbridge would keep the education portion of property taxes, therefore receiving $26 million.

"Over a 10-year period, that would mean your mayor and council would have stable, predictable municipal funding in the range of $260 million," MacDonald said.

He acknowledged some municipalities and school boards might not like the idea, but argued the time has come to "show more respect and provide more autonomy to municipalities big and small."

"This is one way of doing it," he said. "You get the money, you spend it, and you're accountable to your taxpayers, your citizens."

He said all other provincial grants programs would remain as they are.

MacDonald said he feels his role as an opposition member has given him the necessary experience to run the party.

"I've have shown over the years an ability to keep the government on their toes and keep them accountable to the taxpayers," he said. "To ensure that the government of the day, the government that the citizens select, is accountable. And I have done that, I think, quite effectively."

As MLA for the Edmonton-Gold Bar riding for the last 14 years, MacDonald said he never ran for leadership in the past because of his family.

"We have a young family, but our family is growing up and moving out, and if I'm elected I will have the time, hopefully, to organize our party and lead it into the election," he said. "In life you get lots of chances to do many different things, but you only get one chance to raise a family."

MacDonald is one of five contenders in the race for leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party, running alongside Edmonton MLAs Laurie Blakeman and Raj Sherman, and Calgary's Bruce Payne and Bill Harvey.

The new leader will be chosen in September.

© 2011 The Lethbridge Herald. All rights reserved.

HUGH'S POLICY

  PUBLIC HEALTH CARE

Hugh believes there needs to be more accountability and fairness in the health care system of our province.

He will continue to support a strong, publicly-funded and publicly-delivered health care system.   In order to begin to resolve the many issues we face in the health care system, he would propose several measures.

He would establish a system of 5 health regions and 2 independent boards, the Alberta Cancer Board and the Alberta Mental Health Board.  After several years of centralization, it is apparent that our present structure does not work to provide the health services which  Albertans desire and require.

He would like to expand the public delivery of continuing care services rather than depending on private operators to fill the need that clearly exists for Alberta seniors.  He would also ensure that the nursing home standards in this province are appropriate and rigorously enforced by implementing random independent inspections of all nursing homes.

ENVIRONMENT

On the environment, we must take action to ensure clean air and water for future generations.  Hugh says that polluters must pay, not taxpayers.

PROPERTY RIGHTS

The centralizing trend we have seen in health care under the present government is also apparent with respect to Property Rights.  Hugh would repeal Bills 19, 36 and 50.

Hugh has raised concerns in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta over Bill 19 which became law in May 2009 as The Land Assembly Project Area Act.  While this Act seems harmless and benign on the surface, it is flawed.  The government has consistently bungled the management of its relationship with private land owners.  It never widely consulted with citizens of Alberta before introducing this legislation which may not provide proper compensation for acquiring land. Hugh challenged the government on its process.

Hugh has also challenged the government on Bill 36 and Bill 50. Bill 50 would see the building of $14 billion in transmission lines for the sale of electricity to the United States.  This Bill became law in October 2009. The government justifies placing the whole burden of the cost of these transmission lines on the Alberta taxpayer by claiming these lines are necessary to keep the lights on in Alberta!  The truth was revealed in a leaked cable between the American Ambassador to Canada and Murray Smith, Alberta’s minister of energy who later became our representative in Washington.  In May of this year, Hugh stated frankly that “it's clear… the provincial Tory government has for years been promoting electricity exports to the U.S.” but needed additional transmission lines to make it happen.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

We must nurture the young through education. The greatest natural resource we have in Alberta is our people. Yet, this very resource is being put into jeopardy by the present government which is not ensuring that our children receive the best education possible.

In its February budget, the present government set education spending at $6.2 billion, a sum covering the provincially negotiated wage increase of 4.5% for teachers.  However, it did not cover increases in costs of programs that are more costly this year than last because of the increase in inflation.   The government attempted to blame the teachers for cuts in educational programs by accepting a wage increase the government itself negotiated.  All of these cuts in education and particularly, cuts to programs and teachers, could be prevented by an additional $100 million.

What is worse, the government has now announced that next year’s deficit will be $1.3 billion lower than anticipated.  Why not take $100 million from this unexpected money and give it to school boards to preserve the educational system we have?  The government refuses to consider this option, yet it gave $1 billion more to the fossil fuel sector for drilling stimulus initiatives. 

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS

The government is equally misguided with respect to its policies regarding municipal governments.  We need to provide stable, long-term funding for municipalities to create efficient local planning.  

The Municipal Sustainability Initiative is one way we currently fund municipalities.  Originally, it was intended as a ten year, $11.3 billion program.  Yet, in the first 5 years of this 10 year program, less than one third of the money has been received by municipalities.   In addition, this money has fluctuated from year to year, thus making long-term planning difficult.  Such funding is always welcome, but ask the question:  Is there a better way to provide stable, predictable funding to municipalities?

In Hugh’s view, there is!

Municipalities are funded in part through the “Property Tax Rate”.  This year, approximately $1.6 billion was collected for educational purposes as part of our “Property Tax” throughout the whole province.

Hugh proposes that the $1.6 billion collected through the educational portion of property taxes remain with the municipalities which collect it. This stable and predictable source of revenue would allow mayors and councillors to plan well ahead. This source of funding is important for towns, cities and municipalities since there are no political strings attached and local citizens will be making the decisions regarding the  projects on which to spend this infrastructure money.

Hugh insists that other municipal grant programs such as Transportation grants, the Gas Tax Fund, Green Trip and Sustainable Investment Funding for smaller communities would all remain in place. 

In allowing municipalities to keep the school tax portion of their property taxes, Hugh would fund education from K to grade 12 from General Revenues while maintaining the constitutional rights of both Public and Separate School Boards to tax.  The decision to impose new taxes and the reason for them would be the prerogative of the local citizens through their school boards.

There is much to do in this province.  Hugh dedicates himself to working with you and other Albertans in creating a fiscally sound, but more caring community in which to live and raise our families.

THE PARTY’S NOT OVER! 

JOIN THE MACDONALD DRIVE

For more information visit Hugh’s website at  www.votehugh.ca

Campaign Office:  1066 Capilano Mall

Telephone:  780-757-2787 or 780-566-7575

 

Why should you support Hugh MacDonald for Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party?

  HUGH POSSESSES HONESTY AND INTEGRITY

Over his 14 years as MLA for Edmonton-Gold Bar, Hugh has earned high marks for his honest and direct approach.  People know where Hugh stands on issues. He will be clear, concise and consistent in his responses, wherever he happens to be in this province.

HUGH IS AN ALBERTA LIBERAL

Hugh has never wavered from his political roots.  He is proud of his Party’s heritage and identity.  People respect him for this fact.  Hugh has been elected 4 times in a riding which has been Liberal for 25 years.

HUGH IS A GRASSROOTS POLITICIAN

One of Hugh’s greatest strengths is his ability to connect with Albertans, from all walks of life.  He is comfortable at a Boardroom table, as well as at a Coffee Shop.  He will engage and inspire people to greater possibilities in a way which respects individuality and diversity.  Hugh will build the Alberta Liberal Party from the constituency up.  He promises that all members will be treated equally and with respect.

HUGH KNOWS OF WHAT HE SPEAKS

Hugh MacDonald knows this province. He has served as Opposition critic of many ministries, including his current position as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee.  There is no harder nor more diligent worker than Hugh.  In 14 years as MLA for Edmonton-Gold Bar, he has not missed one day of work.  Over the years, Hugh and his Alberta Liberal colleagues have proposed positive amendments to government legislation, many of which the government accepted.  For example, the current Stability Fund was a Liberal idea which the present Government wisely adopted.  Without it, the province would now be in desperate financial straits.  

HUGH’S POLITICAL APPROACH

As an Alberta Liberal, Hugh believes in robust free enterprise, but with a conscience.  He believes there is an activist role for Government in enhancing the lives of its citizens and in assuring equality of opportunity for all, irrespective of the size of one’s wallet.  Hugh believes in balancing the books and not spending the public’s money irresponsibly.  He is appalled by current Government waste and believes that, given our resource base, we should be in a much better fiscal situation, thereby ensuring our capacity to sustain necessary social programs such as healthcare, community support, public infrastructure, and education. For example, Hugh finds it deplorable that in Alberta we are increasing class size and laying off teachers.

HUGH HAS A CLEAR VISION

Hugh believes in this province and in the Alberta Liberal Party.  He has the energy and drive to inspire Albertans who want change.  He is clear on his vision for Alberta Liberals; build the Party from the ground up, recruit solid liberal candidates to be competitive and win more seats in the next election.

THE PARTY’S NOT OVER! 

JOIN THE MACDONALD DRIVE

For more information visit Hugh’s website at  www.votehugh.ca

Campaign Office:  1066 Capilano Mall

Telephone:  780-757-2787 or 780-566-7575

 

A Question of Loyalty and Being a Liberal

Macdonald questions former Tory’s loyalty

“When the AG speaks, the department should be listening,” MacDonald

CALGARY — Opposition critics are questioning the provincial Health Department’s sluggish response to calls by Alberta’s auditor general for tougher scrutiny of the $2.2 billion paid each year to doctors.

Despite repeated recommendations over the last decade by the fiscal watchdog, Alberta Health and Wellness said it only started two years ago using sophisticated software to detect physician fraud.

“When the AG speaks, the department should be listening,” Liberal finance critic Hugh MacDonald said.
Instead of spending $4.7 million a year on internal audits the public never sees, MacDonald says the government should give the money to the AG’s office so he can follow up sooner when bureaucrats and politicians ignore his advice.

After the auditor general’s 2006 demand that the department start using sophisticated software to search for inappropriate billing, officials took three years to create a 20-person compliance unit to do the work.
In the interim, a Calgary physician was charging for seeing up to 185 people a day and submitting claims for care to deceased patients, facts that only came to light because of public complaints to the professional body that disciplines doctors.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Alberta+Grits+question+Health+Department+slow+response+overbilling+doctors/5098802/story.html#ixzz1S5Lmvn84

Alberta Health faces $1 billion liability in 375 lawsuits By Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald

Liberal leadership candidate Hugh MacDonald said the government claimed the revenue from the increased fees would go toward improving services for seniors in long-term care, but that didn’t happen.

“It’s certainly a reflection of how poorly our health-care system is managed and how poorly policies are thought out,” he said. “They have forced seniors to pay hundreds of millions of dollars and they never stopped to think whether they had the authority to collect it or not.”

MacDonald said the number of lawsuits against Alberta Health is an indication a lot of people aren’t satisfied with how the system is run and they’re going to court for justice.

“When you have all these cases filed in court, that’s not an indication of public confidence,” he said.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Alberta+Health+faces+billion+liability+lawsuits/5081585/story.html#ixzz1RoemRjjQ

Thank You, Red Deer

It was wonderful to have discussed the issues with you at the Red Deer Lodge last Tuesday. Listening to you and your suggestions for the future of Alberta was invigorating for me and my campaign.


I look forward to seeing you at the Forum on July 31, and seeing the results of all of our hard work. 




Thank you for your generosity, positive spirit, and volunteerism.

Hugh MacDonald's Interview with Sunita Kaul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MG3l0m2HGo