Editorial
Economy must be a top issue in upcoming election
With the next provincial election now only a couple of months away ñ under new legislation, the vote must happen by the end of May ñ the PCs, Wildrose, Liberals, NDs and other parties are already gearing up their respective political machines for the coming race.
And while there are plenty of issues facing voters and politicians in 2012, including Alberta's new drunk driving rules and the ongoing infrastructure funding fight between municipalities and the province, the economy and plans to manage it over the coming months could very well end up trumping all other issues.
With virtually every man, woman and child in Alberta impacted daily by the financial well-being of this province, voters will certainly want to know where the candidates stand on the economic front.
And with the national economy remaining less than robust, those economic questions won't be easy to answer.
According to a recent report by the Bank of Canada, many Canadians are concerned and in some cases worried about the state of the economy over the next months.
The report is based on the central bank's survey of senior management at 100 representative firms. It shows that confidence is well off post-recession highs across the broad range of issues, including sales expectations, investment, hiring intention and the ability of businesses to pass on costs to consumers.
Particularly troublesome are findings that for the first time in almost three years, more firms expect sales growth to slow rather than increase over the next 12 months.
ìOverall, the weak U.S. economic outlook, concerns about adverse effects from the situation in Europe and an expected slowing in household spending were among the factors dampening sales prospects,î the bank report states.
Despite efforts to diversify the province's economy over the past number of years, Alberta continues to rely heavily on resource extraction and export, meaning the province, in turn, remains firmly tied to the health and well-being of the wider national and world economy.
In the coming Alberta election, the various parties will, of course, focus some of their attentions on issues such as health and education funding, and crime and punishment legislation.
Yet the party that can best provide concrete plans to deal with the economy ñ and in particular what can and will be done to shield Alberta families and businesses should the economy take a turn for the worse in the coming months ñ may find itself on the right track with voters, including those in West Central Alberta.
On the other hand, any party that ignores the economy as a key election issue will do so at its peril.
