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Notley:I don’t know that we spent enough time talking to Albertans about what we were doing and what we were achieving. We have this stuff that the government filed in the courts talking about how the carbon tax actually did not stifle economic growth. We could have made that case to Albertans perhaps more effectively, more aggressively, ourselves.

Q. The government’s “summer of repeal” extended into the fall of repeal and maybe we’ll see the spring of repeal. What is the hardest policy rollback or cancellation to swallow?

A. One of our proudest accomplishments was that during one of the most difficult recessions in a generation, that we were able to cut child poverty in half. Even in Calgary, which was ground zero for all the challenges and all the job losses and all the economic slowdown, during our first three years in office, the number of people living in poverty actually dropped. To me, that is a sign of a government that’s living the values that, in tough times, we have each other’s back. What I find so hard is the cruel cut on top of cruel cut on top of cruel cut, and just the stone-faced ambivalence on the side of the UCP to the real pain and suffering that are being created amongst hundreds of thousands of Albertans, all so that we can finance this ridiculous corporate handout.

Q. Of all the things government has done so far, what do you think is most likely to hurt the UCP at the polls?

A. I think there’s three key themes. One is, people expected more jobs, not fewer. People believed the premier when he said he would not attack our health care and education and they are angry that class sizes are exploding, that they suddenly have to write $300 to $500 cheques to just get their kids to school in the morning. The third thing is, the firing of the election commissioner is absolutely one of the most corrupt acts I’ve seen in any democratic country anywhere.