Dave Yadallee's personal blog

From Dr. David Swann



Yesterday in Lethbridge I released the Liberal plan to help seniors stay in

their homes, put money in their pockets, and keep them healthy and active.





Without access to quality home care and community supports many seniors turn to

hospital emergency rooms for treatment and end up staying in acute care beds

for extended periods of time.



The Liberal solution: Prevent hospitalizations and institutional care. Boost

funding for home care and community support initiatives by $75 million so more

seniors can live independently and stay in their own homes.



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Hundreds of seniors are needlessly occupying acute care beds due to a lack of

long-term care spaces. This leads to substandard care for seniors and causes

delays in surgical, emergency and EMS wait times.



The solution: Alberta Liberals will invest $50 million to build and operate new

publicly funded and publicly delivered long-term care spaces.



The PCs eliminated the Education Property Tax Assistance Grant in 2013 -- a

program that once provided upwards of $20 million in tax relief to seniors.



The Liberal solution: Reinstate and increase the Education Property Tax

Assistance Grant to $25 million to put money back into the pockets of seniors.

Seniors need access to fitness facilities, but they are expensive. Many cannot

afford them.



Our solution: Alberta Liberals will invest $5 million in a seniors' fitness tax

credit to encourage seniors to be active and healthy.



Seniors have built this great province, and we are going to be there for them.

The Liberal plan will help couples stay together and receive the supports they

need to live their lives with dignity. When vulnerable seniors require

long-term care, our government has an obligation to provide high quality,

non-profit care. 



Many seniors cannot afford the taxes on their homes. Reinstating the Education

Property Tax Assistance Grant helps them pay the bills. Furthermore, the vast

majority of seniors live healthy, active lives, and a fitness tax credit will

help them continue to do just that.

Yesterday I announced a comprehensive K-12 education policy.



Our plan will build schools as community hubs, hire 1500 teachers and support

staff to reduce class sizes, and phase out schools fees to save parents money.

The problem: Alberta is a growing province with many young families living in

new suburbs; however, a severe shortage of new schools exists in these new

neighbourhoods.



The solution is simple: build the schools as community hubs with the input of

school boards and local municipalities where the children live. School boards

in Alberta have their priority lists, and an Alberta Liberal government would

commit to building the schools on the lists. 



The problem: Due to chronic underfunding of schools by the PC government,

schools are often forced to charge parents excessive fees that run from $300 to

$1,000 a year, including transportation costs. This is, in effect, a tax on

parents.  



The solution: With an Alberta Liberal government, school fees will be reduced

and eventually eliminated. The Alberta Liberals were the first party to demand

an end to school fees, and have repeatedly asked the PC government to ban

additional fees for almost a decade. The Alberta Liberals will invest $50

million this year to phase out school fees.



The problem: An additional 12,000 students are expected to enter Alberta's

school system this year. The Prentice government's budget calls for no new

teachers to be hired. The consequence of more students and no new teachers is

larger class sizes.



Solution: We would invest an extra $100 million to hire nearly 1500 teachers and

support staff to reduce class sizes. It is important not only to build new

schools, we must also staff them.



I believe that education is the best investment society can make, not a cost to

be cut. It's time to take the burden off families by increasing funding for

education in order to eliminate school fees.



The future of our province depends on supporting Alberta families and educating

our children.



There are seven days left in the election campaign.