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Tuition fees as a share of university operating revenue roughly tripled in Alberta over the last 30 years. The AAB therefore proposes a five-year “phase-out” of tuition fees, starting with a 20-per-cent reduction in tuition fees for all post-secondary students for the upcoming year, including for international students.

One in five Alberta households has had someone unable to take prescribed medications in the past 12 months because of cost. The AAB therefore proposes a provincially funded, universal pharmacare program. After all, if you’re sick, you’re sick.

Finally, social assistance (i.e., welfare) caseloads have risen substantially since the start of the economic downturn. This is especially the case for single adults without dependents. The AAB would therefore increase funding for re-training of Albertans experiencing prolonged periods of unemployment. This would halt the flow of people onto social assistance and improve the likelihood of re-employment for those individuals.

Alberta still has, by far, the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio of any province, and our net debt-to-GDP ratio for 2018-19 is projected to be 6.5 per cent. The next lowest is British Columbia’s, which stands at 15.2 per cent. Ergo: there is no fiscal crisis in this province. Alberta does not have to cut social spending to preserve its long-term financial health.

Albertans are also taxed less than any residents of any other province. According to Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, if Alberta’s provincial government adopted a tax structure similar to the next lowest-taxed province in the country (British Columbia), Alberta would generate an additional $8.7 billion in annual revenue. Ergo: Albertans are not overtaxed, and there’s plenty of room to generate additional revenue.